Mag And Fema News

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Vanishing Motorcycle Licence Entitlements - Not A Good Look For DVLA

The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) has confirmed that vanishing
motorcycle licence entitlements are thankfully rare. MAG asked the DVLA
questions following recent news stories of a motorcyclist being denied a
licence for over three years thanks to a mistake they made.

The story of the three-year wait to resolve a mistake and the
compensation received by Paul Olsen was covered on a number of media
outlets in early January. Coverage appeared in MCN, VisorDown, The Sun,
and Metro. This coverage led to MAG receiving emails from concerned
riders. The need for Mr Olson to resort to the Parliamentary and Health
Ombudsman to get the case resolved is certainly not a good look for the
DVLA.

MAG's Director of Campaigns & Political Engagement, Colin Brown, said:

"Unsurprisingly, losing your right to ride your motorcycle due to an
administrative error is not a situation that riders want to face.
Stories often surface of riders finding their motorcycle entitlement
left off when their licence has been renewed. We thought it was
reasonable, therefore, to contact the DVLA to establish how common a
problem this is, and what a rider should do if they find this happens to
them."

The response from the DVLA states:

"The DVLA has a range of measures in place to ensure our records are
accurate, and mistakes are rare.... Since August 2019 there have been
two cases where a driver has written in to the DVLA to lodge a complaint
about an alleged missing motorcycle entitlement. Neither complaint was
upheld."

The letter also explained:

"If a driver thinks that they are missing an entitlement from their
current driving licence they will need to return their driving licence
to, ODL Casework Team, DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1ZZ. The driver will need to
include a covering letter which should contain what entitlement is
missing, when the test was passed and provide the DVLA with as much
information as possible along with any evidence they hold. We would also
advise customers to take a copy of their driving licence for their own
records before sending it in to the Agency. We will then be able to
carry out thorough investigations of the enquirer’s driver record."

Stories such as Mr Olsen’s are not new and often crop up on online
forums. There was even an investigation carried out by the BBC’s
Watchdog programme in 2009.

In conclusion, Colin Brown said:

“I have no doubt that similar stories will periodically appear. Of
course, the rarity of these errors is what makes them newsworthy when
they do happen. We do not know why the two most recent complaints were
not upheld, and the delays in resolving the Paul Olsen case seem to have
been unnecessary. The key is to check your licence and make sure you
keep a copy of it if you ever need to send it back to the DVLA for any
reason. We are happy to hear from any riders who have been personally
affected, whether in the past or going forward. We are here to help
riders maintain their access to legal and responsible riding.”

 

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News from the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG)

MAG happy to suggest topic of next Transport Committee inquiry

The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) suggests a topic for the Transport
Select Committee’s next inquiry. Iain Stewart MP published an appeal
for ideas on 17th January. MAG says that the role of motorcycles in a
multi-modal transport future has yet to be fully considered.

MPs on the Committee want to consider subjects they may have never come
across before, from people who are ‘in the know about innovations that
deserve more attention’.

Transport Committee Chair, Iain Stewart MP, said:

“If you know of an issue that would benefit from Parliamentary scrutiny
– perhaps something we've never looked at before – then we would warmly
welcome your short proposal for an inquiry. We look forward to hearing
your ideas.”

MAG’s Director of Campaigns & Political Engagement, Colin Brown, said:

“It may seem a bit late to point to motorcycling as an innovation. But
we are clear that our preferred existing transport mode is not being
fully exploited in the much-publicised multi-modal future of transport.”

The MAG submission explains that current policy only promotes three
favoured modal choices. The policy approach focuses on restricting the
use of cars in favour of walking, cycling and public transport.
Motorcycles do not receive any separate consideration. This is
demonstrated in depictions of the sustainable travel hierarchy which
routinely fail to recognise the existence of motorcycles.

MAG argues that there is no nuance in policy terms to allow for
disaggregating the unique flexibility and convenience that motorcycles
offer. Motorcycles represent a way to reduce the impacts of cars whilst
retaining the benefits of motorised transport.

The proposal is that the Transport Committee firstly evaluate any
current policy to facilitate motorcycling in the multi-modal future.
MAG fully expects this to reveal that there is none. Therefore, a
significant opportunity for progress in transport policy is being
overlooked. The second step will be for the Committee to consider
proposals to expedite a filling of the policy hole.

Colin concluded:

“The message is nothing new to us, but it is about time we saw some
tangible policy. It is time to demonstrate that the message is being
heard. It is all well and good Ministers saying warm words when
challenged, but we are long overdue for some policy action. MAG will
continue using every opportunity to promote what is obvious to us, but,
apparently, a complete mystery to policy makers.”

Contact MAG at 01926 844 064 or [email protected]

 

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The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) announces a new offer to help protect
bikers facing the expanding ULEZ charge. MAG deal offers members a
risk-free method to check if their older bike is compliant. MAG urges
riders not to scrap serviceable bikes without first checking whether
they are actually compliant.

MAG fiercely opposed the ULEZ charge for motorcycles from the day it was
first suggested. Motorcycles help reduce overall emissions by reducing
congestion. MAG proved that the majority of pre-Euro 3 motorcycles are
compliant with the actual emissions standard for exemption from the
charge. Sadiq Khan relented and agreed to a system to allow individual
vehicles to be tested for their actual emissions level and registered as
exempt if they meet the standard.

Pre-2007 motorcycles can meet the emissions criteria. If a bike
produces less than the 0.15 g/km NOx limit Transport for London (TfL)
has set, older bikes are exempt - as long as owners can prove their low
NOx emissions.

Many riders have since proven that their pre-Euro 3 motorcycle is
compliant and registered for exemption from the charge. The individual
testing of bikes could originally only be carried out at a single
registered testing station. Now there are three, all charging £175 for
the test with a £75 re-test fee.

Situated close to Greenwich in South London, The Test Centre is run by
Ian Wills. He has invested in a dyno and sourced a new exhaust gas
measuring device. Bikes are placed on the dyno, run through the test of
various drive cycles (which involves idling, acceleration and
deceleration), and an average is then taken. Much like an MOT, the
result is a straight pass or fail.

Ian Wills (Director of The Test Centre) says:

“Well-maintained, properly set-up and cared-for bikes stand a much
better chance of meeting the standard and passing the test. If a bike
passes the test, we upload the results straight to the TfL database and
your bike is registered by TfL as exempt the next working day. We are
finding most bikes are passing without any work.”

Ian Wills is making a “no pass, no fee” offer to all MAG members. This
means that there is no financial risk involved in checking if your bike
is compliant. The £175 fee will only be chargeable if the bike passes,
and there will be no re-test charge should a little work be needed to
get the bike through.

For more information, or to book a test for your bike, go to
www.ulezbiketest.co.uk

Not already a MAG member? – join here; it costs less than three days of
ULEZ charges! The compliance test equates to 14 days of ULEZ charges
and only applies if your bike passes the test.


MAG is continuing to fight against the proposed expansion of the ULEZ
charging zone. Sadiq Khan is determined to extend the zone to cover the
entire London region in August this year. The plans have met huge
resistance from voters and even many of the Borough Councils.
The expansion will impact large numbers of additional riders, many of
whom may only ever ride away from Central London on their motorcycles.

Contact MAG at 01926 844 064 or [email protected]

 

Just don't hold your breath.

 

MAG do all this for you for 0.08 pence a day. A bargain I think you'll agree.

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Do you care ??

 

MAG do all this for you for 0.08 pence a day. A bargain I think you'll agree.

So head over to the MAG website and join up.

https://www.mag-uk.org/motorcycle-action-group-membership/
Do you care ??

News from the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG)

Greater London MAG on the warpath over Islington parking charges

Greater London MAG is set to meet Islington Council to oppose more
motorcycle parking charges. Unannounced charges were rolled out in
early February with no prior engagement or consultation with riders.

Islington Borough Council rolled out a new £1 charge for motorcycles
parking in the borough’s motorcycle bays in early February.

The council claims that they didn’t need to consult because it was a
change to existing charges. This is not true; previously it was free to
park in bays in Islington. If you wanted to park outside of the bays
you had to buy a resident’s permit. No changes have been made to the
residents permit but a new charge of £1 a day for the bays has been
introduced.

The council did not publicize their intention to charge: instead, they
buried the decision in a 300-page document on the council’s general
finances. Motorcycle representative organisations were not contacted
about a consultation. When Hackney consulted on their parking charges
they received thousands of responses. Islington has confirmed that
there were no responses to their process.

GL MAG and Save London Motorcycling have already persuaded the council
to rectify one flaw in the policy. Residents with motorcycles couldn’t
use their passes in the bays and were unable to make block bookings for
more than one day. This meant that a resident would have been paying
£365 a year and having to get up before 8am every day to book a new
parking session. GL MAG got Islington to back down and allow residents
to use their passes, but MAG is arguing that this is a totally
unacceptable way to treat their resident motorcyclists and people who
ride to work in the borough.

Further issues with the poorly handled roll-out saw MAG asking for the
roll-out to be paused, but the council refused, and is delaying dealing
with the issues raised.

A GL MAG spokesman said:

“This is a clear attempt by the council to bypass democratic scrutiny.
They have seen what happened in Hackney and wanted to avoid the uproar.
This is a sign that our campaigning is working, but we need to be on the
lookout for other councils doing the same. Cock-up or conspiracy?
Either way it’s a totally unacceptable way for a democratic organisation
to behave, and it goes against all democratic norms. No other council
has taken such an underhand approach”

Local MAG reps are working hard to try and engage with the council to
get them to listen. A meeting with the Council is now scheduled for
27th March.

Contact MAG at 01926 844 064 or [email protected]

 

News from the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG)

MAG hammers home ICE Ban opposition with Minister

Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) Chair, Neil Liversidge, met Minister of
State (Decarbonisation and Technology) Jesse Norman yesterday. With
resistance to the ICE ban growing in Europe, MAG hammered home the
message that the Government should abandon its plan to ban the sale of
new ICE vehicles in the UK from 2030. Instead, MAG is presenting a
radical alternative that will massively improve transport connectivity
to unify the UK, improve air quality, and reduce emissions, whilst at
the same time strengthening our country economically.

MAG National Chairman Neil Liversidge and MAG’s Director of Campaigns &
Political Engagement, Colin Brown, met Jesse Norman at the Transport
Department HQ yesterday. Neil and Colin hammered home the scale of the
mistake the UK Government will be making if it mandates the end of
internal combustion engined vehicles (ICEVs) as planned from 2030.

Key points they highlighted included –

• Why MAG’s alternative plan makes more sense.
• The threat the Government’s forced electrification poses to the UK’s
long-term economic prosperity and national security.
• How forced electrification will negatively impact most people’s
standard of living.
• Why policies that work in London don’t necessarily work in the rest of
the UK.

The meeting took place as news surfaced that the EU’s own anti-ICE plan
is in trouble, with proposals tabled to create an exception for
e-fuelled cars from 2035. Germany, Austria, Italy and other EU nations
are opposing forced electrification due to the lack of technology
neutrality. MAG has consistently argued that internal combustion
engines will be necessary and desirable for the foreseeable future. Net
Zero can be achieved whilst this technology continues to supply the
clear benefits of carbon neutral, energy dense liquid fuels. There is
no logic in enforcing the demise of a technology in a way that will
inevitably cause hardship for UK citizens, whilst seriously damaging the
UK’s economic prospects, and therefore its security, certainly for
decades and possibly forever.

Speaking after the meeting, Neil said:

“We were not expecting the Minister to announce a U-turn on the policy
in the meeting, but I can say that we have robustly presented the
strength of feeling on the ICE ban. We briefly discussed MAG’s
alternative solution for the future of transport with rapid expansion of
an electrified public transport system allied to a diverse range of
technologies in the private motorised sector. There are no reasons why
electric and ICE vehicles cannot co-exist to create a diverse and
resilient transport system. We are seeing Europe edging towards this
reality, and the UK could lead the way. We have agreed to submit a
fleshed-out proposal to Jesse Norman that will both meet the
Government’s ambitions and avoid destroying the economy and motorcycling
culture in the process.”

Contact MAG at 01926 844 064 or [email protected]

 

Latest news from FEMA
https://www.femamotorcycling.eu/cable-barriers-still-hurt-motorcyclists/

 

Nice find that. Cheers for posting.

 

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Pothole related motorcycle crash? Can you help?

Have you suffered a pothole related motorcycle crash and prepared to
speak about it on camera? If so please contact Colin urgently on
[email protected].

 

MAG do all this for you for 0.08 pence a day. A bargain I think you'll agree.

So head over to the MAG website and join up.

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Do you care ??
News from the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG)

New Pothole Campaign: Resurface Our Roads, We Deserve Better

The Motorcycle Action Group renews its campaigning to end the blight of
crumbling road surfaces. The Resurface Our Roads campaign is supporting
a Government petition calling for increased funding. MAG will also
highlight the dangers faced by motorcyclists and shortcomings of local
authority responses.

MAG is throwing its weight behind promoting a new Government petition to
motorcyclists. The petition, raised by Dean Murphy, calls for increased
funding for road repair and resurfacing.

The petition states:

The Government takes billions a year from road users. We deserve better
investment in road maintenance, not simply waiting for potholes to
appear then filling them.

Many roads need resurfacing to provide better, safer conditions for all
road users. The Government should increase funding for this.

Road surfaces in many areas are a disgrace and not becoming of a
supposedly developed leading world economy.

Potholes are an obvious danger to all road users but our roads need much
more than the sticking plaster of pothole repair, much of which takes an
age to be undertaken.

Nor is it simply about safety; there is a total lack of civic pride.
Improving roads could help improve wellbeing by reducing stress. Invest
more of the billions of pounds of revenue taken from road users into
road infrastructure.

For motorcyclists, the risks go far beyond the cost and inconvenience of
damaged wheels and suspension.

MAG research conducted in 2020 showed that every year, over 70
motorcyclists are killed or seriously injured in incidents where road
surface defects are a contributory factor. Safe road infrastructure is
one of the key pillars of the Safe System approach to road safety.

MAG’s Director of Campaigns & Political Engagement, Colin Brown, said:

“Potholes are an emotive subject for riders. A simple request for
stories of pothole related crashes on MAG’s social media attracted a
response rate higher by an order of magnitude than other posts.
Potholes have always been in the top five issues that get raised by our
membership.

The recent announcement by Jeremy Hunt of an extra £200 million to
tackle the issue is risible when taken in the context of the £14 billion
backlog of repairs reported by the Asphalt Industry Alliance in their
2023 ALARM report.”

MAG is calling on all members to raise the issue both locally in this
Thursday’s local elections and nationally with their MPs. Ask your
local candidates and MP to sign the petition and make sure that they do
all they can to allocate funds in this area. Bikers are voters and now
is the time to make our voice heard.

The petition can be found at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/634995

 

Maybe of interest to you.
MAG do all this for you for 0.08 pence a day. A bargain I think you'll agree.

So head over to the MAG website and join up.

https://www.mag-uk.org/motorcycle-action-group-membership/
Do you care ??

 

MAG do all this for you for 0.08 pence a day. A bargain I think you'll agree.

So head over to the MAG website and join up.

https://www.mag-uk.org/motorcycle-action-group-membership/
Do you care ??

Workplace parking under scrutiny for Ride To Work Day 2023

For Ride To Work Day 2023, the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) is
investigating workplace parking facilities. A survey launched today
asks riders for details covering the availability, quality and security
of workplace motorcycle parking.

Ride To Work Day 2023, which will take place on Monday 19th June,
celebrates the many benefits gained from riding a motorcycle, scooter or
moped to work. The international campaign increases awareness and
acceptance of an often-overlooked transport choice.

In order to increase the popularity of this congestion-busting commuter
option, MAG is asking employers to bring their motorcycle parking
provision up to scratch. Firstly, MAG will answer the question: how
well are employers doing? MAG is then asking all riders to give a copy
of a new motorcycle parking guide to their company.

New this year, the Ride To Work Day resource pack includes an employers’
guide to motorcycle parking. This simple booklet gives employers tips
and advice to help them facilitate this sustainable commuting option.

MAG’s Director of Campaigns & Political Engagement, Colin Brown, said:

“One thing cannot be denied; if you ride to work you are going to need
somewhere to park your bike. Motorcycle parking is often just an
afterthought, if not entirely ignored. Car, and increasingly cycle,
parking is a given at most workplaces. But the motorcyclist is often
left to make the best of a bad job. We are running this survey to get a
feel for how well the motorcycle commute is being supported by
employers. We have also developed a simple guide with advice for
employers and hope to see the standards improve by Ride To Work Day 2024.”

Put the Action in:

If your workplace has its own parking facilities, please complete the
short survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/LSPT8HQ
You don't necessarily need to be a regular motorcycle commuter to answer
the questions. Once you have completed the survey, why not give your
boss a copy of our handy guide?

We will collate the survey responses and publish the results on Ride To
Work Day 2023.

 

MAG do all this for you for 0.08 pence a day. A bargain I think you'll agree.

So head over to the MAG website and join up.

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MAG's motorcycle theft campaigning has an ACE up its sleeve

The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) has revealed an ACE Café up it’s anti
motorcycle theft campaigning sleeve. The iconic ACE Café will be the
venue for the Hertfordshire Fight Motorcycle Theft public meeting.

MAG has already delivered two successful public meetings aimed at
raising the profile of the fight against motorcycle theft. Gillingham
in Kent and Birmingham have seen meetings earlier this year with riders
given the chance to hold the Kent and West Midlands police forces to
account. Hertfordshire Police’s response will be in the spotlight as
the ACE Café hosts the next in the series of public meetings being
arranged by MAG.

The Hertfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner, David Lloyd, will be
joined by Chief Inspector Ricky Bartlett and MAG’s own Colin Brown on
the panel for the hustings-style meeting.

The previous meetings in Kent and the West Midlands have seen tangible
outcomes, and the hope is that this next meeting will be equally effective.

The meeting will be open to any riders who wish to find out more about
the work Hertfordshire Police are doing, ask questions and raise
concerns. The meeting will take place at the ACE Café on Wednesday 14th
June, kicking off at 6pm.

Speaking as the meeting was announced, MAG’s Director of Campaigns &
Political Engagement, Colin Brown, said:

“We are delighted to be holding this next meeting in the series at such
a great venue. Our thanks go to Mark Wilsmore for allowing us to hold
the meeting at the ACE Café. We already have a date set for a West
Yorkshire Police meeting – it will be held in Leeds on 24th June. We
have seen genuine engagement in both Kent and the West Midlands
following meetings in those areas. The meetings are unquestionably
raising the profile of the issue. More importantly the meetings are
opening up opportunities for greater co-operation between the riding
public and our police forces, and other stakeholders. We are confident
that the meeting on 14th June will have the same impact in Hertfordshire.”

 

Nolan Live talks POTHOLES with Northern Ireland MAG Rep Martyn Boyd