There has been a lot of talk in the news lately about motorcycles. The Virgin Islands police have reported that there have been four fatalities in the last three years involving motorcycles or scooters. Added to the deaths are the noise and general “hoonage” of motorcyclists, which have fuelled calls for stricter legislation and even an outright ban on the vehicles.
More recently, a group of motorcycle enthusiasts have floated a red herring that motorcycles with larger displacement engines are safer, and would result in fewer accidents. I don’t doubt the accuracy of the safety claims made by the enthusiasts.
However, the enthusiasts are in favour of large bikes because they are enthusiasts, and as a result they are overlooking the fact that the recklessness, accidents, deaths and noise have nothing to do with the smaller size of the bikes, but the size of the egos on the bikes.
Of the four deaths in the past three years, one was believed to be racing-related, and one was believed to be on an illegal 250cc bike (VI law limits the size of motorcycle engines to a maximum of 125cc displacement). Meanwhile, three of the riders were not wearing helmets.
I don’t support an outright ban of motorcycles, nor am I in principle against the re-legalisation of larger displacement bikes. However, before implementing bans or giving riders greater rights, I think our local motorcycle enthusiasts need to first do their “mea culpa,” admitting to their own guilt in the reason for the ban of larger bikes in the first place.
Before the ban, the same issues of noise and recklessness were at the heart of the call to criminalise larger bikes.
Secondly, I think the local motorcycle enthusiasts need to be better organised, and they need to self-regulate: This would help to change the image of motorcycling from a rebellious activity to a respectful means of transportation and recreation.
Enthusiasts can do this by playing an advisory role to government and helping draft sound laws such as tougher standards on helmets. Currently, many of our riders are using “novelty helmets” that don’t meet United States or European safety standards.
Enthusiasts could also establish a rider training school and call for an increase in the legal age for obtaining a motorcycle licence from 16 to 18 or older. This is particularly important because motorcycles are single-person motor vehicles that don’t offer the benefit of having room for an adult co-driver.
Because of what is at risk when it comes to safety, the penalty for riding a motorcycle without a helmet should be the permanent revocation of the rider’s licence on the first offence — not the third as some have suggested. And any passenger riding without a helmet should lose the right to obtain a licence if they don’t already have one.
Stiffer fines and penalties should also be levied for other offences that don’t necessarily endanger either the rider or other road users, such as riding without a licence, riding while underage, or using a modified exhaust system.
As another suggestion to curtailing noise, we could give preference in law to electric motorcycles such as those being produced by companies like Brammo Inc. and Zero or Mission Motorcycles.
In the end, to make it possible to re-legalise larger bikes, enthusiasts should push for greater rider responsibility; stricter safety standards; maturer first-time riders; stiffer penalties; more law enforcement; and an overall change to the image of motorcycling.
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