On June 16 2009, CIECA invited the European Commission, the motorcycling community and EU member state representatives to a workshop on the category A progressive access rules in the 3rd Driving Licence directive (applicable from January 19 2013).
CIECA’s research on access rules to mopeds and motorcycles highlighted the considerable differences in current national licensing regulations (see presentation and research paper).
The European Commission emphasised that member states have 3 choices in terms of progressive access from categories A1 to A2, and A2 to A:
- To offer riders the choice of either training or a test
- To impose training only
- To impose testing only
The motorcycling community expressed their preference for a training approach for progressive access, believing training to place more emphasis on ongoing learning and to constitute less of a barrier to access to more powerful powered two-wheelers.
Representatives of several countries pointed out that the quality of their rider trainers and their overall availability are low and consequently the testing option for progressive access is likely to be the most obvious choice for progressive access.
It appears that few countries have decided what training/testing options to offer to riders within the new progressive access rules. However, on a tentative basis, it appears that countries such as Estonia, Netherlands, Sweden and Malta are tending towards the testing option, Britain may well offer a choice of either training or a test, and Finland and France are likely to choose the training option.
Detailed presentations were given on how to train motorcycle instructors and motorcycle examiners (by Norway, Germany, Netherlands and Britain).
The CIECA BikeSafety competition was re-launched with a new deadline of December 1, 2009. An example of a submission was given by the Finnish national road safety organisation. The winner of the BikeSafety competition will win a Suzuki SIXteen 150cc scooter. Runner-up prizes include guided tours and tickets for racing events.
The full workshop report, speaker presentations, position & research papers, etc can be downloaded from the CIECA site