From "autoevolution".....
France Drops Motorcycle Legal Speed on Secondary Roads to 60 Km/hNot sure if this is just another April Fools’ joke, but as the news comes from France, we can indeed expect the worst. According to the online edition of LePoint, the French authorities are planning to drop the legal speed limits on secondary roads to 80 km/h from the current 90 km/h (from 56 to 49 mph), and in case of motorcycles over 125cc to 60 km/h (37 mph). And this would happen form january 1st 2015...
Apparently some traffic safety experts believe this measure could reduce the number of death on such roads with 450 fatalities yearly. Even more, by some easy-to-refute twist of statistics, the authorities allegedly will enforce such a drastic measure for motorcycles in an attempt to curb the fatalities among riders.
That is, claiming that since 30% of those killed on the roads are bikers would somehow add some sense into such a measure. Fact is, the percentage of riders is almost negligible when compared to the number of cars and such math is simply hilarious. It’s exactly like having only one rider on an island and in case of him or her dying in an accident, having the local authorities declaring that ALL riders on the island are going to die, or in fewer words, riding a bike will kill you, 100% guaranteed.
Now, it’s been more than once when we’ve seen French riders taking action against silly laws, and the bigwigs in Paris should do well and remember how several thousands of bikes not splitting lanes look like. Certainly, having the Federation Francais du Motards en Colere (FFMC,French for the Pissed-Off Riders) organizing 100-strong packs driving at 60 km/h around major towns will not be exactly a good outcome.
The Stig is in favor of this.
