I intend to post on occasion relevant MAG Press News flashes in relation to ongoing issues.

Please also find a link to the Central MAG news page.

 MAG News:

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13-10-2009 MAG acts to safeguard free river crossing

MAG  has contacted the government in the wake of news that the Dartford crossing will be sold to private enterprise. MAG is keen to ensure that free passage for motorcyclists will be assured after the new owners take control, and ideally that a bikes only bi-pass lane be introduced to expedite traffic flow at the toll area.
 
MAG sustained a campaign for several years in pursuit of free passage on the grounds that motorcycle use assists the aims of reducing traffic congestion and pollution. Additionally, the need to remove gloves and scrabble around for coins at the toll booths leads to delay and frustration for motorists stuck behind motorcycles at the booths. At the climax of the campaign a group of twenty riders turned up at the bridge and paid with fifty pound notes to make a point and provide a photo opportunity to gain publicity for the issue.
 
Subsequent amicable meetings with the tunnel authorities led to the removal of charges for motorcyclists.  
 
Further information:
Ian Mutch: 020 8556 6495 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Nich Brown: 01788 570066 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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 The Motorcycle Action Group has launched an e-petition on the 10 Downing St site to challenge over zealous police reaction to alleged risks at motorcycle events.
 
The petition follows a parliamentary question on the subject that MAG member Lembit Opik MP tabled in Parliament earlier this year.
 
MAG is concerned by the apparent enthusiasm displayed for closing events on the basis of information about criminal intent which police are not obliged to share with event organisers.
 
MAG President Ian Mutch said, ‘I suspect that the police are themselves victims of a health and safety culture which is leading them to pick the safe option of closing events to avoid becoming targets of criticism if something goes wrong.’
 
‘It is intolerable that event organisers should face financial ruin because of factors that are not of their making. We feel that if organisers are eligible for compensation under such circumstances then pressure may be exerted on the police which could restore balance to a situation which appears to be getting out of control.’
 
The petition reads as follows:
 
Criminal compensation
 
Compensate fully the innocent organisers of public events where police have achieved cancellation based on undisclosed 'intelligence received' regarding the potential criminal actions of parties unrelated to the event organiser.
 
To sign the petition, click here:
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Eventsatrisk/

For further information contact:
Ian Mutch 020 8556 6495 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it 07799 764 161

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MAG takes testing fiasco to Parliament
 
MAG is using its parliamentary connections to expose the lunacy of introducing the new testing regime before

adequate test facilities are ready and there is now to be a thirty minute debate in the House of Commons

on the introduction of the new test.
 
MAG rep for North Wales Rory Wilson has gained the support of his MP Mark Williams MP for Ceredigion who has

tabled the 30 minute debate for April 22.

The debate will be held at 4pm and will provide MR Williams with a full 15 minutes to lay out the case for

suspending introduction of the new testing arrangements until adequate facilities are in place.

The Roads minister will then have 15 minutes to respond to the points made.
 
MAG is concerned that riders in areas ill-served by test centres will have to travel as far as 140 miles, possibly in foul weather to take their tests.

MAG is also concerned that many training schools which are not located within a convenient distance of a new testing centre may go out of business.
 
MAG President Ian Mutch said: ‘At a time when so much emphasis is rightly being put on the need for good training to prepare new riders

for the road, it is ironic that we should be prematurely adopting a new regime that is going to make fresh problems rather than curing old ones.’

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1-03-2009 MAG slams 50mph proposal

The proposal for a blanket 50mph limit on country roads represents the ascendancy of politics over reality.
 
Accident analysis shows that a very small proportion of accidents are due to excess speed with carelessness

and stupidity within speed limits being far bigger factors. 
 
MAG President Ian Mutch said :
 
‘Cutting road accidents is a valid goal but those who simply propose ever lower limits have lost all sense of proportion.  

There is a balance to be struck between the reasonable expectations of the motoring public for mobility and motoring pleasure,

and  the interests of safety.  The problem with those who crudely argue for ever lower limits is that they have no sympathy with those

for whom the open road remains a source of pleasure.’
 
Further information: Ian Mutch 020 8556 6495 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it