Bill's on road to destruction
By John Dickinson on 22nd Mar 07
THIS week we take a look at what's behind the proposed new law to see EVERY off-road bike road registered! IT'S a fact of life that in off-road we are never far away from a legalthreat. For around 100 years we have been fending-off attacks fromgovernment, both national and local, from pressure groups of alldenominations and indeed from individual citizens. And it seems nevermore-so than right now with the government's crazy and ill-thought-out(and effectively unworkable) Off-Road Vehicles (Registration) Billwhich would make it compulsory to register all motorcycles with theDVLA - which under current law means that ALL motorcycles, whetherpit-bike, trials bike, motocross bike or whatever, would have to betaxed, insured and technically fully road legal!
The proposed law is a legal sledgehammer to crack a nut. All this hascome about because of New Lab MP Graham Stringer's bill, the ideabehind which is to curb the menace of mini-bikes and pit-bikes in urbanenvironments. Everyone in the sport understands the need to curb theannoying, dangerous and sometimes outrageous illegal use of such bikesby the young ASBO hunters - but sufficient laws already exist (12 to myknowledge) to deal with such crimes if the police really wish to usethem.
In my humble opinion, our man Mr Stringer is simply out to make a namefor himself in the political arena - and you have to hand it to him -with absolute minimal risk. Upsetting the motorcycling community whilepurporting to stand up for the majority of his upstanding constituentsagainst nasty, noisy, dirty youths on motorbikes is a classicvote-winner come election time. There is no political capital to be hadmerely by telling the police to crack down on the law-breakers. Butintroduce a new law - now there really is some kudos in that!
The problem with the new bill is that it makes no distinctionwhatsoever between the lawless minority and the vast majority ofoff-road riders and their bikes who live their lives completely withinthe law and who compete in perfectly legal sporting activities. MrStringer isn't interested in that though. It is, however, worth notingthat his proposed law is aimed at bikes and quads. Hmmmm a quad. Iwould ask the question, how do you differentiate between a quad and ago-kart - or more to the point - a car? Does anyone see the F1 brigadechecking their fully legal lights, indicators, tyres and silencersbefore the flag drops at Silverstone. I say, ''what's sauce for thegoose is sauce for the gander,'' and if Carl Nunn, Billy MacKenzie andco's machines have to be fully road legal before the gate drops atCulham I am damned sure that Jenson Button and his mates should bedisplaying their tax discs and plates at all times.
As an illustration of how silly the proposed law is, neither thegovernment (see Steven Ladyman's quote on page 3) nor ACPO (Associationof Chief Police Officers) are in favour of it.
If the bill did become law, it would simply turn into a new stick forlaw-abiding people to beat the police with. The cops would (quiterightly) be seen as totally wasting valuable time and resources as theytargeted motocross, trials, road-race and legal mini-moto and pit-bikeracing venues, hounding perfectly legal competitors who are only tryingto enjoy a day's sport while the thieves, joy-riders, thugs, druggies,alcos and other low-lifes raced round outside on their freshly-nickedbikes, openly laughing at you and me.
It is all so mind-numbingly predictable and if it wasn't so potentiallycatastrophic for the sport it would actually be funny. How this canhave come through two readings in Parliament intact is a frighteningindictment on our law-making process. It makes no sense whatsoever toanyone with a fraction of insight, even the government don't want it -yet it is within sight of becoming law.
So now, people like the ACU's Dave Luscombe and Gary Thompson and theMCIA's Craig-Carey Clinch have to spend several months politicallobbying, trying to keep motorcycle sport alive when their time couldbe so much better spent advancing the cause.
Most people actually agree that some kind of registration of bikes haspositive advantages. But what has being road-legal got to do withoff-road bikes? And does MP Stringer really think that the outlawswould actually buy and register their OWN bikes and then sportingly fita big fluorescent yellow number plate before firing-up to raid thelocal Spar shop? I can picture them now after being apprehended,standing all shamefaced before the police mumbling, ''It's a fair copguv.''
NOT!