A demonstration of bikers from Occitania is organized this Saturday, November 26, from 1:30 p.m., on the Toulouse ring road. They protest against the decision of the Council of State to make technical inspections on two-wheelers compulsory from January 1, 2023 but also against the establishment of the ZFE in Toulouse.

This is a new twist that does not pass with bikers. On October 31, the Council of State challenged the decree issued by the government allowing it to reconsider the application of technical control to “two-wheelers”, initially decided in August 2021 and suspended on July 25. A decision misunderstood by the Toulouse bikers, who meet this Saturday, November 26, at 1:30 p.m., to manifest themselves on the Toulouse ring road.

In order to comply with European Directive 2014/45/EU of April 3, 2014, Member States of the European Union are required to establish “a periodic technical inspection of motor vehicles with two, three or four wheels with a cylinder capacity greater than 125 cm3 from January 1, 2022″ according to the statement of the Council of State of October 31.

To derogate from this obligation of European law, the member countries can however propose the “implementation of alternative measures to improve road safety”the path chosen by the government in the face of the discontent of French bikers.

The Council of State, seized by three associations (Respire, Ras-le-Scoot and Paris without car) however retained two grounds of illegality in the decree of July 25, 2022. According to the French authority“the abolition of technical control should have been subject to public consultation, given its direct and significant impact on the environment” and argues that “the alternative measures not being sufficiently effective, with regard to the requirements of the directive, to improve the road safety of motorcyclists”.

Thus, the government is obliged to return to the previous decree, setting a gradual entry into force of the technical inspection of two-wheelers: January 1, 2023, for vehicles registered before 2016, and dates staggered between 2024 and 2026 , for vehicles registered from 2016.

“We do not understand this relentlessness on two-wheelers, sighs Maurice Caubel, member of the French Federation of Angry Bikers. We have been working for 12 years on the implementation of alternative road safety measures. Four are in progress, a fifth in experimentation, a sixth in discussion.

Among these measures, reinforcement of protection vis-à-vis the blind spots of heavy goods vehicles with labels, departmental road safety action plans in order to improve prevention, consultation on noise pollution from excessively noise or even, under discussion, the allocation of a conversion bonus for motorcycles.

“Safety is the basis for a motorcyclist, supports Maurice Caubel. All the safety devices of our engines are visible to the naked eye.” This is also the main argument of angry bikers: technical controls would be much less useful to them than to motorists because the care taken in the maintenance of a motorcycle is much higher.

“It can be a guarantee of quality, for those who know nothing about mechanics, explains Grégory Dechelpretre, manager of the Atlanta Bike garage in Toulouse. But it is still a constraint. Most of my customers are very careful with their engine because it is a pleasure in addition to being a means of transport.”

For this mechanic, motorists are less attentive to the condition of their vehicle because most of the parts are hidden under the bodywork. “In general, motorcycles are pampered. So I hope that the standards for technical inspections of two-wheelers will not be too drastic…”

To support its arguments, the Federation of Angry Bikers bases itself on the latest death toll published by the National Interministerial Observatory for Road Safety. In 2021, 2,944 bikers were killed in a road accident, a figure down 19% compared to 2010. “While the number of bikers has increased by 20%”, says Maurice Caubel.

In addition to the introduction of technical control for two-wheelers, bikers are also expressing their opposition to the Toulouse Low Emissions Zone, which has been in place since March 2022. Introduced gradually, the restrictions decided by the municipality will concern two-wheelers from next January 1.

From this date“all motorized vehicles certified Crit’air 4, 5 and unclassified” could no longer circulate in the area, a restriction extended to “all motorized vehicles up to Crit’air 3” on 1^uh January 2024. “The motorcycle is a guarantee of traffic flow, we do not understand why this mobility tool would be banned in town”indignant Maurice Caubel, who denounces a “The most restrictive ZFE in France”.

About 500 motorcycles are expected this Saturday, November 26, from 1:30 p.m., for a slowdown operation on the Toulouse ring road, with a scheduled departure from the Candie Circuit.