There was good news and bad coming out of Europe in regard to motorcycling today. In its February 2012 newsletter, the ACEM, loosely translated as European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers, reported that sales of powered two-wheelers (PTW) declined again in 2011, that motorcycle safety figures in Spain were much improved, and that London has decided to allow motorcycles to use traffic lanes previously available only to buses.
According to ACEM, motorcycle sales in Europe in 2011 were the lowest they have been in a decade, with 170,000 fewer bikes sold than the previous year. This makes 2011 the fourth year in a row that sales have declined, from a high in 2007 of 2,726,000 to 1,721,000 last year. The decline is blamed on the continuing economic crisis and the subsequent credit crunch in Europe.
While drops were greatest in Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands, even countries such as Germany and France, which had shown increases previously, reported lower figures this time around.
On the positive side, motorcycle fatalities in Spain have dropped by 45 percent since 2007. And to put this figure into perspective, ACEM reports that while Spanish motorcycle fatalities have fallen 10 percent since 2000, the number of PTWs on the road has increased by 92.6 percent. In the interim, Spanish fatalities had soared, spiking in 2007, and have since plummeted.
ACEM also reported that, following two extensive 18-month trials, Transport for London, which operates the buses in that city, had approved the use of bus lanes by motorcycles. The trials showed that doing so had successfully helped smooth out traffic, cut CO2 emissions, and improved journey time for motorcyclists using the lanes.
A variety of issues had been identified in the first trial and modifications were made before the second. Those modifications, which included increased enforcement of speeding by bikers and an informational campaign.
Transport for London's review found that:
- Collision rates in bus lanes in the second trial decreased by 5.8 per cent for motorcyclists and by 8.5 per cent for cyclists when compared with the first trial;
- There was no significant change in the collision rates for pedestrians in bus lanes between the two trials; and
- When comparing the second trial with the period before motorcyclists were permitted access to bus lanes, there was a significant (11.6 per cent) decline in overall cycling collision rates in bus lanes and no significant change in collision rates in bus lanes affecting motorcyclists or pedestrians.
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