While I
was browsing the French motorcycle news website Le Repaire des Motards I came
across a rather alarming snippet of news (read it in full – and in French – here) that could represent a great threat to motorcycling in France.
For those
of you who used to sleep at the back of the classroom during French lessons and
can’t read the linked article, it would appear that Alain Perret, the Prefect
(govt. representative) of the Haut-Rhin département
would like to make it illegal for motorcyclists to ride on the roads of the département’s Vosges region at weekends.
His
argument for touting such a measure is that people in the Vosges are sick and
tired of motorcyclists’ high-speed shenanigans on the local mountain roads,
along with the high accident rate for motorbikes. In his view, both these
reasons warrant a blanket ban on bikes at the weekend.
 |
| This photo could soon be a thing of the past |
Now don’t
get me wrong: I feel concerned by both issues mentioned. I am as annoyed as
anybody else by the antics of an irresponsible minority of brainless morons on
bikes who go tear-arsing around with scant regard for the safety and welfare of
other, more sedate road users. And I also applaud any intelligent measure aimed
at reducing motorcycle accident statistics. But gunning for an entire
collective just because a handful of them misbehave is outrageous. It smacks of
racism; imagine preventing people from ethnic minorities from moving around
freely just because a handful of them screw around – people would be up in
arms, and rightly so! Well I’m sorry, but this measure is just as
discriminatory and unacceptable. [...]
And it
doesn’t just affect motorcyclists. Has Mr Perret thought about the tourist
industry in the Vosges? I think that somebody should remind him that many of
the motorcyclists on the roads in the Vosges at weekends are out for a quiet
ride, being more interested in the stunning scenery about them instead of top
speeds (particularly not those aboard vintage bikes, Harleys, Goldwings and the
like), and will usually patronise local restaurants, bars, hotels and shops.
Quite a few aren’t locals: just count the number of foreign registrations on
bikes in spring and summer. Tell these people that they’re not welcome and
they’ll answer by spending their holiday money elsewhere (yes, motorcyclists are
consumers just like anybody else: don’t let the leathers and crash helmets fool
you).
More
alarmingly for French and foreign motorcyclists, you can be sure that other
regional Prefects have their beady little eyes on the Haut-Rhin département and the Vosges region in
particular. You see, these people just love prohibiting things and, naturally,
once something is prohibited you can punish people (usually with fines and
points, sometimes even with prison sentences) for doing them, which is good for
getting elected to – or staying in – office, as well as being good for regional
coffers. So the upshot is that one day, in a not-too-distant future, the whole
of France might be off-limits to motorcycles at weekends.
I
sincerely thought that France was a country of freedom; if you look closely at
the facades of many town halls and other public buildings you will see three
words carved above the doorway, one of which is “Liberté”. I therefore find it
shocking that an official representative of the French government should be
promoting a measure that is discriminatory, illogical, Ubuesque and that could
even be deemed unconstitutional (in its ruling of 12th July 1979,
the French Constitutional Council stated that the freedom to move around is a
fundamental constitutional right that is protected by Articles 2 and 4 of the
Declaration of Human and Citizens’ Rights of 1789). One could even argue that
it falls foul of international human rights legislation, which is a very poor
showing for a country that loves to boast about being the land of Human Rights.
For all of the above, The Thruxtonian is ready to associate itself to the fight
against this ridiculous, insulting and segregationist measure.
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