“FIM Europe is very careful to mobility and road safety aspects, considering that in Europe there are 37 millions of powered two wheels vehicles”, comments Mr. Silvio Manicardi, FIM Europe second Deputy President (in the photo). “For this reason every year during the FIM Europe Congress we organise also a Road Safety Conference, and the results and documents of the yearly meeting since 2007 can be consulted in our website. Every time we find interesting studies and documents, we care about bringing them to the attention of the two-wheeled world”.
The “Mobility Test” proves that powered two-wheelers can contribute to improve mobility and reduce congestions all over Europe. Last summer, in fact, the test was made in European cities with different modes of transport, with the contribution of Italian Motorcycling Federation (FMI) for Italy: commuting to work takes more and more time due to congestions. More than 60% of the population in the European Union lives in urban areas. The European cities are expected to grow with an increased demand for personal transport for commuting. Many urban areas of Europe are chronically congested, which means an annual cost of € 100 billion per year. The result is crystal clear all over Europe: motorcycles and mopeds made the journeys faster in every city. The biggest differences between the motorcycle and the car was 38 minutes to travel 29 kilometres in Oslo, (27/ 65 minutes) and 48 minutes to travel 19 kilometres in Dublin (27/75). The cost for the journeys, parking and tolls was also compared. The test is readable here: Mobility Test.
It is also interesting to recall a study accomplished by the University of Leuven, in Belgium, “More Powered Two-Wheelers would ease congestion”, which underlines the big advantages deriving from using motorcycles in relation to the reduction of traffic jams: 10% more motorcycles used for commuting equal to 40% less traffic jams, concludes a study conducted by Transport & Mobility Leuven. The test is readable here: More Powered Two-Wheelers would ease congestion.
As for the “Crash barriers” studies, SMC is convinced that the numbers of fatal rates in Sweden for motorcyclists could have been reduced with a more motorcycle friendly road environment: 6 out of 22 motorcyclists who have been killed on a motorcycle in 2014 have collided with a crash barrier. The share is also high in an international comparison. “Dangerous barriers do not only cost lives, they also mean huge costs for the society”, concludes SMC. The study is downloadable here: Crash_barriers.pdf
