Senseless Motorcycle Riding Policy 2023

There are some of the recommendations proposed in the “Motorcycle Riding Policy 2023” to reduce accidents and maintain orderliness on highways are logical and bikers agree with them. But there are some things that come up in the proposal which appear to be absurd, impossible and to protect the interests of special groups. Which will put thousands of motorcycle users and motorcycle manufacturers/aggregators/importers of Bangladesh in jeopardy. A big decision has to be made step by step and by creating the environment to gain acceptance without forcing it suddenly.

Proposed policies of the draft “Motorcycle Riding Policy, 2023” are undoubtedly good. Which can be said to be beneficial for motorcycle users and everyone else. The problem arises from 6.3 of Chapter II of the proposal.

126cc+ bikes will run on the highway
6.3 states that bikes with a minimum capacity of 126cc or more only will run on highways. The proposal is undoubtedly good but the environment is not created. In Bangladesh, where bikes above 165cc are not allowed, instead of suddenly banning bikes below 125cc on highways, a time limit should be set and high cc bikes with safety features should be allowed.

Bikes with ABS braking
6.4 states that the bike should be equipped with ABS braking for riding on the highway. ABS braking is definitely safe and good. But there is no specific policy for this braking. In other words, there is no need to have ABS on locally manufactured/imported bikes. Making ABS braking mandatory for bike manufacture/import will solve this problem. Because ABS braking has been in practice for only a few years. Millions of bikes sold earlier were without ABS. These people are not taken into consideration.

No passenger theory
6.5 It is recommended that the bike cannot carry a rider. Such a strange recommendation is unlikely to occur to anyone except someone who owns a car or has no experience of using public transport. Almost all bikes around the world have an additional passenger seat besides the driver for carrying passengers. Bikes are also registered in the same way. Everyone knows that it is forbidden to sit 3 people on a bike. But how come the strange thought that 1 person will travel on a bike?

Ban on bikes for 10 days before/after Eid/Special Occasion
In 6.6 it is stated that before/after Eid/Special Occasion 10 days with bike cannot be driven on national and regional highways.
Getting bus/train/plane/launch tickets on these time is harder than getting a golden deer. A biker becomes absolutely last option at this time and mostly root level people goes to the village with the bike. At this time if you can remove the irony, anarchy and miserable traffic of tickets then no one will take to the road with a bike.

Maximum speed in the city is 30 kmph
8.2 of Chapter III states that the maximum speed of motorcycles in the city shall be 30 km/h. Which is just fantastic. Such a decision cannot be made by a person with no idea about bikes. First of all, riding a bike at such a low speed is a problem for the balance of the bike, as well as in other vehicles where the speed is higher than this, if the speed of the bike is at a maximum of 30 km, the overall speed will decrease in the movement of the city. It is safer to have separate lanes for bikes and bicycles would better option.

By Sitting in an office chair, decisions and reality are not always the same. It is expected that the rights of all will be ensured if the decision regarding the bike is taken with the experienced and the people of this industry.

Writer
Abu Syeed mahmud Hasan
Founder & CEO
Motorcycle Valley