EU calls for mandatory ABS
Added on Wednesday, December 15th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
EU calls for mandatory ABS
The EU Commission has called for anti-lock braking systems (ABS) to become mandatory on new motorcycles from 2017, claiming that the system could save as many as 5,000 lives over a ten year period.
The proposal is for ABS to become mandatory on motorcycles with a displacement of more than 125cc from 2017 in an attempt to reduce the 5,520 motorcycle fatalities that occurred in the European Union in 2008.
At present, ABS is fitted to around 16% of newly manufactured motorcycles in the EU, with many manufacturers selling ABS as an optional extra, despite the first motorcycle ABS system dating back to 1988. Under the proposed regulation, manufacturers would have to provide ABS as standard on all models with an engine in excess of 125cc.
The proposal is currently passing through the EU legislative procedure, and will likely be adopted next year, to come into effect from 2017.
In 2008, the number of motorcyclists involved in fatal accidents in the European Union came to 5,520, 14% of all road deaths. The figure for the same period in Germany was 656. In 2009 there were 472 motorcycle fatalities in Great Britain. The European figure has scarcely changed since 1997, yet the number of fatal accidents involving car drivers fell significantly during the same period – by 4%, as an analysis of 17 European countries shows. According to the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), the risk of suffering a fatal accident is 18 times greater for motorcyclists than for car drivers in Europe, assuming that the same distance is travelled.
Experts regard the antilock braking system as a huge boost to safety. For example, a benefit analysis conducted for the European Commission calculates that the proposed regulation will allow the number of fatal accidents among motorcyclists to be reduced by more than 5,000 over a ten-year period. A study presented by Vägverket, the Swedish highways authority, in October 2009 shows that 38% of all motorcycle accidents involving personal injury and 48% of all serious and fatal accidents could be prevented with the help of ABS. This active safety system allows motorcyclists to brake safely in critical situations without locking the wheels, and thus without having to fear an inevitable fall. Braking distance is also reduced considerably.
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