Caravans of bikers converged on various cities on Sunday to protest against the government’s decision to bring in “periodic inspections” for motorbikes over 250 cc.
The day’s overriding message was that the government was “manipulating data” to make more money for itself.
The government’s reasoning stemmed from a growing number of accidents involving motorbikes.
2017 saw 125 biker deaths, say reports, whereas the year before totalled only 78.
But bikers say “only a tiny fraction of the accidents had anything to do with the motorbikes’ overall conditions”.
Said Elisabete Leal of Porto: “The government is seizing on bikes to rake in money. We cannot allow this to happen. Making inspections obligatory will have no effect on safety”.
Leal was one of around 3000 bikers that staged a go-slow protest through the streets of Porto, while Lisbon saw easily as many delivering a petition to parliament.
In the Algarve, 2000 bikers took to the streets of Faro to highlight their disgust.
Said one, inspection centres are not even properly prepared to take bikes.
“It’s just another way of making money out of bikers”, said Vítor Santos – while other riders told reporters how rules over parts meant that when they try to make their vehicles “more stable”, they end up discovering the pieces are “not recognised” so that the bike would end up failing its inspection nonetheless.
The new rules, coming into effect this year, preclude inspections for bikes under 250 cc, but bring in the requirement for all bikers to take licenses, no matter what power their bikes’ engines.
Up till now, anyone over the age of 16 is able to take to the road on a scooter up to 125cc, without taking a driving licence.
natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
