Traffic legislation and safety in Europe concerning the moped - Swov

The low threshold for car drivers
It is permitted in some countries to ride a 125 cc motorcycle if one has had a
car driving licence for several years. A low threshold for being allowed to ride
a motorcycle is not good for road safety.
The problem is the creation of a new group of motorcyclists without a
thorough training and a test. But apart from the training and test, riding a
motorcycle is risky. German crash data confirm this.
Dutch crash rates (death and hospital casualties per million travelled kms)
also illustrate this. In the age group of 20-29 years, the rate for riding a
motorcycle is a factor 13 greater than for driving a car, and for older groups
the rates are even higher. Here it should be noted that these rates apply to
all categories of motorcycles. But even if the rate for a 125 cc motorcycle is
lower than for all categories, it is considerably higher than for a car.
It is recommended that in the new demands concerning the licence category
A1, no rule is added that it is permitted to ride a 125 cc motorcycle if one has
had a car driving licence for a number of years.
In general
The safety of motorcyclists can be improved by incorporate trainings and
tests, extra attention for anticipatory driving, training of danger recognition,
performing braking, and avoidance manoeuvres at high speeds. As far as
technical aspects are concerned, improvements can be made in motorcycles
and scooters by installing ABS and a combined brake system. Research is
needed for the way to make motorcycles (and mopeds) more conspicuous.
56 SWOV publication R-2004-10