Motorcycle riding will be more severely punished

Motorcycle rodeos will be more severely punished. An end to wheelies on motorized two-wheelers, at random on neighborhood streets? Not sure...

This is one of those laws demanded by local elected officials pushed by exasperated residents. Young people who use two-wheelers, scooters, dirt bikes or other types in the streets, in parking lots or pedestrian areas, are frightening and are not stopped, while the average car driver feels watched and subject to a fine for the slightest transgression. Gendarmes and police officers see 6,000 of these types of rodeos per year.

The law, passed by 94 votes in favor and one abstention, provides for one year of imprisonment and a fine of €15,000. A penalty aggravated if the person arrested has consumed alcohol or drugs. And above all, vehicles may be confiscated. Then destroyed, which has already happened in Dreux (Eure-et-Loir).

The effectiveness of the law is based on the arrest of offenders. Here, the police and gendarmes come up against two problems. First, the use of a two-wheeler in wheeling is often spontaneous. A start at a red light or in a parking lot... The offense does not last. Then, the intervention of a police car causes a getaway, on a motorcycle, with a driver who is not necessarily gifted and who very quickly finds the limits of his abilities. If he masters wheeling in a straight line, the rapid pursuit in the middle of pedestrians, cyclists and other users increases the risk of an accident. The action of the police therefore ends up increasing the danger. For the offender: there have been injuries and deaths. For passers-by too. Then there remains the case of "regular" rodeos, gatherings on summer evenings in this or that area... Here, it is necessary to deploy more significant resources to control groups.