Are motorbikes really banned from roads in Sweden ?

Question

And what is the likeley hood of motorbikes not being allowed on our roads in Britain, which was the home of great motorbikes. I remember a minister of transport (I think his name was peter bottomley) wanted all motorbike manufacturers to design all new motorcycles with leg protector crash bars for falling off, and airbags for crashes. He tried to ban road bikes which were styled like thier racing cousins. I think if we need to make roads safer, we should provide better training for car drivers. Also research has shown that motorcyclists make good drivers, and naturally good aircraft pilots. Anyone who is anti motorbike needs educated.

Answer 1

Not that I have heard of, they are still buying, selling and riding them.

Answer 2

OP: don't know.  Remember the rest, and concur.  Unfortunately, some people hate bike riders, some just hate bikes, and most think they're unsafe.  There are inherent risks, and nothing can remove them, you just have to be good enough to avoid them, and have a little good luck when you don't.  Sadly, not always possible.  Fortunately or not, society is still prepared to accept collateral damage from far worse things, so I think we're still going to ride a while yet.

Answer 3

There has long been an 'underground' movement within the E.U. parliament to ban motorcycles.

About 15 years ago it was made public by an E.U. commissioner, Martin Bangeman, who was at the time responsible for European road safety.  He stated that it was his aim to ban motorcycles Europe-wide within 5 years.  Fortunately, he lost his post shortly after.

However, there are still E.U.commissioners who would ban us, given a chance.  Never lose sight of that fact.  If they can't implement an outright ban, they will do it by limiting power output, preventing modifications, fitting speed restrictors, raising the cost of insurance, reducing noise levels, making it harder to obtain a motorcycle licence, increasing the minimum riding age, etc, etc.

Don't let them ban us by stealth!!

Answer 4

sorry i dont know about sweden but i think in england there has always been some prejudice against motorcycles and their riders as being slovenly or violent or second class citizens.  

as an example my landlord recently came to check out the house im renting from him. when he got to the backyard he remarked 'can you get this junk out of the yard' when he clocked my morini. this bike is 32 years old and has been pampered like a baby and she really sparkles.

this is coming from a really spivvy landlord who has been an arthur daley all his life.  in england making enough dodgy money to buy a nice house and a new merc gives you the right to insult  someone elses choice of transport.

after all, how would he feel if i remarked " a tiny bloke like you looks a real t*t in a massive car like that with its stupid personal number".

i find the biggest danger on the road is close calls with cars that arent paying attention, maybe using mobile phones

Answer 5

Bikes are not banned in Sweden, and are a common enough sight, especially in summer.  

Sweden has lovely scenery, warm summers, and nice wide flat roads, I have friends who bring their bikes up from Germany and Switzerland to spend their summer vacations here.

I don't know where you heard that, but it's utterly untrue.

Answer 6

highly unlikely they're banned in sweden.

a lot of my male friends ride, and i've ridden pillion, and it can be a bit scary when car drivers don't seem to realise you're there!  they've taught me to watch out for bikes, what to look for and listen for (most modern bikes have their headlights on all the time, so you can identify them in daylight), and how to anticipate which side of my car they'll be on (normally the right hand side, but can come down the left if there's a bus lane).  As a result, i've become a far more bike conscious car driver.

I really think that drivers and bikers alike would really benefit from car drivers receiving a bit of training on how to share the road with each other, without people getting hurt.  I've worked a lot of it out for myself with a bit of help - but I was never given any tips when I was learning to drive!