[jkdas]

Hope this one works out.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...e-licence.html

As per a proposal,

• separate license for 500cc and up
• all two-wheelers in India will have automatic headlamps on,
• There is also a plan to fit a separate horn that can alert passers-by and people around an accident site.

The following is an interesting part since we love horns in India.

The horn automatically starts blaring when a vehicle approaches an accident site. The government is also planning to incorporate these provisions in the new motor vehicles bill, said the official

[arulpeem]

Originally Posted by jkdas

[list][*]separate license for 500cc and up

This is a very good move if implemented effectively. They should stipulate that unless you have the license of a certain number of years at the lower capacity engine one should not be given higher capacity engine. Probably they should restrict it to 250 CC. A modern 500CC still is a lot of power for a beginner I suppose.

[mayankk]

Good move.
They should try and bring this around for all manners of motors, I believe.

Coming to the elephant, A special horn that starts blaring when the bike approaches an accident scene? Do they mean, if the bike has been in an accident, it will be able to detect a vehicle coming, and blare away?
Or do they mean to say that if a person on a bike approaches and accident, it will start sounding off??
In either case, how is the detection to be setup?
Is this a relevant feature to be installed?

[Rahulkool]

Originally Posted by mayankk

Good move.
They should try and bring this around for all manners of motors, I believe.

Coming to the elephant, A special horn that starts blaring when the bike approaches an accident scene? Do they mean, if the bike has been in an accident, it will be able to detect a vehicle coming, and blare away?
Or do they mean to say that if a person on a bike approaches and accident, it will start sounding off??
In either case, how is the detection to be setup?
Is this a relevant feature to be installed?

I think what they mean is that it will automatically blow the horn when the bike reaches accident prone area.

[outofthebox]

About 10 years too late but nonetheless a move in the right direction.

However I hope someone in the govt realises that they also need to look at two other critical areas in order to make this effective:

First is to do a complete rethink about the way basic bike licenses are 'handed out' in our country.

A biker is 12 times more likely to die in a crash than a car driver. But our current riding education, testing & license issuing does not reflect on that in any meaningful way.

If govt. is talking of the European A1 & A2 model, then they need to invest in comparable testing & licensing facilities too. Usually the route to a A2 license is through the A1 license - if the foundation itself is poor, then having a separate license for 500cc would be just an exercise on paper, without any actual benefits.

Then of course there is the full A license which takes a rider into superbikes category. That doesn't seem to be mentioned in the current plan anywhere.

Secondly, the roads in our country are built from scratch without a thought for the rider, leave alone the problems of badly maintained roads and lethal potholes.

Unless this infrastructure is massively overhauled, having a separate license is not going to help reduce bike accidents on the road in any meaningful way.

(Poor construction, design & maintenance of roads includes issues such as cliff-like or non existent road shoulders, improper culverts, poorly lit or underlit stretches, unmarked or dangerously contoured speed breakers, extremely poor finish & maintenance of road surfaces and joints along the direction of travel etc. a virtually non existent regime of clearing & cleaning road grime such as small gravel, debris & oil slicks etc)

[GTO]

Superb move! Riding a big bike requires an entirely different skill set & rider talent than a 150cc commuter.

Just thinking out of the box = the government should make it mandatory for superbike manufacturers to conduct rider training. Only once you have had a regular two-wheeler licence for a couple of years - and complete this training by the manufacturer - will you get a big bike licence.

Think about it - it's a win win for everyone.

- Superbike manufacturer gets to 'engage' with its customers. Shows CSR. These manufacturers have the resources for such training exercises. A nominal fee can be charged for this session to cover costs.

- Owners will benefit from the knowledge. It can be a seriously fun event that one actually looks forward to. E.g. Ford's 'driving skills for life' training was very enjoyable & insightful (link to report). Even after all these years of driving, I took away some great points. Now, I buckle up on the back seat within the city too. Imagine how much fun it would be to have a superbike training session at the Buddh - everyone would line up for it.

- The RTO is satisfied with the certificate & is assured of the person having the necessary training.

A rider (pun intended ) can be added. An individual needs to complete this course only once. 5 years later, if he buys a different superbike, he doesn't need to go through the training again (unless he wants to).

Originally Posted by arulpeem

They should stipulate that unless you have the license of a certain number of years at the lower capacity engine one should not be given higher capacity engine.

[james]

Good initiative that will just turn into a tool to harass the SBK riders.

Firstly, its going to be a pain getting the license. Everyone and their uncle has a mindset that if you can afford a SBK, you can easily afford to part with a couple of thousands as bribe. Similar case with registering luxury cars at most tier 2 and 3 city RTO's. I have no idea about tier 1.

Every time I go out for a ride, ive to be mentally prepared to be stopped a dozen times in a 100km stretch for license checking purposes. Its just going to ruin the whole experience of riding a good bike for me.

Im not against multiple grade licensing as per the engine CC. However, implementing it in India is going to be extremely difficult. All the best to the gov't and god bless the people who are going to be harassed because of this.

Cheers!

[hybridpetrol]

If Implemented, this is a very good move.
I agree with arulpeem in this, actually it will be even better if they implement such scheme starting from 250cc.
Some people buy Bullets & Ninjas without any prior ownership or riding experience of a normal two wheeler.
Actually I am of the opinion that any commuter bike need not have capacity more than 150cc. More than 150cc should be classified as Performance bikes, and the tax bracket should be different.
We have heard stories such as college kids with 250cc + bikes just for showing off, drive like crazy without any training, and ending up in terrible accidents. Such things should be prevented. One step is to make licensing strict.
The other way is, to increase the taxes, excise duties etc, while reducing the same for commuter bikes / scooters. Though this move might be unpopular among bikers, the price difference in such bikes should discourage the buyers, who "just add a few thousands" to get a bike with more CC.
Ex: Is the price difference between a Pulsar 150 and Pulsar 220 very huge?
Similarly the different licensing procedure should send clear message that you are no longer buying a normal bike.

[sukhoi30]

This is a good move albeit its come late. But as they say better late than never.

I would say why not such a move for high end cars as well? For e.g. cars like lamborghini, ferrari etc should be categorized under sports car. Govt. should "mull" having a separate driving test and a separate license for such cars.

Going back to bikes, I like GTO's suggestion of conducting separate riding tests for high end bikers.

[shankar.balan]

They can make the laws. End of the day it is all about the enforcement.
And that, sadly is where our system fails!

Yes, I agree these high end bikes really do need a different skill set.
Each weekend on the main road near my home, I can hear these bikes accelerating madly, invariably driven by some youngster. The problem is not the speed or the ability. It is more a worry about the sheer unpredictability of our roads and the various denizens who appear all of a sudden, leaving zero margin for error or correction!

[mail4ajo]

Wonderful move in the right direction, lets wait to see it enforced. I hope they give the 500cc+ licenses to riders at least 24yrs of age or after a certain number of riding years or both. Also mandate a riders course like the USA MSF for 500cc+ bikes.

[outofthebox]

Originally Posted by GTO

Just thinking out of the box = the government should make it mandatory for superbike manufacturers to conduct rider training. Only once you have had a regular two-wheeler licence for a couple of years - and complete this training by the manufacturer - will you get a big bike licence.

That is indeed an out of the box suggestion but there is a conflict of interest here.

A manufacturer would never fail anyone in this test, because it would directly impact their sales - where the global average is only about a 20% pass rate for this category.

Also, what I wonder is that the central & state governments collect taxes from about 12 million commuter bikes sold every year. That is a whopping number even by global standards. Where exactly is all this money going?

Why haven't any state or central governments invested in proper training & testing infrastructure and safer road infrastructure comparable to the standards of other developed countries till date?

In my opinion those two are far more important & graver issues impacting a much larger population, compared to the minuscule & relatively insignificant higher cc riding population.

[raghu.t.k]

I dont think this is a good idea until they cleanse the licensing and RTO system. The guys who misuse the bike could also be the same guys who misuse the system. I think they first need to streamline and make the operations of the licensing system more transparent.

Until such time they can tie up with driving schools like maruti, MRF,etc to provide separate classes for various categories of vehicles while encouraging the public to use these facilities.

[Mafioso]

Just wondering, what would be the state of people who want to own a 500cc Royal Enfield Though this bike is of 500cc , it is no where close to the dynamics of equivalent sized super bike engines. I personally feel, a Duke 390 in a novice riders hand is more dangerous than the RE 500cc.

Going to be very interesting if this really sees the light, with the on-going stalling of parliament at the drop of a hat!

[tjacob]

A recent report from Deccan Herald indicates that the Indian Road Transport Ministry is planning to introduce a separate license for motorcycles with a cubic capacity of over 500cc, somewhat similar to the A1 and A2 licensing system in Europe. Several companies manufacture and sell high end bikes in India and hence the government wants to make a separate category of license for these vehicles along with strict eligibility tests. Two wheeler license in India is currently distinguished in two types, with gear and without gear.

An official of the road transport ministry was quoted saying that the current Indian license holder can ride any motorcycle, including super bikes and this is one of the reasons for rising number of road accidents. He further added that merely having a driver’s license should not make one eligible to ride a super bike.

The authorities are working on a plan which can reduce these numbers by at least half in the next five years. The list of measures will include new safety norms such as compulsory ABS and daylight running lights. Of the 4.89 lakh road accidents in India, 27% account for two wheeler accidents.

An official of the road transport ministry was quoted saying that the current Indian license holder can ride any motorcycle, including superbikes and this is one of the reasons for rising number of road accidents. He further added that merely having a driver’s license should not make one eligible to ride a superbike.

The authorities are working on a plan which can reduce these numbers by at least half in the next five years. The list of measures will include new safety norms such as compulsory ABS and daylight running lights. Of the 4.89 lakh road accidents in India, 27% account for two wheeler accidents.


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