Editorial
The sun brought everyone out at last Saturday’s Meet. Although it was a cool start, the forecast rain failed to materialise and all riders looked forward to a great day’s riding. There was the usual chat and we welcomed a couple of new Associates beginning their journey to becoming advanced riders.
The Air Vest petition, to remove VAT on air vests, failed to get anywhere near the 100,000 signatures for a parliamentary debate. Having just 11,378 signatures and the Government’s prior response, that it had removed VAT on helmets, meant that the petition was lost. The statement did say that all taxes would be kept under review. Sounds like another way of saying that the request to remove VAT on air vests would be kept at the back of the shelf. The response seems short sighted as it’s not only motorcyclists who would have safer journeys if air vests were more affordable to negotiate the increasingly hazardous UK highways.
Moto-Gymkhana is back with a full list of events. Riders can hone their bike control skills to perfection riding the amazing courses.
Technology is making rapid advances. Police Scotland are to use DNA sprays to identify bike thieves. Ten forces in the UK are to implement AI-assisted Road Safety Cameras. This could raise significant amounts of revenue and an equal amount of complaints as the AI system gets it wrong. Still, it might help toward raising the £16 billion needed simply to bring UK highways back to a state where they don’t present an ongoing danger to the travelling public. Yamaha has stepped up with a new augmented reality system. The UK highways may be too damaged, in places, to travel safely, but you can do it in a virtual world instead.
A new article on the SAM Biker ICE card has been put out this week. It’s a timely reminder to carry your health and contact data with you at all times. The SAM Biker ICE Card is FREE, can easily be completed and updated and you can share as many as you need for family and friends. Spread the word by sharing the post on your social media feeds. As usual there is plenty more interesting material to see in your SAM Club newsletter. Happy Reading.
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