Via Action Now! EU Hands Off Biking:
There’s a raft of issues emanating from Europe that will have a profound effect on riders and the motorcycle industry generally and we must stand up. Some of them are driven by the EU Commission, like the new Type Approval and Market Surveillance Regulation that will see the introduction of compulsory ABS, the sealing of powertrains from airbox to the diameter and aspect ratio of the rear tyre, restrictions on the aftermarket industry, possible roadside checks by police or other Gov agencies to inspect emissions or for owner ‘tuning’ and more.
Reminds me of C S Lewis:
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
It’s time for a short ride.
Since we’re cribbing:
It is almost universally felt that when we call a country democratic we are praising it; consequently, the defenders of every kind of regime claim that it is a democracy, and fear that they might have to stop using the word if it were tied down to any one meaning.
-George Orwell
As as I can see it, the bigger the EU gets, the more remote it becomes from anything that a reasonable person would recognise as a democracy. The essentially unchecked power of the Commission and the rapporteurs is breathtaking; one man or woman can dictate the future of half a billion people with the click of a mouse or clatter of a keyboard.
It may be folly to try and re-bottle this genie, but – thanks again, George – the quickest way to end a war is to lose it. Let’s have a ride and a laugh, and then get on to the DfT and our MEPs.