00:00 EULES has expanded to the border of Kent and with it bringing concerns for many motorists.
00:07 The idea? To reduce toxic air pollution, something the Motorcycle Action Group believe they already
00:14 have the answer to.
00:15 Nobody wants to see anybody affected by polluted air, but I think bikes move a lot freer through
00:23 traffic. They don't sit there ticking over polluting the air, they move. In terms of
00:27 total emissions they will be minuscule compared to the average car, but obviously EULES doesn't
00:33 deal with proportions, it only deals with percentage of exhaust. So even though this
00:38 is a lot smaller than the average car, this will get charged exactly the same.
00:43 The EULES requires the Euro 3 standard for motorcycles, which is actually lower than
00:48 the standards for other vehicle types. It became mandatory for all new motorcycles in
00:53 2007. The Action Group say some bikes banned are actually compliant, but the riders have
01:00 to individually pay for proof.
01:03 They just blanket ban anything before a certain year, but if you get a certificate from a
01:09 manufacturer stating that model is compliant, they accept it, but they only accept it for
01:14 that individual when they should be saying, OK, we now know all models of that year are
01:19 compliant so we'll add that to the exempt list, but they won't. The vast majority of
01:23 bikes being tested are compliant.
01:27 But the Motorcycle Action Group say proving compliance isn't the overriding issue. They
01:33 want to see more people swapping their cars for bikes.
01:37 There was a report done by a Belgian guy called Louvin for the EEC and in that he said that
01:44 if 10% of single occupancy cars shifted to motorcycles there would be a 40% decrease
01:50 in pollution and congestion. So they're killer statistics. So we feel that motorcycles should
01:55 have a blanket exemption from EULES and people should be encouraged to use motorcycles.
02:02 A Transport for London spokesperson said to tackle London's air pollution problems, we
02:07 must reduce emissions from all vehicle types in London. This is why motorcycles are included
02:13 in the EULES. Exhaust emissions regulation for motorcycles began later than for passenger
02:19 cars and have since lagged behind the trajectory of emissions controls used for other vehicles.
02:26 This means that although motorcycles may contribute a relatively small proportion of total emissions,
02:32 they can be highly polluting on an individual basis.
02:36 But for this group of enthusiasts, they hope their bikes can be part of the air pollution
02:40 solution, not the problem.
02:46 Abbey Hook for KNTV.
02:47 (fire crackling)
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