A new piece of road safety equipment – ‘Dynostar’ – has been designed to help raise awareness of the consequences of riding an illegal deregulated moped.
Dynostar has been developed in partnership by Medway Council, Kent Highway Services, Kent Fire and Rescue and Kent Police.
It will identify, in seconds, any moped that has been illegally modified and is able to go faster than the legal limit of 31mph.
Medway and Kent schools and colleges are being offered educational sessions to discuss moped riding and highlight the consequences of getting caught in possession of illegal mopeds. Each session will include a demonstration of the Dynostar testing equipment.
In the forthcoming months, Kent Police will be using Dynostar to carry out roadside checks.
Inspector Paul Sellwood from Kent Police said: “Our priority is reducing the number of killed and seriously injured on our roads, and motorcyclists can be particularly vulnerable when involved in a collision.
“Police will be using ‘Dynostar’ as an enforcement tool to prosecute riders who do not have driving licences or insurance to use mopeds that exceed their speed restriction. Road user safety remains of paramount importance.”
Contact Lisa Caleno at Medway Council for more information.
This would only be safe if all other road vehicles were restricted to 30mph.
Road User
+9
Easy answer is pass car test at 17 then drive any car you like, no matter the horse power. Bugatti Veyron, Ferrari, hot hatch… as long as you can afford to buy and insure. It’s nuts that you’re vulnerable on a bike anyway without being made more so by being slowed down by restrictions. For further evidence of attack on scooters £15 road tax and 145 mpg, whereas low emission cars are tax free.
Mr G, Manchester
+8
I believe there shouldn’t be a moped category. It should have been abolished years ago, and that motorcycling should start from an engine size of 125cc minimum as it stands in most countries too. This will allow 16 years olds and above to commute within the national speed limits safely and also be more environmentally friendly with fuel consumption and exhaust emissions. Also car licence holders should obtain the right to ride a 125cc category A1 motorcycle without L plate restrictions once a satisfactory cbt has been completed for the life of the licence and the certificate is kept safe with the driving licence. Also many motorcycles are manual transmission so it would be beneficial for a 16 year old beginner to learn how to shift gears correctly, so they can progress quicker onto larger bikes if they prefer. The roads would be safer with mopeds being abolished and the existing categories of motorcycles replacing it. Also I see no need for practical tests for category A1 motorcycles as a cbt should be sufficient to gain the licence after completion. Only if you want to upgrade over 125cc then practical tests should be taken.
Haider – Birmingham
+6
Moped laws in the UK should be similar to that of Portugal where there is no cc restriction. This would solve the power issue as there will be enough power 0-31mph (restricted) on say a 250cc moped. Also it will be better and greener for our economy. So give the moped category unlimited cc and power and this will solve everything. Mopeds will then be able to carry heavier loads, keep up with cars and motorcycles effortlessly within its maximum authorised speed. This in turn could abolish the use of 50cc and bring about choice for buyers of what motorcycle they would like to restrict as a moped according to what type of desired power gain they need. I’ve heard speed kills, but power can help!
Haider – Birmingham
+7
This doesn’t make any sense. How is it “dangerous” for a 50cc to go over 30 (about 45-50mph), but it’s perfectly safe for a 125 with the same frame (just a different engine) to do 60-70 mph.
Nathan – Bognor
+10
I personally find the 31mph law stupid, it is absolutely unsafe for people my age to drive at such a speed, by this I mean if you want to pull into a roundabout it’s impossible as you are facaing a hazard of collision. I used to have my restriction, but even my dad (strict) has told me to take it off as the acceleration was far too slow to use on a regular basis, it should be increased to 40 at least.
How are we meant to cope on 40MPH zones if the moped can only do 30? Sometimes not even that. In most EU countries you are allowed to ride a 50cc bike when you’re 14-15 and it can be derestricted and you are even allowed a pillon passanger, there are even less accidents.
Vick-Bedfordshire
+9
Theres more to it than the 31mph restriction. To comply with EU regs modern mopeds are restricted to 28mph and the 4 stroke ones (Chinese especially) struggle to maintain this speed, hit a hill and they could be down to 20mph.
I have over 10 years experience of riding bikes of different engine sizes on the road and believe that 35-40mph could be considered the minimum safe speed. Just enough to sit with traffic flow around town and not a few mph less than other vehicles which encourages them to tailgate etc.
The accident statistics need to be looked at again. The number of accidents involving mopeds needs to be measured against the same statistics for larger capacity bikes to see if they are significantly more likely to be involved in a collision and worth targeting specifically with the roadside dyno. Then you need to look at the number of moped accidents and see how many of them involved another vehicle, and which was at fault. Then you have to see if that accident happened when the moped was travelling over 31mph. Followed by, did the moped rider cause injury to anyone else or themself only? If so how severe? If those figures are taken into account and and it can be proved without a doubt that moped accidents are all caused by the bike being derestricted then go ahead and use a dyno.
Nathan, Bangor
+5
I think they should raise the limit on 50cc scooters to 45-50 mph – would be much safer…..most kids need em for collage or commuting to work! It would help them remain safer keeping up with the flow of traffic…..just give em a 12-month instant ban for stupid behaviour and impound the scooter!
Aaron-northants
+6
The current 31 mph restrictions are ridiculous and just make the Mopeds more dangerous overall than derestricted machines, especially in heavy traffic. As another commentor mentioned, all it does is make it harder for the rider to escape possible accidents or collisions due to the extremely low top speed and lack of accelaration. This restriction law is dngerous and should either be abolished or at least highered to over 40 mph.
John, Northamptonshire
+5
As an owner of a scooter repair and modifying business, I know this won’t stop the modifying. There’s already devices that can be attached to a scooter to restrict it, so if stopped it won’t produce more than 3bhp and won’t go more than 30mph. I personally think that no one under the age of 18 should be able to ride a scooter. Just move the current laws up by 2 years of age.
Ben – Bognor Regis
--1
This won’t resolve anything. Boys on 172s will not stop to get their bike dynoed and taken off them. The’ll happily just ringer their peds and not stop. Police are just scared thell get blown out by a ‘scooter’.
jimmy jones
+1
It should be the same with bigger bikes if the law wants to be like that.
Peter, Donny
+1
Being restricted to 30mph is dangerous, and I speak from experience. When following my friend at 30, other drivers behind get irate, follow just inches from your rear wheel and over take stupidly. My bike however, which would happily plod along at 45mph was much safer. Reason being other drivers would happily follow until it was safe to overtake. And I have moved onto a bigger bike, and it’s even safer now being able to keep up with traffic. I think it’s a stupid law they should be restricted to 30 mph speaking from experience, not just opinion.
Steve – Wiltshire
+6
I don’t think that mopeds should be restricted to 31mph because if you get someone pull out on you or something similar to that you have no power to accelerate away they should be restricted at 45-50 (proud owner of a Suzuki ts50x)
Jack West, Mids
+5
If the legal requirement is for the scooters to hit 31 – so be it. Take it or leave it. If you want more – pass your test and drive the way you want.
Dylan, Cheshire
--1
I ride an rs50 which can get up to about 60 on a nice flat road, but the second I hit a small hill or anything that makes the bike struggle. I slow down to a crawl which can make other drivers annoyed. I know most of the people riding mopeds are 16 year old chavs but you do get the odd one like me that one day wants to own a bigger bike and ride safe. All I want to say is if you want moped deaths to stop don’t let 16 year olds ride!
Lance Hall (rs 50 owner), Kent, Margate
0
this is ridiculous. scooting is not a crime!
Taylor Roanoke Va
+4
Brilliant idea! Sensible application of new technology.
Mark – wiltshire
--6