About Right To Ride EU

Right To Ride EU was specifically focused on European issues that affect riders.

Legislation on motorcycling that comes from Europe is relentless.

The objective of this website was to keep it simple and provide information about legislation from the EU Commission, EU Parliament as well as other motorcycling issues from other European countries.

We promoted and protected that collective lump of metal, rubber and plastic that we could not live without – the motorcycle – and all that it means as part of our way of life.

And to explain to the uninitiated about why motorcycling is such an important part of the lives of millions of people.

Adieu! – Life Changes!

However we could not stay away from motorcycling issues and in 2016 we re-launched a previous blog at Motorcycle Minds.

Articles in Motorcycle Minds focus on topics with a “riders rights” slant as we aim to give fellow riders and non-riders the knowledge with which to make an informed opinion with the opportunity to comment on the issues if required, as we promote motorcycling in its various forms, the individuals and groups that ride motorcycles in all their forms.

Issues that are the basis of a passionate debate – Caring about the rights and welfare of motorcyclists!

Focus

The main focus of Right To Ride was on Northern Ireland however Europe cannot be ignored as motorcycling issues – Directives and Regulations – emanate from the European Commission and its Directive Generals (DGs) through the decision process of the European Parliament, Council, Committees and working groups.

Our main aims and objectives remained unchanged, however we reiterated that at Right To Ride we can only do this by: consultation with and support from riders; to define our position which is that there is always a line that we will not cross when engaging with authorities and decision makers, principles which we will not compromise under any circumstance.

It would be a sad day if we were not able to express our views openly and even forcefully if necessary.

We offered the chance for individual riders and motorcycle clubs to support Right To Ride with our supporters scheme.

There was no membership fees just a commitment as an individual rider or club for your support.

View all the other issues we were involved in at www.righttoride.co.uk

The Issues Around Europe

The information “out there” is available on many motorcycling websites and forums, but it is piecemeal and sometimes it is difficult for the ordinary motorcyclist to understand or find.

Furthermore, the reporting of motorcycle issues is sometimes very insular.  Although the “motorcycle community” is world wide, the in-depth reports in countries are in the user’s language and usually contained in rider organisation websites or their members’ magazines, which do not reach the rest  of motorcyclists – the non-members.  Of the 33+ million motorcycle and scooter riders in Europe, only a small percentage are members of riders rights organisations.

The mainstream motorcycle press do not generally publish in-depth articles on legislative issues, perhaps a few snippets here and there.

At Right To Ride EU our objective regarding “Rider News” was to publish on-line and in-depth articles on riders issues across Europe and even beyond.

We know that decision makers, authorities and agencies already scour through our Right To Ride.co.uk website  for information.

We asked you for any news regarding riders’ rights issues – your campaigns – promotion of motorcycling – pertaining to motorcycling in your country  – whether a riders organisation, individual motorcyclists, as a decision makers, or an authority or agency representative.

About Us

trevorbairdfirebladeTrevor Baird: born and raised in Northern Ireland was Chairman of a local motorcycle club for four years in the 1990s.

From taking part in the Bigger than Borders demo in 1995 he eventually became the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) UK’s Regional Representative for Northern Ireland, before moving to mainland UK in 2002 where he worked as a full time employee for MAG UK, first as Director of Public Affairs and then as General Secretary.

During this time Trevor was also a representative at the Federation of European Motorcyclists Associations (FEMA) which is made of twenty four national rider organisations from 19 countries across Europe.

In 2008 Trevor left MAG UK and became FEMA’s Technical Officer representing an International Coalition of organisations from Europe and the USA at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) via the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) and the Working Party on Road Traffic Safety (WP.1), returning to Northern Ireland in 2009 and setting up Right To Ride.

Trevor’s history of motorcycling is long – starting on a Yamaha DT 175MX in 1977, before getting hooked on the BMW GS styled bikes in the late nineties, moving through from the 1100GS  to the R1200GSA Adventure – but now downsized to a F800GS. In between there has been a K1200RS, a Fireblade and a motorcycle and sidecar combination.

Although dealing with riders issues, road safety is always a factor, so Trevor has been involved in the setting up of initiatives such as Ride It Right – First Aid For Riders and Biker NI Safety Cards.

Elaine Hardy, PhD: born in Australia and moved to England in 1992.

elaine1In 2003 Elaine joined MAG UK and became the organisation’s Research Officer, also representing MAG UK at FEMA from 2004 to 2007.

Between 2007 and 2009 she was FEMA’s Research Officer.

Elaine’s background is vehicle data analysis and has worked for many years with government agencies especially in the area of vehicle crime research. Previously she was the President of the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI) in the UK.

She has written numerous papers on motorcycling issues for MAG UK and FEMA.

More recently as Research Director of Right To Right Ltd, Elaine has carried out research projects including an in depth analysis of motorcycle fatalities in Northern Ireland and has presented the findings of her work at major international motorcycle conferences such as the IZF conference at the INTERMOT Fair in Cologne, Germany (2012).

In 2014 Elaine completed a study the “Northern Ireland Pedestrian Fatality Report 2014” supported by the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund. The study is an examination of n.55 collision scene reports of pedestrian fatalities from Senior Scientific Officers of the Road Traffic Collision Investigation Unit, Forensic Science, Northern Ireland (FSNI).

Along the way we looked to build up a strong team of riders to get – “Full Control”.

For a Bit of a Pictorial History