Contrôle technique: What we know about the new French safety checks for motorbikes
It has been several years - and many delays and U-turns in the making - but France will finally introduce a vehicle safety test for motorbikes and scooters starting in April 2024.
After having been postponed several times over the course of nine years, the contrôle technique (roadworthiness test) for motorised motorbikes, tricycles and quadricycles, will be phased in starting in April 2024, according to a decree published in France's Journal Officiel on October 24th.
The measure will be gradually implemented, based on the age of the vehicle.
Le Monde reported that the first vehicles expected to be required to undergo the roadworthiness tests (likely sometime between April 2024 and mid-August) will be those registered before January 2017.
The announcement comes several months after France's Conseil d'État in June gave the government a deadline of two months to come up with a framework for organising the contrôle technique, in order to be in accordance with EU rules that have been in force across the bloc since 2014.
Cars and vans already have to undergo the regular vehicle safety check, but until now two-wheelers have been exempt.
READ ALSO Contrôle technique: How to save money on your compulsory French car inspection
In a previous interview in June with “Grand Jury LCI-RTL-Le Figaro”, France's transport minister, Clément Beaune revealed some details about the planned 'contrôle technique' (CT) for two-wheeled vehicles.
CTs for motorbikes will cost “around €50”, he said. The requirement will be staggered based on vehicle age in order to avoid an overwhelming rush to test centres.
All qualifying vehicles - those that are at least five years old - will be required to have a valid CT from January 1st, 2027, he said.
Vehicles will be required to have a test once they have been on the road for five years, and then have to renew their certification by passing a new test every three years after that.
Inspections will cover safety, air and noise pollution. But the tests will be "much simpler" than those for cars.
The government also plans to extend roadworthiness testing to all motorized two-wheelers, including those under 125CC. According to a European study, these smaller vehicles - of which there are an estimated four-million in France - represent "a high accident rate and could also be the source of significant air or noise pollution in cities".
Meanwhile, the French government over the summer promised a conversion bonus for more environmentally friendly two-wheelers, worth up to €6,000 from 2024.
Unsurprisingly, motorbike groups were up in arms after France's conseil d'état ruled that the contrôle technique would become compulsory.
"It's an unenforceable, useless measure whose aim is to fleece us," Christophe Bériol, president of the Fédération des bikers de France, which claims 5,000 members, said at the time.
"Paying €50 for a 15-minute inspection is prohibitive. It's four times the hourly rate of a qualified garage mechanic.
"To show our disagreement, we are inviting motorcyclists to gather around the Tour de France caravan from 10am onwards during the stages in Libourne, Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat and Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines."
Other groups, too, have voiced their anger, so expect plenty of demonstrations in the weeks and months leading up to the implementation of the law.
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After having been postponed several times over the course of nine years, the contrôle technique (roadworthiness test) for motorised motorbikes, tricycles and quadricycles, will be phased in starting in April 2024, according to a decree published in France's Journal Officiel on October 24th.
The measure will be gradually implemented, based on the age of the vehicle.
Le Monde reported that the first vehicles expected to be required to undergo the roadworthiness tests (likely sometime between April 2024 and mid-August) will be those registered before January 2017.
The announcement comes several months after France's Conseil d'État in June gave the government a deadline of two months to come up with a framework for organising the contrôle technique, in order to be in accordance with EU rules that have been in force across the bloc since 2014.
Cars and vans already have to undergo the regular vehicle safety check, but until now two-wheelers have been exempt.
READ ALSO Contrôle technique: How to save money on your compulsory French car inspection
In a previous interview in June with “Grand Jury LCI-RTL-Le Figaro”, France's transport minister, Clément Beaune revealed some details about the planned 'contrôle technique' (CT) for two-wheeled vehicles.
CTs for motorbikes will cost “around €50”, he said. The requirement will be staggered based on vehicle age in order to avoid an overwhelming rush to test centres.
All qualifying vehicles - those that are at least five years old - will be required to have a valid CT from January 1st, 2027, he said.
Vehicles will be required to have a test once they have been on the road for five years, and then have to renew their certification by passing a new test every three years after that.
Inspections will cover safety, air and noise pollution. But the tests will be "much simpler" than those for cars.
The government also plans to extend roadworthiness testing to all motorized two-wheelers, including those under 125CC. According to a European study, these smaller vehicles - of which there are an estimated four-million in France - represent "a high accident rate and could also be the source of significant air or noise pollution in cities".
Meanwhile, the French government over the summer promised a conversion bonus for more environmentally friendly two-wheelers, worth up to €6,000 from 2024.
Unsurprisingly, motorbike groups were up in arms after France's conseil d'état ruled that the contrôle technique would become compulsory.
"It's an unenforceable, useless measure whose aim is to fleece us," Christophe Bériol, president of the Fédération des bikers de France, which claims 5,000 members, said at the time.
"Paying €50 for a 15-minute inspection is prohibitive. It's four times the hourly rate of a qualified garage mechanic.
"To show our disagreement, we are inviting motorcyclists to gather around the Tour de France caravan from 10am onwards during the stages in Libourne, Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat and Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines."
Other groups, too, have voiced their anger, so expect plenty of demonstrations in the weeks and months leading up to the implementation of the law.
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