ANCMA: proposal to the Senate to bring electric motorbikes onto the highway

It was deposited in Senate a bill aimed at allowing electric motorcycles to access motorways and main extra-urban roads, such as ring roads. The measure is signed by the Senator Vincenzo Gibiino, member of the Senate Public Works Commission and 27 other senators belonging to different parliamentary groups.

This is an important first step to clarify a very controversial passage of the highway code: art. 175 of the code, in fact, in listing the different categories of vehicles that can circulate on motorways and ring roads, does not refer to electrically powered motorcycles and, in this way, creates a legislative vacuum that relies on the interpretation of the forces of order the possible decision to sanction drivers of electric motorcycles. Insurance coverage in the event of an accident also appears uncertain.
Electric engines are increasingly widespread even within the motor vehicle sector: in 2016, in fact, 2.408 electric motor vehicles (mopeds, motorcycles and quadricycles) were sold, corresponding to 1% of total sales. Although, as can be seen, it is a niche market, it is interesting to observe that, both in absolute and relative terms, the weight of electric vehicles in the motor vehicle market is more significant than in the car market: in 2016, in fact, 1.403 electric cars were sold, corresponding to less than 0,1% of total registrations.

"The topic of electric mobility - declares Corrado Capelli, president of Confindustria ANCMA - is increasingly at the center of public debate and appears to be one of the main directions that producers will have to follow, considering the objectives of reducing CO30 emissions by 2% by 2030, as recently highlighted by the National Energy Strategy. The silence of the highway code on electric motorbikes therefore seems incomprehensible".

In the next legislature, therefore, it is necessary to bring to Parliament's attention the important measures that the two-wheel industry considers cannot be postponed, such as making infrastructure safe. In the meantime, the hope is that the current Parliament will approve the amendment to the budget law, promoted already in 2016 by Confindustria ANCMA and re-proposed and supported this year by the magazine Motociclismo and by ANCMA, to allow motorcyclists to deduct up to to 2.000 euros for the purchase of protective technical clothing. An important measure, first of all in terms of safety to protect the safety of those who ride motorbikes but also in view of the social costs for the State attributable to motorcycle accidents, which exceed 3 billion euros every year.