France – The motorcycle press, rider organisations and some clothing suppliers here in France are reporting that from the 20th November 2016 it will be mandatory by law, to wear gloves for motorcycle drivers and passengers (rider or pillion), motor tricycle, quadricycle motor or moped.
This follows a decree (No. 2016-1232) issued on the 19th September 2016 which aims to, “Limit serious injury to hands and forearms” the decree states that the gloves worn are marked according to glove regulations relating to personal protective equipment when traveling.
These regulations would be EN 13594:15, which is the “new” European Standard applied to protective gloves for motorcycle on-road use. The standard specifies, “The requirements for sizing, ergonomics, innocuousness, mechanical properties, impact protection, marking and information for users.”
It would appear that this standard includes two different types of test results and labelling of gloves for – for abrasion – length of glove – test for remaining on the hand – strength of seams – impact etc so a rider may be able to wear a “lesser” protective glove.
The compliance with this requirement may be checked by police and riders may be penalized if not wearing the correct gloves, a fine for offences of the third class – €68 fine or €45 payment if the fine is paid within 15 days – increased to €180 euros if not, plus an automatic reduction of a point from the rider’s driving licence – riders get the point back after two years without any further offence.
The compulsory wearing of gloves does not apply to drivers and passengers of motorcycles, tricycles, quadricycles engine or mopeds equipped with seat belts and doors.
MOTO MAG.com the magazine of the French riders group FFMC – Fédération Française des Motards en Colère asks, “Will other motorcycle equipment soon become mandatory?”
They say that, “Neither the government nor the Road Safety at the Ministry of Interior have yet to speak on other obligations. However, the first obligation of wearing gloves is a recommendation of the report of the Prefect (state representative/ civil servant) Guyot, “Personal protective equipment for motorized two-wheelers,” delivered to the two-wheeler Committee of the National Road Safety Council (NSRF) at the end of 2012. The prefect recommended in order to generalize the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) for two-wheelers, to start with the requirement to wear gloves, then, once this obligation has been accepted, to gradually make mandatory other equipment.”
FFMC itself says, “The FFMC has always opposed to the requirement to wear gloves while advocating … always full use of protective equipment. In other words, it is not against the wearing of gloves that FMWC protests, but against the fact that they become “mandatory” adding that, “In fact, this obligation of wearing gloves is mostly a measure “cosmetic” for the government that wants to believe that it is for road safety” and “spoken by people who decide for us without even listening to our proposals.”
How to make this clear this is a French regulation using European standards, it is not a European Regulation so will have no effect in other European countries.
However looking at our own gloves, not bought yesterday but from “reputable” manufacturers we can find no CEN markings, but would be older markings anyway and whether these older markings/older standard would be compliant with this new French regulation.
Another thing is this article is just informative and does not go into the realms of freedom of choice, as freedom of choice and road safety injury protection from proposed government regulations rarely mixes but education in our minds may be a better approach than compulsion.
That depends on whether your audience listens, as we suspect the regulation is aimed at younger riders of smaller cc bikes and mopeds and should see a reduction in government taxes e.g. VAT for those that are probably the least likely to afford the necessary riding equipment that older riders take for granted.
So those young riders and those of us who live in France now need to shop around and be aware of what the CEN Standards for PPE motorcycle gloves are and trust their reputable motorcycle accessory supplier or internet purchase. More importantly is whether the Gendarmerie and French Police are aware of these standards. Do they understand the difference between old CEN standards, new CEN standards or whether a reputable glove does what is intended?
One thing is for sure no matter what the CEN (PPE) markings are and what claims for waterproofing or water repellent is, we have never had a pair of gloves that do not leak at some stage, so are standards more important than wet/cold/soggy gloves that turn the lining inside out when you take them off?
Sources via Google Translate
FFMC – Fédération Française des Motards en Colère
CEN European Committee For Standardization
I’m really glad I was able to ride in Europe back in the good old days before all the BS. I wouldn’t roll my eyes so much at the concept of “personal protective gear” if there were scientifically-supported advantages to doing so.
In societies where medical care is universal, I suppose the state does have a mandate to require a person to protect themselves, so as to reduce the costs to society. If that’s true, then any activity likely to result in injury could be regulated so as to reduce costs to society. For instance, should a mountaineer be required to wear approved protective gear?
I am not being facetious here. Let’s imagine a mountain climber who slips and falls a few thousand meters. Wearing a protective jacket might help keep his flesh and bones packaged, making it much easier to clean up the remains. Let’s note that the protective jacket might also contribute to the fall, and that in the event of a fall, it’s highly unlikely any protective gear will prevent fatal injuries.
If we apply this same logic to motorcycling, let’s imaging a motorcycle driver who fails to negotiate a curve and smacks into a rock wall at speed. The wearing of protective gear might help prevent injuries if the person survives, and that would help reduce the costs to society. However, in the event the impact forces are great enough, protective gear will not be capable of preventing fatal injuries. Protective gear will make it easier for the responders to keep flesh and bone packaged.
There are scientifically supportable reasons why “protective” gear cannot do much to prevent fatal injuries. The primary reason is that when the human body makes a quick stop against some massive object, the forces aren’t primarily from the massive object into the body, but the body parts all possessing kinetic energy that causes them to self-destruct.
For instance, when a motorcyclist slams into the side of a lorry, the problem isn’t the lorry striking the motorcyclist; it’s that the motorcyclist’s body parts were all moving along at the impact speed. Let’s say the rider’s knee slams into the lorry door and decelerates very quickly. The rider’s heart, brain, spleen, liver, etc. don’t come to an immediate stop; they try to jam into the inside of the knee. And human organs just don’t take well to sudden decelerations. For instance, the brain sloshes around inside the helmet, mushing itself.
So, “protective equipment” such as armor can’t do much to prevent body parts from self-destructing.
Back to gloves. Armored gloves will very likely help prevent abrasions to the hands in a slide. But the armor can’t do much to prevent the wrist bones from breaking as they jam up into the hand.
Personally, I don’t think the science behind “protective gear” is advanced enough for governments to mandate the wearing of it. And may I suggest that motorcyclists are not very clever about the dynamics of crashes, either. Perhaps if we got a little better educated, we would comprehend why governments are not “smart” enough to mandate safety. Once a crash is set in motion, the outcome for a motorcyclist is a crap shoot.
My personal opinion about protective gear is that it’s primary purpose is to avoid distractions that might otherwise cause a crash. IOW, if my gloves help avoid hypothermia that would distract me from the road ahead, that’s the best type of “protective gear”, and it helps protect the entire body. Avoiding the crash dramatically reduces the potential for injury.
More On Confusion – Gloves France
FFMC and their motorcycle magazine MotoMag.com have highlighted the continuing confusion over the mandatory wearing of CE approved gloves – translations via Google Translate.
FFMC are asking riders who have been “verbilized” while wearing CE approved gloves to contact them so that they can build a, “file with the best possible support to demonstrate (and dismantle) the repressive logic of this measure”.
Bearing in mind a fine for this offence is of the third class – €68 fine or €45 payment if the fine is paid within 15 days – increased to €180 euros if not, plus an automatic reduction of a point from the rider’s driving licence – riders get the point back after two years without any further offence.
MotoMag.com give the example of a young rider who bought gloves without the necessary new CE label, on checking with the manufacturers the gloves are CE approved to the necessary standards, the manufacturers provided the certification documentation.
Although a senior police officer is sympathetic the advice is to carry certification paperwork with you in case you are stopped by the police – not very practicable. Recently MotoMag.con say that, “a police operation in Paris in mid-July resulted in the verbalization of 44 people for wearing non-compliant gloves.”
“To help the Federation, send a copy of your PV to communication@ffmc.asso.fr with the brand and model of the gloves worn as well as the circumstances of the verbalization. With these testimonies the Federation intends “to demonstrate (and dismantle) the repressive logic of this measure”. All you have to do is remove your gloves (for once) and put yourself on your keyboards.”
Would be interesting to know if “foreign” riders to France have been verbalized.
Sources: FFMC – MotoMag.com
This perhaps gave the impression that riders would have to throw away their present CE approved gloves to remain “legal”..
However, picked up from the French rider group FFMC was a report on Facebbok that at a major motorcycle event their authorities were checking riders gloves – Humeur : La saison des prunes! – via google Translate
It would appear that the authorities are not aware of the regulations that stipulate that CE-certified gloves are perfectly legal, even if they were manufactured before the new standard and French regulations (Decree) were introduced.
This saw the introduction of a label (pictogram) with the motorcycle symbol affixed!
From the French website – Gants moto homologués CE via Google Translate
“The decree aims primarily to punish those who ride without wearing gloves. If you are penalized while your gloves have the CE 89/686 label but no bike pictogram, do not hesitate to defend your rights to recover your license point.” – “Do not throw away your gloves with their CE label, they remain valid for motorcycling.”
As for riders coming to France – wear CE approved gloves – not motorcycle styled gloves – and then good luck at the side of the road…………………if inspected by police!
Thanks Pamela for the comment.
It is a bold move to go straight past the compulsory wearing of gloves,( CE Mark or non ) too, you must wear Gloves which bear the CE Mark whatever your thoughts are for or against.
Congratulations, Great links at the end which give an uncluttered, clear status of the required standards and brief history of how they were arrived at. However the Standards are not a perfect science as the test methodology adopted by the test houses can leave a lot to be desired. Can be extremely subjective.
Update – FFMC – 33 – Gironde
FFMC – 33 – Gironde part of the national riders group in France have released a reminder on the mandatory wearing of approved gloves in their country which came into force on the 20th November 2016.
Reminder of the position of the FFMC: “We are against the “obligation” under the threat of verbalization and withdrawal of points on the driver’s license, no life is at stake and the non-wearing of gloves does not threaten the integrity Of others. The FFMC believes that, in terms of road safety, it is better to incite than to oblige, according to the idea that a convicted person knows what to do to protect himself and that he can also try to convince others ‘Has always done the FFMC), whereas a coerced person tends to refuse coercion!”
What exactly does this new constraint of the state say?
Every driver and passenger of a motorcycle, scooter, moped, quad and tricycle must wear a pair of gloves complying with European standards for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
It is verifiable by the presence on the internal labels of the gloves, the CE logo and a driver who drives his bike with (or not) the mention 1 KP or 2 KP.
An article presenting the logos is available on the website L’Equipement.fr – Update on protection equipment for bikers in a jungle of technical terms – via Google Translate
A fine of 68 € (45 € if payment within 15 days) and a withdrawal of a point on the driving license are foreseen in case of not wearing gloves, also if the latter are not certified!
Article FFMC – 33 – Gironde – Via Google Translate
L’Equipement.fr – Update on protection equipment for bikers in a jungle of technical terms – via Google Translate
They did try education – video from two years ago – with over 2,700,049 views
A bit of French attitude to the law!
Picture via – Manuel Lapert
On Facebook
Just in case you are thinking of missing out France and heading to Belgium – “Motorcyclists: Motorcyclists riding in Belgium, including foreigners, must wear protective clothing, i.e.: gloves, jacket with long sleeves, trousers with long legs or overall, and boots protecting the ankles.”
Source – RAC RAC