Success: French motorcyclists' protest leads to more filtering experiments

After more than 20,000 French motorcyclists hit the streets to demand the legalization of filtering between lanes of slow moving or stopped traffic, the government was ready to listen to the bikers.

On 20 February 2021, following the end of a filtering experiment, the French motorcyclists’ organization FFMC put 20,000 motorcyclists in the street. FFMC has been asking for the legalization of this very widespread and above all very proven practice since 2011.

Marie Gautier-Melleray, Interministerial Delegate for Road Safety.

On 25 February, at the initiative of the Road Safety Delegation (DSR), the FFMC (a member of FEMA), met the Interministerial Road Safety Delegate on this subject. At the start of this meeting Mrs. Marie Gautier-Melleray assured the FFMC that a ban on this practice in the future was absolutely not envisaged; but where legalization is obvious in the eyes of bikers in France, it is not the same for the state. For the state to validate this practice and for the Highway Code to be modified, more experiments are necessary. Since the last experiment did not give convincing results, it is necessary to conduct a second one.

FFMC now wants to move forward as quickly as possible on this subject; it is necessary to define the contours of this new experiment, so that the results are irrefutable this time.

A working group will be set up by the DSR in which the FFMC will participate concerning driving license training and post-license training so that filtering is taught to as many people as possible. The emphasis will also be on targeted and detailed communication and the new experiment will be carried out in a larger number of cities.

Across France on Saturday 20 February, bikers demonstrated with the French national motorcyclists’ organization FFMC (Fédération Française des Motards en Colère), to demand the legalization of motorcyclists filtering between lanes of slow moving or stopped traffic. An official experiment ended on 31 January (Photograph: Pierre Orluc/MotoMag).

At the end of the meeting Mrs. Marie Gautier-Melleray said that she was keen to respond as quickly as possible to the expectations of the many citizens who mobilized on 20 February. While waiting for the signing of the decree which will give it the starting signal, filtering remains ‘prohibited’ and potentially riders could get fined.

FFMC therefore asks the bikers who practice it daily to adhere to the rules of common sense defined during the implementation of the previous experiment, to be extremely vigilant, and to immediately notify them if any tickets are given.

Source: FFMC

Top photograph courtesy of MotoMag