The Norwegian government has allocated money to a number of road safety projects, but motorcyclists are completely ignored. Motorcyclists’ organisation NMCU is not amused…

In the state budget for 2024, the government ignores road safety work for motorcyclists again. NMCU – a member of FEMA – applied for funds to continue to carry out road safety work for motorcyclists, in line with the decisions of the National Transport Plan for which NMCU has been given responsibility. However, NMCU did not receive any funds, which it is very disappointed and surprised by.

“How are we to achieve results without effort? If the government should be in doubt, it is limited how much can be achieved without funds. Over several years, NMCU has had a close dialogue with the authorities?”, says Ole Jørgen Dønnestad of NMCU’s central board. “The National Transport Plan 2022-2030 deals with road safety, where motorcyclists are also highlighted as a highly accident-prone group that must be worked on specifically. It is very regrettable that the government deliberately fails to include NMCU in the state budget so that we would have had the opportunity to strengthen our intensive work for safer traffic conditions for motorcyclists in the country. In the National action plan for traffic safety on the road 2022–2025, NMCU alone or together with other actors is responsible for 7 of the measures mentioned. This is more than any of the other road safety organisations.”

How the grants for 2024 are divided:

• 65.8 million NOK (€5,743,993) for Safe Traffic
• 4.5 million NOK (€392,826) to the Cyclists’ National Association
• 2.6 million NOK (€226,966) to ITS Norway–0.6 million DKK for the Transport Economics Institute Traffic Safety Handbook
• 2.3 million NOK (€200,777) to Young in traffic – No friends to lose
• 5.0 million NOK (€436,473 ) for the grant scheme for traffic safety measures
• 1.0 million NOK (€87,294) for the Traffic Safety Municipality of the Year award.

“If you spend your entire budget on measures that do not target motorcyclists, and without allocating funds to the group that has the best expertise in motorcycling, and then complain that motorcyclists are not getting better, then it is something that is jarring, says Ole Jørgen Dønnestad of NMCU’s central board, “Road safety for motorcyclists should be included in the state budget.”

Written by Wim Taal

Source: NMCU

Top photograph courtesy of Dominique Faymonville

This article is subject to FEMA’s copyright