Call for tighter off-road bike rules

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Off-road motorcycles should be kept off public roads and confined to approved riding areas under new age, training and safety rules, lawyer Jassim Al Essa has said after recent deaths and injuries involving bikes.

He called for Bahrain’s motorcycle rules to be reviewed, with compulsory helmets and protective gear, training requirements and clear duties for those running tracks and other riding sites.

Al Essa said Bahrain’s traffic law already covers motorcycles, licences and road safety, but recreational and off-road riding has grown in ways that the current rules do not spell out in enough detail.

‘It is not enough to decide who can ride a motorcycle and the minimum age,’ he said. ‘We must also decide where it can be ridden.’

He said riding on a purpose-built motorsport track was far removed from taking the same bike through a housing area, along an unsuitable road or into open ground used by children and families.

The issue has gained weight after deaths and injuries linked to motorcycle crashes.

Al Essa said each case should be investigated on its own facts and warned against blaming any person or body before inquiries are complete. But he said serious crashes should also force lawmakers to ask how the next death can be stopped.

‘The question we must ask is: can we prevent the next accident?’ he said.

Motorcycles, he said, are now widely used for sport and leisure as well as transport, with off-road bikes often ridden in desert, coastal and other open areas.

The danger rises when a powerful bike is treated as a toy, he said.

‘A motorcycle, whatever its size or type, can become dangerous within seconds if it is ridden in the wrong place, by someone who is not qualified, or without the right safety equipment.’

Al Essa said the answer was not a ban on motorcycles or curbs aimed at people who enjoy the sport.

Instead, Bahrain could provide safe, equipped and licensed places where riders can practise away from homes and public roads.

Rules should draw a clear line between bikes built for road use and those meant for off-road riding, he said. They should also state where each kind can be used, the minimum age for riders, what training is needed and what safety kit must be worn.

Track and site owners should also have clear duties, while riders who put other people’s lives at risk should face tougher punishment, he said.

Al Essa also called for a clear way to police unregistered bikes and motorcycles that were never built for public roads.