Stop the Crash in Argentina – motorcycle safety given equal attention to car safety
Held over two days 10th and 11th June at the massive Autódromo Juan y Oscar Gálvez race circuit in Buenos Aires Stop the Crash again featured motorcycle safety. As elsewhere in Latin America most riders use small capacity motorcycles. Popular models include the Yamaha 125cc which is manufactured in Brazil at Yamaha’s plant in Manaus as written on the engine casing. Other major brands are also seen in huge numbers across the continent. What these small motorcycles have in common is that none of them have anti-lock braking systems. Brazil is introducing ABS but only for motorcycles and scooters above 300cc which is not relevant to most riders. Using the race circuit Stop the Crash dramatically showed the difference this technology can make. The test machine, in this case a small Honda, has to be fitted with a safety rig as even experienced riders cannot stay upright on a very slippery surface. ABS technology is no longer expensive. As we reported before from Stop the Crash in Malaysia Piaggio have fitted ABS to a base model 125cc scooter they market in South East Asia. This year India will follow the safety aspects of the European Union’s 2016 Euro 4 package and bring in ABS for the domestic consumer. This makes sense as many of the 19 million powered two wheelers produced annually in India are made for export to markets that require this technology. FIM hopes that Latin American countries will soon follow this safety trend. FIM was represented at the event by Director of Public Affairs John Chatterton-Ross. He commented: “On behalf of FIM I thank the Secretary-General of Global NCAP Mr David Ward for inviting FIM to attend Stop the Crash! The dramatic demonstrations of both car and motorcycle safety technology show decision makers what is possible now in 2018. We do not need to wait for the automated future when this can be done now. For the future these technologies will anyway be needed in new designs, so they make perfect sense for the cars and motorcycles we have now. A motorcycle fitted with ABS is just the same to ride. It has no effect on the fun of riding. Research shows that with ABS fitted riders who practice emergency braking under safe conditions rapidly improve their performance and are able to react if there is an emergency when riding on the roads.”
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