The Government held a public consultation on the proposed changes to the regulations governing the acquisition of a motorcycle licence in November 2009. After considering carefully all the views from the consultation, Ministers decided to implement the proposals set out in the consultation paper in January 2013. These changes ended automatic entitlement upgrades and introduced the requirement for younger riders to take an additional practical test before gaining access to larger, more powerful machines. Riders aged 24 and over can still take a test on a large motorcycle and gain access to unrestricted machines.

To relax the rules on motorcycle licensing would require a change in legislation; this is not something the Government is considering. To relax the rules would increase the risk of motorcyclists being killed or seriously injured. Motorcyclists have the highest casualty risk of all road user groups – they are 57 times more likely to be killed than a car occupant per passenger mile travelled. In the last five years 1,763 motorcyclists lost their lives on GB roads and the accident rate by distance travelled has not reduced over that period. Of all motorcycle incidents, casualties are most frequent among 16-20 year olds on low-powered motorcycles.

Department for Transport