18 replies to this topic

[Shooter63]

The thing that makes me laugh about this is that it's been around for ages, only now does the MSA do anything about it, if they carry on like they have with the ROPS regs it'll be the biggest sh*t storm ever.

Shooter

[Cooperman]

To be fair, the MSA and the equivalent motorcycle organisation have been 'on the case' for a long time now. In fact ever since it came to light.

At first no-one thought it a big threat and that common sense (in the EU?) would prevail.

Now that we are into the last knockings of the consultancy period the MSA are having a big final push to get those who have been apathetic so far to respond.

 

I was in contact with the governing body for gliding (my other sport) several months ago and they had heard nothing about 'Vnuk'. The CEO of the British Gliding Association, which represents the 90+ gliding clubs in the UK, immediately set up an action group to fight this as the consequences to gliding are also very serious. Most of our airfield-only vehicles are un-insurable and are driven by 14-year-olds, 14 being the age at which young pilots can legally fly solo.

 

However, when the 'powers that be' are faced with every motor-racing circuit in Europe closing down and sacking its staff, the F1 World Championship having all its events outside Europe, motor-sport businesses closing with huge redundancies, high-tech as related to motor-sport moving outside Europe and all motor-sport dying in Europe, the reactions and response will be immediate. There are literally millions of motor-sport enthusiasts who will react with barely restrained anger if all motor-sport ends in Europe.

 

One problem would be with the means of identifying every non road-going vehicle. Would a garden tractor or a golf buggy have to carry number plates? Would the police come into a front garden and ask to see the insurance certificate in respect of an 11-year-old cutting the front lawn for his dad? Would we even have enough police to even begin to ensure compliance or civil servants to issue some sort of registration document and number plate for every child's electric ride-on car, every golf buggy, every purely off-road farm vehicle, every fork-lift-truck used in factories and warehouses, every racing car, every off-road and racing motor-cycle, every lawn tractor.

 

The madnes of this proposal will shortly become obvious even to the Euro-crats in their ivory towers.

[DeadSquare]

Over the bank holiday W / E, I was chatting in a pub to a chap who it transpired is a retired Lloyd's Underwriter, and I brought up the 'Vnuk' issue.

 

I gathered that a minimum of £75-00 of any insurance policy is the paperwork,  so with a 1/3rd margin, any policy starts at £100-00.

 

Having downed another pint, he pulled out his i-thingy and skimmed through endless pages about it, and could find no insurance company any where that actually offers a policy.

 

His immediate tongue-in-cheek reaction, was to corner the market with a £250-00 third party policy with unlimited cover, to comply with the regulations, but limited to a "wheels in motion clause" maximum of £100-00, and the small print would exclude all wheels being 'locked' at the point of impact.

 

England's problem (and most of Europe's) is that the EU mandarins didn't go to English prep-schools and get taunted with  "Silly questions get silly answers".  But there, if they stopped coming up with daft ideas, they would all be out of a job !

[Cooperman]

As I have mentioned before, it is not only motor-sport that would be stopped by this legislation.

I also fly gliders and we use a lot of old not-MoT's vehicles on our airfield. They are heavily modified for airfield use and would never pass any sort of roadworthiness tests. There is no way we could insure them for 3rd party risks as specific vehicles, but we are covered by our all-risks club insurance. 

The 'Vnuk judgement' requires each and every vehicle to have its own policy.

Personally I don't think Vnuk will be enacted as it is written and there are a lot of organisations such as the MSA, British Gliding Ass'n, Motor Cycle Union, and many others.

Let's hope common sense prevails.