Freeway motorcycling restrictions in East Asia

Freeways in some East Asian countries and areas, namely Mainland China, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan have restrictions on motorcycles that are not widely implemented elsewhere around the world, such as access restrictions, limits on carrying passengers, and different speed limits, frequently due to safety concerns.

Access and passenger restrictions

Countries and areas in and around East Asia impose access restrictions on motorcycles' use of freeways that are not widely applied elsewhere, from prohibiting motorcycles with passengers to prohibiting motorcycles altogether. Certain opponents of these motorcycle restrictions argue that slower surface roads with intersections are probably more dangerous for motorcycles and their passengers than the limited access freeways.

Mainland China

In Mainland China, two-wheel motorcycles driven on the freeways may not carry passengers. A vehicle must be capable of maintaining a speed of 70 km/h to be driven on the freeways.[1] However, in many Chinese provinces, motorcycles cannot use expressways at all.

Macau has no freeways, while Hong Kong operates under different systems than Mainland China.

Japan

In Japan, a motorcycle must have an engine displacement of more than 125 cc to be driven on freeways. Two-wheel motorcycles were not allowed to carry passengers on the freeways at all prior to 2005, but a legal amendment on 1 April 2005 has partially lifted the ban. A person aged at least 20 who has held a motorcycle driver's license for at least 3 years may now carry a passenger on a two-wheel motorcycle on a freeway, but some segments of the Shuto Expressway still prohibit passengers on two-wheel motorcycles. A motorcycle with a sidecar may carry a passenger on the freeways.

Philippines

Before June 2006, the Department of Public Works and Highways Department Order No. 123 banned motorcycles with engine displacement under 400 cc, while allowing high-power large displacement motorcycles to use the limited access highways. It was twice previously declared illegal by the Makati Regional Trial Court before the Supreme Court of the Philippines officially voided the order in June 2006, declaring that the DPWH never had the authority to declare any road a limited access highway. Therefore, none currently exists. The only legal ban applied only to limited access highways, there can therefore be no ban on motorcycles using any road in the Philippines.

As a result of tollways continuing to defy court decisions by apprehending riders and issuing penalty tickets for using the tollways, the Pasig City, Philippines Regional Trial Court ruled on 23 June 2008 that the Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC) is "immediately prohibited from collecting toll fees along South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) facilities as it no longer has the power to do so." The PNCC was commanded to "turn over without further delay the physical assets and facilities of the SLEX including improvements thereon, together with the equipment and appurtenances directly related to their operations without any cost, to the Government through the Toll Regulatory Board in coordination with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)."

South Korea

Motorcycles are forbidden on all freeways in South Korea[2] The only exceptions are emergency vehicles such as police motorcycles, army/prisoner convoy units, ambulances, etc. Additionally, there are some non-freeway roads that motorcycle riding is forbidden.

Taiwan

In Taiwan, administered by the Republic of China, the governmental agencies in charge of the traffic control of the freeways (高速公路) and expressways (快速公路) are the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (交通部) and the Ministry of the Interior (内政部) pursuant to Article 33 of the Act Governing the Punishment of Violation of Road traffic Regulations (zh:道路交通管理處罰條例).

Motorcycles, unless used for certain police purposes or emergency tunnel duties, are prohibited from the freeways due to possible safety hazards as officially claimed:[3]

  1. Freeways in Taiwan have do not have motorcycle lanes. Sharing lanes with cars and large vehicles could be very dangerous.
  2. Motorcycles are much less protected than cars, so any accident that might occur would be much worse, especially since frequent interchanges with complex traffic flows increase the dangers to motorcyclists.
  3. Taiwanese motorcyclists may not be patient, so should they squeeze between other vehicles, dangers would arise and traffic flow would be disturbed.
  4. The freeway traffic volume is over capacity and freeways need better management to relieve traffic. Allowing motorcycles would worsen traffic problems.

Counterarguments by opponents of the above reasons include:

  1. Vehicles traveling at the same speed would not collide.
  2. As most traffic accidents and crashes occur in intersections, surface roads tend to be even more dangerous for motorcycles despite common slower speeds.
  3. Proper safety education for all should reduce most safety issues.
  4. Solo car drivers switching to riding motorcycles should reduce traffic congestion.

Article 19 of the Freeway and Expressway Traffic Control Regulation (zh:高速公路及快速公路交通管制規則), effective on 1 July 2006, makes it officially possible to allow motorcycles with a cylinder capacity of more than 550 cc on certain expressways. On 29 June 2012 article 20 of the same was amended to permit the use of motorcycles over 250cc (i.e. yellow and red registration plates) on most expressways, as well as permitting the use of motorcycles over 550cc on freeways. Due to negative reactions from car drivers, police and local governments, the amendment permitting red-plate motorcycles on freeways has not been implemented on schedule [4]

When the Legislative Yuan amended Article 92 of the Act Governing the Punishment of Violation of Road traffic Regulations[5] on 12 January 2007 and the Executive Yuan ordered on 13 September 2007 to validate that amendment on Thursday, 1 November 2007,[6] a motorcycle with a cylinder capacity of at least 550 cc may be driven on most expressways.[7] While motorcycles are still banned from freeways, the Legislative Yuan has asked the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in 2007 to study the feasibility to allow powerful motorcycles on freeways by 2010.[8][9]

A further amendment on 8 November 2011 theoretically permits motorcycles over 550cc (i.e. those with red registration plates) to drive on freeways under certain conditions.[10]

Speed restrictions

Due to perceived safety concerns, freeways in certain countries and areas impose lower speed limits upon motorcycles than cars:

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Motorcycle regulation.
  1. ↑ Article 67 of the Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China
  2. ↑ (Korean) Article 63 of the South Korea Road Traffic Law
  3. ↑ (Chinese) Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau: FAQ 7: Why do freeways not allow motorcycles? at the Wayback Machine (archived November 24, 2007)
  4. ↑ (Chinese) CNN iReport: Taiwan's Legislative department passed a Law and local officials refuse to follow?
  5. ↑ (Chinese) Act Governing the Punishment of Violation of Road traffic Regulations, Legislative Yuan, amended on January 12, 2007
  6. ↑ (Chinese) Amendment history of the Act Governing the Punishment of Violation of Road traffic Regulations, Ministry of Justice (Republic of China)
  7. ↑ (English) Taipei Times: Large-engined bikes take to the nation's expressways, November 1, 2007
  8. ↑ (Chinese) Press release, Legislative Yuan, October 31, 2007
  9. ↑ (Chinese) Important traffic news, Institute of Transportation, January 13, 2007
  10. ↑ (Chinese) Act Governing the Punishment of Violation of Road traffic Regulations, Legislative Yuan, amended on 08 November 2011
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