In most parts of the world, the law is pretty lax when it comes to riding gear. In fact, in the U.S., there are still a few states that don’t even have helmet laws—three, actually: Illinois, Iowa, and New Hampshire. Now, while the rest of the world requires at the very least a protective helmet, this could all be about to change in one small Middle Eastern country.
In Cyprus, the transport ministry seeks to ramp up the safety of those who rely on motorized two-wheelers for their livelihood. To do this, it doesn’t want to mandate just the use of gloves, a jacket, and a helmet, but rather a full-on airbag vest. That’s right, motorcycle professionals, meaning delivery personnel, ride sharing services, as well as those who use their motorcycles as a tool of the trade, may soon be required to fork up the dough to purchase a fancy new airbag vest. It doesn’t even matter what kind of bike you ride. If you ride a tiny 50cc moped or a Yamaha YZF-R1, you’re going to need to don an airbag vest.
Apart from the airbag vest, the proposed mandate also requires the use of a homologated helmet, padded jacket, motorcycle jeans, boots, and gloves. So, yeah, pretty much ATGATT, when it comes to motorcycle professionals, should the proposal gain approval and begin implementation. Unsurprisingly, the new bill has gained the ire of the motorcycling public in the country, as obtaining such sophisticated equipment is indeed not cheap. Setups like Alpinestars’ Tech Air system can run well over $600 USD.
On top of that, employers now carry the burden of supplying their riders with this gear, and could potentially face stringent monetary penalties, and even jail time, should they violate the mandate. Furthermore, the Cyprus Motorcycle Rights Club (CMRC) has raised concerns surrounding the bill’s reportedly unclear definition of “professional driver”, as this gives police officers the precedent to stop any rider for an inspection.
That being said, it seems that everything is going in favor of the new proposal, as the Council of Ministers has already approved it. In order for it to begin implementation, it just needs the approval of the deputies concerned. Hopefully the Ministry of Transport will clear things up, especially the confusion surrounding its implementation.
