While welcoming the Government’s plans to permit the registration of motorcycles currently known as ‘high engine capacity motorcycles’, motorcycle owners expressed concerns about the implementation of these plans and the motives behind the Government’s enthusiasm.

“This should have been done a long time ago,” the Ceylon Motorcyclists’ Association (CMA) President Chirantha Amarasinghe said, noting that contrary to the common notion that high engine capacity motorcycles are likely to increase road accidents, their technology helps to improve the rider’s safety. He told The Daily Morning that it is therefore important to raise awareness that high engine capacity motorcycles do not necessarily pose a threat, and that their registration was not illegal in Sri Lanka before a ban was imposed to favour low capacity motorcycles.

According to Amarasinghe, the decision to allow the registration of high engine capacity motorcycles should be incorporated with several other steps to ensure the proper registration and use of these motorcycles. Among them are having a policy that ensures the safety of motorcyclists, introducing a new vehicle registration category or amending the existing one to match the capacity of these motorcycles, and implementing the driving licence based demerit system to tackle the irresponsible operation of these motorcycles. With a proper system that monitors the road safety situation and the use of these motorcycles, he added, these types of motorcycles could be used without issues.

Moreover, he expressed concerns about the political context within which the Government has paid attention to permitting the registration of high capacity motorcycles, adding that this could turn out to be just another election promise. Although many previous Governments have promised to do the same, he added, none has fulfilled their promises, thus leaving motorcyclists sceptical about any promises regarding the same. He alleged that if previous Governments had a genuine interest in taking this decision, they could have implemented it.

Amarasinghe’s comments come in a context where the Government has paid attention to expanding the engine capacity limits of motorcycles that can be legally registered in Sri Lanka.