A month or so on from the government confirming a formal review of motorcycle training, testing and licensing, two things are clear: this is both a massive opportunity and a risk.
Not a tweak. Not a technical adjustment. A genuine opportunity to reset how people enter, progress and succeed in powered two-wheel transport and possibly the wider L-Category sector (mopeds, motorcycles, tricycles and quadricycles) in the UK – for the first time in a generation.
For MCIA, this didn’t happen overnight. It is the direct result of years of persistent engagement through our A Licence to Net Zero campaign, and countless conversations about safety, accessibility and the role mopeds and motorcycles can and should play in a modern transport system. That’s why the announcement matters. And it’s why what happens next matters even more.
Motorcyclists remain overrepresented in our road casualty statistics. No one in our sector disputes that. Riders account for a tiny proportion of traffic, yet a significant share of fatalities and serious injuries. That reality is exactly why licensing and training deserve serious attention – not as a way of making motorcycling harder, but as the most powerful lever we have to make it safer and therefore more attractive.
The uncomfortable truth is that much of today’s system is stuck in the past. CBT was designed in 1990. Direct Access followed in the late 1990s. Since then, the world has changed beyond recognition. How people travel has shifted. Urban mobility looks very different. Electric motorcycles and new light vehicles are becoming mainstream. And motorcycling itself has a much broader role to play – from commuting and last-mile delivery to decarbonisation and congestion reduction.
So yes, a review is overdue. And yes, it’s welcome.
What’s encouraging about the consultation is that it doesn’t start from the assumption that motorcycling is a problem to be managed. Instead, it acknowledges that better training, clearer progression and a more intelligent licensing framework can actively improve safety, while also supporting wider government ambitions.
Many of the themes will feel familiar to anyone who’s followed A Licence to Net Zero: tackling the issue of “permanent learners”; encouraging progression rather than repeated box-ticking; modernising training so it reflects today’s roads and vehicles; and using digital tools to raise standards rather than add bureaucracy.
Get this right and the upside is huge. Riders are better trained. Skills improve. Safety improves. Barriers to entry come down. Costs and complexity are reduced, and, critically, the sector is better placed to support the uptake of low- and zero-emission mopeds and motorcycles – something the government quite rightly wants to see more of.
But here’s the bit we can’t ignore.
This review marks an important shift away from car-centric road safety policy and creates a platform for motorcycle-specific solutions. That’s progress. But it also raises the risk that, if handled poorly, reform could drift in the wrong direction.
Given the safety record of our sector, there will always be a temptation to reach for restriction. More hoops. More cost. More complexity – all in the name of safety. The irony, of course, is that badly designed restrictions often achieve the opposite: deterring training, discouraging progression and pushing riders away from safer outcomes.
That’s why we need to keep making a positive, future-focused case. Opening the sector to more users – properly trained, properly supported – is not a threat to safety. It’s how safety improves.
This is also where parliamentary scrutiny really matters. Engagement from across the political spectrum, including the opposition, will be essential in keeping this debate balanced, evidence-led and grounded in real-world outcomes. Getting this wrong wouldn’t just damage riders and the industry; it would actively undermine the government’s own ambitions on road safety, net zero and urban mobility.
Over the coming months, MCIA will do what we’ve always done: engage constructively, bring evidence to the table, and speak clearly for the industry. We’ll work with members, training providers and rider groups to ensure the consultation delivers reform that is practical, proportionate and genuinely safety led.
This moment has been a long time coming. We’ve finally reached the point where reform is possible. The challenge now is to make sure it leads somewhere better – because this opportunity won’t come around again any time soon.
Tony Campbell
CEO, Motorcycle Industry Association