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Yes, it’s really true, motorcyclists in Romania must carry a fire extinguisher (and much more), otherwise they face a fine.
Officially, motorcyclists in Romania must carry a fire extinguisher, a first aid kit and a warning triangle on every ride. The reason for this is that Romanian road traffic regulations do not differentiate between cars and motorcycles, so that these regulations also apply to bikers. Until now, however, the police ignored this regulation and turned a blind eye to motorcyclists.
In the meantime, however, reports are piling up that motorcyclists are now also being fined. For this reason, anger is rising in the community because it is almost impossible to carry a fire extinguisher, first-aid kit and warning triangle on most motorcycles, even though it is actually mandatory.
The Romanian motorcyclists’ association, MotoADN, has started an online petition to abolish the corresponding obligation to carry them and was able to collect almost 8,000 signatures within seven days.
FEMA (Federation of European Motorcyclists` Associations) cites reasons supporting the abolition of the carry-on requirement:
- Fire extinguishers – unlike cars, motorcycles are equipped with an emergency stop switch. In addition, the presence of a pressurized device (fire extinguisher) on a motorcycle in the event of a collision poses a real risk to those involved in the accident. Therefore, the presence of a fire extinguisher cannot be justified.
- Reflective Warning Triangles – Motorcycles and mopeds are small enough to be moved off-road in the event of a defect or minor accident. Therefore, the use of warning triangles is not required. In the event of a serious accident, where it is forbidden to move the motorcycle from the scene, the police must intervene and can secure the scene more effectively than by using reflective triangles.
- First Aid Kit – In the event of a personal injury accident, the protective equipment worn by the motorcyclist will result in minor injuries such as scratches or cuts only in combination with other, more serious problems that require the intervention of emergency services. The first aid kit is therefore useless or can even be dangerous if used by non-specialized personnel in such situations.
Răzvan Pavel, President of MotoADN: “We believe that this provision is a loophole in the law that must be corrected. With this petition, we wanted to make the voice of the Romanian motorcycle community heard, because the message must go further. We therefore call on the Romanian Parliament, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Interior to exempt motorcycles and mopeds from the application of the provisions of Article 8 of Emergency Ordinance No. 195/2002 on traffic on public roads.”
To the petition: https://survey.alchemer.eu/s3/90458501/Petitie-sustine-moto
