EU Personal Transport Safety Standards Act

Spain

To me, this act is a no. And Councillor Tilkannas has put it so simple that I am not able to sum it better than she has: our Union is not a nanny state. But first of all, I would like to welcome the newly elected Internal Affairs Commissioner, former Councillor Roscoe; and her personal and very devoted to him spokesperson, who also happens to be Councillor Hook, representing the United Duchies. I suppose that, as I expected, this Commissioner is just a muppet of the Duchian Government to impose their crazyness on us all. This seems to be the beginning.

Let's get to the content of this proposal that has not been discussed yet: Article 2 is unnecesary. In fact, many European positions are not filled right now, but Commissioner Roscoe comes here and proposes yet another agency to regulate this. Yet, do not believe this will be a small agency - it is not - as every nation will have not one but two seats. Commissioner, who guarantees neutrality here? Because you are as well giving the agency the power to stop the sales of any car model that does not adjust to the likings and regulations imposed by this act. How are we expected to believe in neutrality when your home nation's Councillor is acting as your defender in this debate?

The rest has been said by Councillor Tilkannas. Spain will vote against this act in any case.

Donald Tusk
Council Speaker and Councillor for Spain

BrumBrum

This does not give the ability to stop sales you need to be literate and learn what road legal means. It means able to be used on the road. You can still sell bikes, cars and vehicles without these systems they just wouldn't be road legal. These are not controversial requirements, I don't know of many cars on the market today that don't have these systems onboard and yes some implementations may be bad but most are not and if anything thats a reason for the bad manufacturers to improve their systems not to ditch it because a few manufacturers can't design cars properly. If you oppose this you are essentially saying "my car manufactaurers are shite and I have no confidence in them to create safe and working systems" . Also on bikes who doesn't buy lights, and high viz and who doesn't buy indicators or mirrors if they are sensible. They are things that cost maybe a few hundred euros max in total for even the most expensive systems but can save your life and make cycling much easier , more so if they are designed into the bike to begin with.

Voting against this is voting for deaths of 10's of thousands of Europeans per year and consigning 10's of thousands of pedestrians per year , cyclists and drivers to a death sentence. These are common sense aids to have on bikes and cars. I hope you mr Tusk can too explain to the mother who loses her son that her son or daughters life needed to end because some people needed a car to be a few thousand euros cheaper or their bike to be 200 euros cheaper.

As for article two it is necessary as it gives the nationstates control over the agency and having a centralised agency to do the tests and approvals and recommend changes in which they could recommend changes to lane keeping assist for example if its over sensitive is just more efficient. Its better to have one central agency in Europolis testing the cars for safety than have to pass a test in over 20 countries as is presently the case because standards may be different in Spain than the Duchies. With this for example Seat could design a car in Spain test it once in Europolis then sell it in every country saving money on design and testing costs lowering the costs of cars sold to the consumer while still maintaining confidence in the safety of the car. The alternative is 20+ different standards wit 20+ different roadworthiness tests adding thousands of Euro's to the cost of a car. Unless you are saying Spain has no road safety agency or tests to see if a car is safe before it can go on sale in which case how can anyone feel safe buying Spanish products.

Skye Hook , Councillour for United Duchies

BrumBrum

I propose the following amendment to ease some concerns over numberplates:
Article 4: Safety Standards for Bikes and Scooters
~~I.All newly manufactured bikes and scooters must have a registration plate on back and front readable by cameras to be road legal~~
III.All newly manufactured bikes and scooters must have indicators visible from the rear and front to be road legal
II~~III~~.All newly manufactured bikes and scooters must have mirrors to be road legal
III~~IV.~~ All newly manufactured bikes and scooters must have working front and back lights to be road legal
IVV.All newly manufactured bikes and scooters must have working brake lights in order to be road legal
VVI.Any 2 wheeled Personal Electric Micro-mobility Vehicle may only have 500 watt motors and a maximum assisted speed of 30 km/h, GPS assist speed limiters and cut out to be road legal
VI~~VII~~.Motorcycles must meet all the above regulations and have anti-lock braking systems in order to be road legal. The speed on motorcycles allowed shall be decided by nationstates.

Skye Hook

Spain

Councillor Hook, with all due respect to the introduced legislation: the European Union is culturally diverse. It is not our job to end with those cultural differences, but to respect them. And observing the record of proposals made by Duchian Councillors, there is a trend whose conclusion is that you do not understand our differences. I would like to remind you, because it is my job as Speaker, that this Council, under my point of view, is expected to respect the union in diversity that forms one of the pillars of our Union. The introduction of legislation, may it come from the Commission, may it come from any Councillor, should be as respectful with our diversity as possible.

Donald Tusk
Council Speaker and Councillor for Spain

BrumBrum

I understand that but there is also the matter of what the EU and the Council is here for. One of those things is harmonisation of standards to make trade easier. The other is protecting the safety of the European people which this aims at doing. Whenever something is proposed in the interests of the European people its seen as a Duchieism. Why shouldn't we propose policies that work in the Duchies well to protect people to the council to make those wider? Why shouldn't Spain do the same if they have a policy that works? I'd have no issue with Spain proposing a policy thats worked well in their country across the EU as thats what this chamber is for sharing good ideas that ultimately make a safer better EU for all. If your country has things that work better safety wise than Duchies we'd be more than happy for you to share it in the council also.

Skye Hook.

Istkalen

It is simply not the responsibility of this Union to impose the highest, most bleeding-edge possible standards on its member-states. That is the prerogative of the member-states. While, as I have made clear, I am not opposed in principle to a set of basic regulations for motorized vehicles, this proposal is simply too extreme.

Iras Tilkanas
Councillor for the Republic of Istkalen

BrumBrum

In the spirit of compromise I am Willing to propose an amendment
Article I:Definitions
I.Personal Automobile:Any vehicle with 4 or 3 wheels above 500kg with a fixed or convertible roof that is powered either an electric or combustion engine.
II.Motorcycle: A powered two-wheel motor vehicle by either electric or combustion engine
III.E-Bike: A motor-assisted or driven, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other.
IV.E-Tri-cycle: A small vehicle like a bicycle with two wheels at the back and one at the front either powered by pedal , electrically assisted or by a motor.
V.E-Scooter: A vehicle ridden while standing that consists of a narrow footboard mounted between or atop two wheels tandem that has an upright steering handle attached to the front wheel, and that is moved by pushing with one foot or an electric motor.
VI.Light Personal Vehicle:Motor vehicles with four or three wheels whose unladen mass is not more than 500kg
VII.Personal Electric Micro-mobility Vehicle:Any powered bike , scooter or Light Personal Vehicle powered by electric or electrically assisted with a battery system on board.

Article 4: Safety Standards for -E-Bikes and E-Scooters
I.All newly manufactured E-bikes and E-scooters must have a registration plate on back and front readable by cameras to be road legal
II.All newly manufactured E-bikes and E-scooters must have indicators visible from the rear and front to be road legal
III.All newly manufactured E-bikes and E-scooters must have mirrors to be road legal
IV.All newly manufactured E-bikes and E-scooters must have working front and back lights to be road legal
V.All newly manufactured E-bikes and E-scooters must have working brake lights in order to be road legal
VI.Any 2 wheeled Personal Electric Micro-mobility Vehicle may only have 500 watt motors and a maximum assisted speed of 30 km/h, GPS assist speed limiters and cut out to be road legal
VII.Motorcycles must meet all the above regulations exept Article 4 VI and have anti-lock braking systems in order to be road legal. The speed on motorcycles allowed shall be decided by nationstates.

Skye Hook

Sertia

I have been listening closely to this debate, and I appreciate both the objections from the Spanish and Istklenian councillors, and the compromise proposed by Cllr Hook.
The most prominent concern--I am nearly certain--is that this act doesn't account for the economic and cultural diversity of the EU. And I have to agree, Cllr Hook. This act would require the least amount of work from higher income nations--such as the Duchies--and the most from the lower income nations, such as my constituency (Sertia).
That's not the only problem in this category. Imagine how people would see, as Cllr Tilkannas already perceives it, a massive piece of regulatory legislation enforced by those in Europolis. Is there a better way to turn the public against the 'legislative elite '? Even from our fellow councillors there are already defensive responses within this vein.
For us in Sertia, the legislation would be no problem. We could enforce this whilst sat back watching rubbish TV. Do you know why? Because in Sertia we have less than 300 cars total. And there are scarcely any more versatile or transferable regulations to alternative modes of transport, such as horse carriages.
I do think that this act would be useful for us, though. With the expansion of personal transit, E-bikes and electric scooters are becoming more and more commonplace ans they require regulation. So on that point I applaud the intentions of this act.
So in a way, I understand the concern of the Spanish and Istkalenian councillors. However, I think the issue is quite easily rectifiable. We'll need an amendment which requires multiple chapters of the Transport Board to govern locally. I therefore propose the following amendments:

Amendment V: Article 2 Section VI: In cross-border areas where a similar mode of transport is utilised, a local chapter of the EU Personal Transit Safety Board must be established to create suitable regulations for the locality. Regions located within a single country must permit the Board to establish a chapter there before they can do so.

BrumBrum

I do understand concerns the reason I think it is important for those features to remain is this is about life and death. I wouldn't personally want to explain to a parent of a dead child about why their child died to save a little bit of money on the production costs of a car. The sensors and cameras for lane keep assist are already essentially on the car anyway in most circumstances for features such as parking assist or cruise control. The only real extra cost is a little extra coding. All cars nowadays tend to have GPS units as GPS is very cheap , so much so even most cars at the lowest price points have those systems. This act would barely add any extra cost to cars and bikes but would save 10's of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of lives per year. Surely that is worth the cost of adding maximum of a few thousand euros per car or a few hundred euros per E-Bike or possibly even bike and scooter.

After all if one can afford a 1,000 Euro E-Bike or a 14,000 Euro car new can they not also afford an extra few thousand Euros or few hundred Euros for the extra safety features. This is an argument essentially over spending cents on the Euro to get lifesaving results that could save 10's or hundreds of thousands of lives especially those of children who are the most vulnerable road and street users.

Skye Hook , Councillour for United Duchies

Spain

Debate is now over. It is time to vote on the proposed amendments. There are EIGHT amendments up to vote:

Amendment I - Proposed by Cllr. Iras Tilkanas

Article I: Definitions
I. Personal Automobile:Any vehicle with 4 or 3 wheels above 500kg with a fixed or convertible roof that is powered either an electric or combustion engine.
II. Motorcycle: A powered two-wheel motor vehicle by either electric or combustion engine
III. Bike: A ~~human-powered or~~ motor-assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other.
IV. Tri-cycle:A small vehicle like a bicycle with two wheels at the back and one at the front either powered by pedal with ~~electrically assisted~~ electrical assistance or by a motor.
V. Scooter:A vehicle ridden while standing that consists of a narrow footboard mounted between or atop two wheels tandem that has an upright steering handle attached to the front wheel, and that is moved by ~~pushing with one foot or~~ ,in part or in whole, an electric motor.
VI. Light Personal Vehicle:Motor vehicles with four or three wheels whose unladen mass is not more than 500kg
VII. Personal Electric Micro-mobility Vehicle:Any powered bike , scooter or Light Personal Vehicle powered by electric or electrically assisted with a battery system on board.

Amendment II - Proposed by Cllr. Iras Tilkanas

Remove Article 2

Amendment III - Proposed by Cllr. Iras Tilkanas

Article 3: Safety Standards for Personal Automobiles
I. All newly manufactured Personal Automobiles must have indicators visible at the back and front of the vehicle to be considered road legal
II. All newly manufactured Personal Automobiles must have working brake lights in working order to be considered road legal
III. All Personal Automobiles must have working daytime running tail and headlights to be considered road legal.
IV. All newly manufactured Personal Automobiles must have working seat belts, anti-lock braking systems, ~~drowsiness detection systems, intelligent speed assistance ,~~ accurate tyre pressure monitoring, ~~lane keeping assist,~~ blindspot monitoring systems, door mirrors, internal central mirrors ,~~GPS based speed limiter systems (on by default),~~ safe crumple zones and front and rear airbags to be considered road legal.
V. All Personal Automobiles must have number plate holders and number plates on the back and front of the vehicle readable by cameras to be road legal
VI. Personal Automobiles designed for purely track based or motorsport use are exempt from these requirements but may not be used on public roads

Amendment IV - Proposed by Cllr. Iras Tilkanas

Article 4: Safety Standards for Bikes and Scooters
I. All newly manufactured bikes and scooters must have a registration plate on back and front readable by cameras to be road legal
II. All newly manufactured bikes and scooters must have indicators visible from the rear and front to be road legal
III. All newly manufactured bikes and scooters must have mirrors to be road legal
IV. All newly manufactured bikes and scooters must have working front and back lights to be road legal
V. All newly manufactured bikes and scooters must have working brake lights in order to be road legal
~~VI.Any 2 wheeled Personal Electric Micro-mobility Vehicle may only have 500 watt motors and a maximum assisted speed of 30 km/h, GPS assist speed limiters and cut out to be road legal~~
~~VII.~~ VI. Motorcycles must meet all the above regulations and have anti-lock braking systems in order to be road legal. The speed on motorcycles allowed shall be decided by nationstates.

Amendment V - Proposed by Cllr. Skye Hook

Article 3: Safety Standards for Personal Automobiles
I. All newly manufactured Personal Automobiles must have indicators visible at the back and front of the vehicle to be considered road legal
II. All newly manufactured Personal Automobiles must have working brake lights in working order to be considered road legal
III. All Personal Automobiles must have working daytime running tail and headlights to be considered road legal.
IV. All newly manufactured Personal Automobiles must have working seat belts, anti-lock braking systems, drowsiness detection systems, intelligent speed assistance ,accurate tyre pressure monitoring, overridable lane keeping assist or lane departure warning systems , blindspot monitoring systems, door mirrors, internal central mirrors ,GPS based speed limiter systems (on by default), safe crumple zones and front and rear airbags to be considered road legal.
V. All Personal Automobiles must have number plate holders and number plates on the back and front of the vehicle readable by cameras to be road legal
VI. Personal Automobiles designed for purely track based or motorsport use are exempt from these requirements but may not be used on public roads

Amendment VI - Proposed by Cllr. Skye Hook

Article 4: Safety Standards for Bikes and Scooters
~~I.All newly manufactured bikes and scooters must have a registration plate on back and front readable by cameras to be road legal~~
II I. All newly manufactured bikes and scooters must have indicators visible from the rear and front to be road legal
~~III~~ II. All newly manufactured bikes and scooters must have mirrors to be road legal
~~IV.~~ III. All newly manufactured bikes and scooters must have working front and back lights to be road legal
V IV. All newly manufactured bikes and scooters must have working brake lights in order to be road legal
VI V. Any 2 wheeled Personal Electric Micro-mobility Vehicle may only have 500 watt motors and a maximum assisted speed of 30 km/h, GPS assist speed limiters and cut out to be road legal
~~VII~~ VI. Motorcycles must meet all the above regulations and have anti-lock braking systems in order to be road legal. The speed on motorcycles allowed shall be decided by nationstates.

Amendment VII - Proposed by Cllr. Skye Hook

Article I: Definitions
I. Personal Automobile:Any vehicle with 4 or 3 wheels above 500kg with a fixed or convertible roof that is powered either an electric or combustion engine.
II. Motorcycle: A powered two-wheel motor vehicle by either electric or combustion engine
III. E-Bike: A motor-assisted or driven, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other.
IV. E-Tri-cycle: A small vehicle like a bicycle with two wheels at the back and one at the front either powered by pedal , electrically assisted or by a motor.
V. E-Scooter: A vehicle ridden while standing that consists of a narrow footboard mounted between or atop two wheels tandem that has an upright steering handle attached to the front wheel, and that is moved by pushing with one foot or an electric motor.
VI. Light Personal Vehicle:Motor vehicles with four or three wheels whose unladen mass is not more than 500kg
VII. Personal Electric Micro-mobility Vehicle:Any powered bike , scooter or Light Personal Vehicle powered by electric or electrically assisted with a battery system on board.

Amendment VIII - Proposed by Cllr. Skye Hook

Article 4: Safety Standards for -E-Bikes and E-Scooters
I. All newly manufactured E-bikes and E-scooters must have a registration plate on back and front readable by cameras to be road legal
II. All newly manufactured E-bikes and E-scooters must have indicators visible from the rear and front to be road legal
III. All newly manufactured E-bikes and E-scooters must have mirrors to be road legal
IV. All newly manufactured E-bikes and E-scooters must have working front and back lights to be road legal
V. All newly manufactured E-bikes and E-scooters must have working brake lights in order to be road legal
VI. Any 2 wheeled Personal Electric Micro-mobility Vehicle may only have 500 watt motors and a maximum assisted speed of 30 km/h, GPS assist speed limiters and cut out to be road legal
VII. Motorcycles must meet all the above regulations exept Article 4 VI and have anti-lock braking systems in order to be road legal. The speed on motorcycles allowed shall be decided by nationstates.

Voting on amendments will commence NOW and will last until 23:27 GMT on July 8th, 2024.

I vote FOR Amendments I, II, III and IV and AGAINST Amendments V, VI, VII and VIII.

Donald Tusk
Council Speaker and Councillor for Spain

BrumBrum

On behalf of United Duchies I vote AGAINST amendments I, II,III and IV ,and FOR amendments V ,VI, VII and VIII
Sky Hook Deputy Councillour for United Duchies

California

The United Kingdom votes for amendments V, VI, VII and VIII; against all others.

Jess Phillips

Istkalen

I vote FOR all amendments, including that of Cllr Dína's - that ought to be included, no?

Iras Tilkanas
Councillor for the Republic of Istkalen

Spain

Yes, my mistake. There are indeed NINE amendments up to vote, with the missing one in the compilationg being the following:

Amendment IX - Proposed by Cllr. Edutitale Dína

Article 2 - Creation of European Personal Transport Safety Board
VI. In cross-border areas where a similar mode of transport is utilised, a local chapter of the EU Personal Transit Safety Board must be established to create suitable regulations for the locality. Regions located within a single country must permit the Board to establish a chapter there before they can do so.
~~VI.~~ VII. This agency shall be based in Europolis.

Due to this inconvenience, I urge Councillors Hook and Philips to express their position on the amendment.

I vote FOR Amendment IX.

Donald Tusk
Council Speaker and Councillor for Spain

BrumBrum

On behalf of United Duchies I vote AGAINST Amendment IX
Skye Hook, Deputy Councillour for United Duchies

BrumBrum

This post is deleted!

California

@Spain said in EU Personal Transport Safety Standards Act:

Yes, my mistake. There are indeed NINE amendments up to vote, with the missing one in the compilationg being the following:

Amendment IX - Proposed by Cllr. Edutitale Dína

Article 2 - Creation of European Personal Transport Safety Board
VI. In cross-border areas where a similar mode of transport is utilised, a local chapter of the EU Personal Transit Safety Board must be established to create suitable regulations for the locality. Regions located within a single country must permit the Board to establish a chapter there before they can do so.
~~VI.~~ VII. This agency shall be based in Europolis.

Due to this inconvenience, I urge Councillors Hook and Philips to express their position on the amendment.

I vote FOR Amendment IX.

Donald Tusk
Council Speaker and Councillor for Spain

Ditto, The United Kingdom votes for Amendment IX

Spain

Voting on the amendments has concluded. The voting results are the following:

With 2 votes FOR and 2 votes AGAINST, Amendment I has FAILED.
With 2 votes FOR and 2 votes AGAINST, Amendment II has FAILED.
With 2 votes FOR and 2 votes AGAINST, Amendment III has FAILED.
With 2 votes FOR and 2 votes AGAINST, Amendment IV has FAILED.
With 3 votes FOR and 1 vote AGAINST, Amendment V has PASSED.
With 3 votes FOR and 1 vote AGAINST, Amendment VI has PASSED.
With 3 votes FOR and 1 vote AGAINST, Amendment VII has PASSED.
With 3 votes FOR and 1 vote AGAINST, Amendment VIII has PASSED.
With 3 votes FOR and 1 vote AGAINST, Amendment IX has PASSED.

The proposal has been updated accordingly.

Final voting begins NOW and will last until 22:26 GMT on July 16th, 2024.

On behalf of the Kingdom of Spain, I vote AGAINST this act.

Donald Tusk
Council Speaker and Councillor for Spain

Istkalen

I vote AGAINST this act.

Iras Tilkanas
Councillor for the Republic of Istkalen

BrumBrum

On behalf of United Duchies I vote FOR this act
Skye Hook ,Deputy Councillou for United Duchies