England’s national lockdown sees further revision to the COVID-19 Riding Guidelines.


England national lockdown COVID-19

The Coalition of Motorcycling Organisations (COMO) has reacted once more to changes to the Covid-19 restrictions.  The national lockdown for England commencing from 5th November rules out group and recreational riding.

The core detail of the guidelines remains unchanged, but the group riding guidelines are suspended in England until the new restrictions relating to Covid-19 are lifted.  Welsh restrictions are set to ease next week, but Northern Ireland and much of Scotland have travel restrictions affecting motorcyclists as well as drivers.

The Guidelines joint authors, Richard Gladman of IAM RoadSmart and Roger Bibbings of the Vintage Motorcycle Club, have chosen to leave the majority of the guidelines unchanged whilst emphasising that motorcycling is only permitted for essential travel purposes in England and therefore all group riding in England is prohibited. As the other administrations alter their restrictions it is important that recreational or group rides are conducted in accordance with local restrictions.

Richard Gladman, Head of Driving & Riding Standards & Product Development for IAM RoadSmart, said

“The spirit of the restrictions is clear.  The members of the Coalition are all agreed that now is not the time to be seeking loopholes or ways to bend the rules.  We are all passionate about riding, but we all have a responsibility to help reduce the spread of this virus.”

The revised guidelines are available at http://bit.ly/covidridesafe


The Coalition of Motorcycling Organisations membership consists of representatives from the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG), the Vintage Motorcycle Club (VMCC), the Trail Riders Fellowship (TRF), the British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF), IAM RoadSmart, the Auto Cycle Union (ACU), the Triumph Owners’ Motorcycle Club (TOMCC) and Biker Down UK.  

The original White Paper “Riding COVID safe: a discussion paper” submitted to the Secretary of State on 14th May can be accessed here: https://bit.ly/2LqZSrt