Postponed until 2026, the obligation to wear an airbag for Spanish motorcyclists could apply to all driving school students in the coming months. The Congressional Highway Safety Commission has discussed the requirement for motorcycle airbags during the driving test. The proposal, from the Socialist group, had the support of the majority.
The motorcycle airbag vest is once again the subject of debate at the Spanish Congress. After the motorcycle associations managed to integrate this proposal into the new traffic law approved a few months ago, while currently scheduled for 2026 for all motorcyclists, the socialist parliamentary group registered a new proposal in Congress to impose this in motorcycle license exams.
In February 2021, the Spanish Ministry of Transport DGT launched an initiative which included, at least on paper, the obligation to carry airbags for all motorcyclists. This naturally sparked many protests., in particular from all these bikers who, beyond the “safety” question, have also put the purely economic question on the table. Trying to calm the controversy, in June 2021, the Minister of the Interior Fernando Grande-Marlaska therefore clarified that, for the moment, there would be no formal obligation, but only a recommendation for the use of these security systems.
Before proceeding with the possible obligation, the Spanish Government wishes to assess the real benefits from a safety point of view for motorcyclists of these airbags through studies, with the intention, if necessary, of imposing their use by the law from 2026.
According to the socialists, at the origin of this bill, and following a report from the National Road Safety Observatory, this type of airbag protects the critical areas of the thorax. An area in which 35% of motorcyclists who die and more than 25% of those hospitalized suffer injuries.
The question was therefore put on hold, at least until today: a year later, the Spanish Congress returned to the subject by proposing the hypothesis of making airbags compulsory at least for driving school students. Proposal apparently supported by the Asociación Nacional de Motoristas (ANM) which, although doubting the real feasibility of an obligation for all for the reasons mentioned above, expressed its support for the use of such devices within the framework driving schools, and not just during the practical test, but during all lessons.
Once again, the question of the compulsory motorcycle airbag is put on the table, even if at present only for the motorcycle license. These are small steps towards what seems to be, sooner or later, and just like the helmet, an obligation in all conditions.
