Shame is they had to make it a law, the more laws there are to counteract stupid becomes a risk that riding a bike becomes part of that view . Perhaps what the approach should be if you want to be stupid "we" wont be there to fix it for you after the consequences are realised. I don't even ride my mountain bike without gloves.
I recall relatively recently, a motorcycle glove manufacturer selling on eBay being called out for using the CE approval for gardening gloves standard in the listing. Andy
They are just following France. We have to wear Motorcycle gloves too. I used to love riding around in my very thin RAF flying gloves, but they are now redundant.
What changed in 2017, IIRC, is that only « motorcycle approved » gloves are « legal ». That’s when the little motorcycle tag appeared on approved items. Now as far as I am concerned, I could simply not ride without gloves. I’d feel as weird as if I was butt naked on my bike...
Oh but they’ll check that - amongst other things - once they’ve stopped you for speeding, my good sir. The final bill may be painful, but not as much as a good slide on ole tar with both hands used as brake pads...
We see this at work so many times; "Our prodcuct is CE approved" "Ok please send the CE Certificate" "Our product is made in general accordance to CE but not certified"