A training initiative which sets out to increase the basic road awareness and safety of young motorcyclists in Lewisham, has been recognised with the 2017 London Road Safety Award.
Lewisham Council’s CBT course comprises a two-hour presentation, developed in partnership with New View Consultants, which is delivered to 16-25 year olds. So far, 121 participants have taken the course.
The London Road Safety Award is designed to highlight and reward innovation and good practice in road safety education in London. Introduced in 2003 as the Laurie Bunn Award, in memory of a past London Road Safety Council (LRSC) chairman, the award was renamed in 2016.
The 2017 Award was presented to Ian Drake and Graham Curtis from Lewisham’s road safety team, by James Cracknell, London Road Safety Council president, at the organisation’s 100th AGM on 21 July.
The AGM also saw the presentation of two Distinguished Service Awards (pictured below), handed out by the LRSC to Peter Wilson, long-serving road safety officer, and Alderman Alison Gowman, an influential supporter of road safety in London.
Lewisham’s two-hour CBT course covers the issue of visibility, both from a driver’s perspective and from the rider’s view. The aim is to highlight the importance of ‘vision for all road users, seeing with the brain’.
The course also covers managing anticipation and hazards, through the use of video clips filmed on roads in the local area.
The presentation is based on the three core elements of the COM-B model:
- Capability – the intervention will improve the participants’ hazard perception skills, as well as improve the rider’s ability to learn from their own experience by developing their own self-evaluation skills.
- Opportunity – provide the participants with coping strategies that will allow them to maintain control of their actions in difficult situations, for example, when in a social setting in relation to alcohol and drugs use.
- Motivation – the intervention will seek to motivate the participants to behave correctly by increasing the participants understanding of the benefits of the behaviours being advocated.
The course also includes a follow-up e-learning module that reminds participants of the key messages and allows them to further improve their hazard perception self-evaluation skills.
I do hope that when training or advising young and inexperienced users that it would be focussed on not only being seen by the wearing of bright eye catching clothing and riding with headlights on low. It also needs to include the giving of safe space. I see many a rider ride far too close to the rear of other vehicles. The other week I nearly killed one as he was completely hidden by the bus that he was following. Fortunatly due to my experience I did not turn right as that bus passed me and then I saw the rider. Not only about 15ft behind but totally blind by not only his close proximity to the rear of the bus but by being close to the kerb and so not visible to oncoming traffic. Until too late.
We really need to give young and inexperienced riders further training after CBT. CBT is fit enough for what it does, just to get then used to the vehicle but it in no way can it substantially improve their defensive riding skills. That takes hours of training.
We badly need more in terms of training. Something that unfortunatley needs to be a governmental issue and forced upon newbie riders. This has been under discussion for a number of years and as yet no decision has been made. In the meantime young people die or suffer life changing injuries due to others inability to make what might be considered unpopular decisions.
Bob Craven Lancs
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