The second phase of a campaign to encourage PTW riders to take post-test training will include a national database of local and regional training courses and information.
The TWIST campaign, developed by the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Road Safety Partnership (CPRSP), first launched in May 2013. The main element of the initial campaign is an animated video which has attracted in the region of 26,000 views on YouTube. The light-hearted film shows some of the daft and dangerous things that can get bikers into trouble – and encourages them to take additional training to make them better and safer riders.
The second phase, TWIST2, will comprise a series of four shorter films which this time will focus on the mistakes that drivers make which can have serious implications for riders. The animated films will be in the same style as TWIST1 and will be released during April 2014.
As part of TWIST2, the project team is building a database of local and regional training courses for bikers, and contact details where they can obtain advice and information from experts in their local area.
Matt Staton, from the CPRSP, said: “While we’re developing the films ourselves, they will be viewed by bikers across the UK and further afield.
“As such, in order to maximize the campaign’s effectiveness it seems logical to include details of local and regional training for bikers across the UK.”
For more information or to provide details for inclusion in the database, contact Simon Rawlings project manager, on 01379 650112.
Hugh, there is only one answer to that and that is you don’t.
Even forced learning on a course after, say, speeding has only a limited effect both in what is learned and then in how long that learning lasts, before it’s all lost again. The so called bad apples have a so called bad attitude and suffer from a Hubris opinion of themselves and therefore have little or no regard to any possible assistance that they seem to consider totally unnecessary.
As previously stated there needs to be an opinion on the part of the pupil that further training is to be of benefit and that they take it on and practise what they have learned and continue to put that skill into everyday riding for the rest of their lives. Without optimism and belief that what we are doing is right and of value, we may as well just give up and find ourselves some other more rewarding jobs.
Bob Craven, Lancs
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The percentage of bikers who have taken ‘post test training’ in some form or another – BikeSafe, IAM, RoSpa or track based skills training – is probably far higher (as a percentage of active participants) than those who drive cars. Bikers also generally seem more willing to undertake post test activity.
Ian, Gloucester
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Fine, if you’re talking about riders who have already come to you with a view to improving – you’re halfway there – but I was really referring to those riders and drivers who do not accept or believe that they are already driving/riding in a risky manner and therefore need to improve. How do you a) reach out to them and b) get them to learn if they don’t think they need to in the first place?
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
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Hugh, in my career I had a ‘hard time’ persuading people that mobile phones were a good idea. I had a ‘hard time’ persauading people that investing in quality control systems would pay off handsomely. I had a ‘hard time’ persuading people that the Internet would be a good thing, so overall I’m not fazed by persuading riders that ‘reduced risk’ riding can be much more fun than risky riding.
Duncan MacKillop, Stratford on Avon
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Don’t quite agree Duncan. You’ll have a hard time persuading some of the ‘bad apples’ that they need to improve and hoping that a ‘new system’ will encourage people to actively seek out ways of getting better and safer at driving and riding, as you put it, is wishful thinking. We have traffic laws which, if and when enforced, are there to deal with the hard core ‘bad apples’. (No pun intended, although it was quite a good one)
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
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Quite right Hugh, the point that has been missed is that learning how to do this stuff actually makes the driving/riding process much more enjoyable. However, with the widespread adoption of the bad apple theory where education is treated as just another form of punishment, it’s no wonder that people are not motivated to take it up.
If the existing education/training system doesn’t work then it’s fairly obvious that a new system is needed, one which addresses the problems of cognitive strain and which will encourage people to actively seek out ways of getting better and safer at driving and riding. Such a system could not be introduced overnight and would take a considerable amount of thought to design correctly, but I’m certain that it would be achievable given enough support.
Duncan MacKillop, Stratford on Avon
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Perhaps ‘training’ or even ‘driver/rider education’ are not the right words from the recipients’ point of view, as they might infer that they are being told they are not as good as they thought they were – which people generally don’t like to hear – only human nature. Of the three ‘E’s of road safety, perhaps ‘Encouraging improvement’ might be better than ‘Education’ for this sort of thing?
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
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My students do come to me seeking ways in which they can improve, but as I say to them there is no ‘magic bullet’ that will help them shortcut the hard work they will have to do. All I can do is tell them the techniques they need to learn and how they can learn them, but I cannot make them practice as that requires a huge mental effort on their part to overcome the real world problem of ‘cognitive strain’.
Our brains are really lazy particularly when it comes to learning things and will go out of their way to avoid any form of cognitive strain even if we are actually keen to learn stuff. Because of this I run a Master – Apprentice system where my students are subject to my schedule of tasks, where they are given tasks to go away and practice (usually against the clock) so that they can get feedback as to their improvement without me having to watch them all the time. They all hate the process, but love the results and it is the results that drive them to seeking continuous improvement in their riding skills.
The Master-Apprentice system has many benefits, but because it was seen as old-fashioned and time consuming it was replaced by the grossly inferior ‘training’ methods that we use today. I am lucky in there being a strong motivational aspect to what I do because my students want to learn how to make faster time attacks on the Moto Gymkhana course. This is not the case with general on-road riding as most riders feel that good enough is good enough and the ever present cognitive strain stops them from even trying to improve. There are ways of improving the crash rate, but sadly sending people on a training course isn’t one of them.
Duncan MacKillop, Stratford on Avon
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I agree that you probably can’t force someone to learn more or train more for something they think they can already do perfectly well, but surely your students have come to you willingly and are therefore in the right frame of mind to learn and be trained, as opposed to someone who, resentfully perhaps, ends up on a speed awareness course or driver improvememnt course through having comitted an offence?
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
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Hugh, interesting conundrum isn’t it. I show riders how to ride their bikes properly and advise them on how to manage the roads and yet I know that training per-se is a complete waste of time.
The common misconception is that that if you train somebody to do something then that person can actually do what they have been trained to do and yet that couldn’t be further from the truth. Training is only the beginning of a process not the end of one and without constant purposeful practice the appropriate mental and physical skills will never be retained by the student. I have calculated that a student will have to perform at least a thousand simulated emergency stops before they can actually do an emergency stop for real and so it is with every other riding skill. A skill does not become a skill until it can be performed without any conscious thought whatsoever and this can only be achieved with endless practice and repetition.
A training course should provide a student with a practice framework that will ultimately provide them with the desired benefits, but only if they actually do the practice and get the appropriate amount of feedback as to their progress. The lack of any form of practice/feedback regime is the reason why all these reports show that there is no overall benefit to be gained from training and that is a great shame.
Duncan MacKillop, Stratford on Avon
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Duncan: I’m puzzled – I thought you ran or at least have run in the past, training courses for riders? Do you not think training is worthwhile anymore?
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
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“Promoting driver training/education as a means of improving driving skills and knowledge assumes that there are deficiencies in the skills or knowledge of drivers, and that these can be improved via training/education. It also assumes that these skill deficiencies increase the risk of crash involvement. These assumptions are largely false and based on beliefs not supported by the weight of research evidence.”
Not my words, but from a document entitled: Report Number 04/04 May 2007 The Effectiveness of Driver Training/Education as a Road Safety Measure.” By the RACV of Australia.
There are similar reports on the effectiveness of motorcycle training which reach the same conclusions and so I wonder why the authorities persist in thinking that training works?
Duncan MacKillop, Stratford on Avon
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Bob, I agree with you regarding your comments on training.
The ps beggers a more worrying question:
How can a learner rider do a job of work as a delivery rider on an ‘L’plate?
gareth, Epsom
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Anything that makes biking safer is good in my book and I support this scheme. I have always maintained that further training is required after CBT and particularly in a rider’s first year. Some riders will never ever take a test but continue to retake the CBT. All riders should to my mind be required to undertake at least 13 x 2 hours training or at least 20 hours approved training in their first year in order to continue riding a bike.
PS. why are L plates not illuminating/reflective? I see delivery riders on scoots with L plates riding evenings in dark circumstance and an L plate which illuminates/reflects light would be an advantage to conspicuity.
bob craven Lancs
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