A website that contains information about training courses for PTW riders has been revamped and relaunched, and road safety officers are being invited to submit information about training in their local area.
The TWIST website was originally set up as part of the campaign of the same name which was launched in May 2013 by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Road Safety Partnership. A series of animated films have been produced as part of TWIST, to persuade PTW riders of the benefits of post-test training.
The five films, which have been produced in a humorous vein, show some of the “daft and dangerous” things that can get bikers into trouble – and the mistakes that drivers make which can have serious implications for riders. They are designed to encourage riders to take additional training to make them better and safer riders, and have been viewed more than 36,000 times.
Recognising that the films would be viewed all over the UK (and further afield), the second phase of the campaign (launched in April 2014) included a national database of local and regional training courses and information. The database has been extended since then and now includes details of 44 training and safety initiatives for PTW riders across England and Wales.
Matt Staton, from the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Road Safety Partnership, said: “While we developed the films ourselves, they are being viewed by bikers across the UK and further afield.
“As such, in order to maximize the campaign’s effectiveness it seemed 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 training database, contact Simon Rawlings TWIST website manager, on 01379 650112.
Chris:
Thanks for your comments which we take on board.
The first film, which highlights the things bikers do which can put them in danger, was deliberately provocative (in a tongue in cheek fashion). We wanted to engage with bikers and provoke a response from them, which we were reasonably successful in achieving.
In the second set of films we turned the tables and highlighted the things drivers do which have serious implications for bikers. Interestingly, these films have attracted significantly fewer viewings.
The phrase ‘daft and dangerous’ was deliberately chosen to promote the first film to bikers via social media channels. Given the views he flm achieved, perhaps, with hindsight, we should have used the same phrase to promote the second set of films to drivers.
Simon, T&R Campaign Manager
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A database of training providers is useful, there is so much on offer to be able to find it all in one place can surely only be of benefit.
I really don’t like the term ‘Daft & Dangerous’ as it promotes the perception that all motorcyclists are ‘Daft & Dangerous’ and that is why so many of them are being injured or killed. What about the riders who are ‘sensible & safe’ safe as in abiding by the rules of the road who then get harmed by someone else?
What’s also interesting is that you label the bikers ‘Daft and Dangerous’ but classify the drivers errors as ‘mistakes. if I remember correctly the actions of the drivers in the video were more than mistakes!
The road safety industry should be careful not to promote perceptual bias it is extremely counter productive.
Chris Harrison Gloucestershire
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Matt gave a presentation on his TWIST campaign at the biker down event on Tuesday. His presentation was very informative and honest, especially where he outlined some of the successes and stumbling blocks. All the other presentations were excellent too and I got to meet some of the people I knew from their contributions on Road Safety GB, but had never met before.
Dave Finney, Slough
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