If you're not interested in the motorcycling content of this blog (and why would you be, you're normal, aren't you?), please read a little further anyway, as this concerns everyone who has an interest in road safety.
Motorcycles are very different from cars, which is why some of us are so fond of them as a mode of transport. On the positive side, they are generally much more agile and manoeuvrable, a lot quicker off the mark, and cheaper to run than a car. Riding is physical in a way that driving a car isn't, and this physicality is part of the pleasure. There are numerous negatives: exposure to bad weather, greater vulnerability to poor road surfaces, and of course the risk of much greater injury in the event of an accident. There are big differences in the way a bike needs to be ridden, as well. Hard braking on a bike requires skill and practice, whereas in a car most emergencies can be dealt with by mashing the middle pedal and letting the ABS sort it out. A few bits of gravel, a wet manhole cover or a spot of diesel on a corner might cause a small slide in a car as one wheel out of four loses grip. On a bike, you're down on your side and heading into the scenery.
Bikers clearly have different needs from the car driver. We are less easily seen, we fall over a lot more easily, and if we hit, or are hit by, something it causes us a lot more damage. In the Highway Code we come into the category of 'Road users requiring special care'. Sections 211 to 213 cover the approach to cyclists and bikers; briefly: look out for them as they are less easily seen, give them room when passing them (!), and be prepared for sudden changes of direction due to changes in the road surface.
All well and good. So how many questions in the driving test ask for understanding about sharing the road with motorcycles? Answer: zero. I think, given that the Highway Code is so clear on the issue, that this is a bit of an anomaly. Bennetts, the specialist motorcycle insurers, are backing a campaign to get bike-related questions included in the driving test. There is a petition which, if it reaches 100,000 signatures, will be passed to Parliament for debate. At present, there are 37,529, so it is well on the way.
If you feel that this would be a good idea, please pop along to www.bikerpetition.co.uk and add your name. It's not going to cost anything (other than Parliamentary time, and what else would they be doing anyway?), and nobody is going to be compelled to do anything or stop doing anything. The petition is just asking for a small change in focus in the structure of the driving test to ensure that the needs of motorcyclists are made a little bit more prominent.
If you do go and sign, you have my sincere thanks.
I fully agree they they need to include some questions on the drivers test that are relating to motorcyclists and the cautions of driving near them. Something to make the everyday latte drinking, texting while driving, soccer mom more aware that we are out there.
ReplyDeleteSigned, now how do we remove the blinkers car drivers wear?
ReplyDeleteTrobairitz - from what I read on forums, you have a lot more of a problem with texting-while-driving and similar than we do. I would guess that texting was pretty rare, and even using the phone while driving is not exactly widespread (although anything more frequent than 'never' is too much). But I agree that if a lot of car drivers simply concentrated on the task in hand it would be an improvement.
ReplyDeleteConniesdad - with a crowbar, if neceesary. And no anaesthetic
If it was mandatory for drivers to have at least one year's experience on a bike before they were allowed a car-licence, there'd be a far-greater appreciation of the inter-relationship between road surfaces, weather & visibility.
ReplyDeleteEvery road user would then gain.
Back in the day when bikes were cheap transport and cars were expensive, I'm pretty sure this is what happened. Most people progressed to a car after several years of bike ownership. Motorcyclists were 'us', not 'them'. Issigonis and cheap credit changed all that.
ReplyDelete#37576. No thanks necessary, as a full-time biker it's entirely in my interests to do so...glad you publicised it, as I'd missed its existence completely.
ReplyDelete@Joe: Funnily enough, every truck driver I've ever spoken to has said the equivalent - if drivers had to take an HGV course they'd soon be educated all about the implications of inertia, and how wing mirrors work...it's not just how bikes work that eludes the average driver.
I think the sad truth is that driving is utility and convenience rather than fun for most people and hence there are almost no incentives to get better at it. Plenty of de-skilling opportunities, though, as onboard tech gets better at bailing out piss-poor decisions. Maybe some sort of super-realistic simulator part of the driving test, in which you experience being T-boned on your bike by a half-asleep driver at a junction, jack-knifing a lorry on a roundabout trying to avoid some idiot with no lane management skills and being a pedestrian involved in an uninsured hit-and-run (with real-time attempt to claim compensation from the MIB) would help drivers understand the consequences of what happens outside their own little roadgoing box...
De-skilling: that's the point. It all /looks/ great, but it's making us less good at what we do. Think microwaves in the kitchen. When tasty food can be had with minimal effort and time, who will want to learn all the skills of cooking? A declining number, that's obvious.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI learnt how to survive on the road as a cyclist in my early teens, on everything from country lanes to dual carriage-way A roads.
ReplyDeleteThat, and a natural tendancy to cowardice seems to have served me fairly well over the years....
Cowardice, and a distaste for hospital food. It's kept me alive so far :)
DeleteI agree this is a great idea specially were talking about safety in here.
ReplyDeleteMore than happy to sign and have posted the link on my Farcebook as well.
ReplyDeleteMore than happy to sign and have posted to my Farcebook as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks - appreciated.
ReplyDelete