That's because, and no disrespect meant to current DVSA instructors here, the approved training isn't good enough. If you have the right teacher with the right knowledge, bike control beyond most advanced riders current levels can be taught in a couple of days - even to absolute beginners.
As a courier, I was sent on an assessment (along with the other company riders. At that time I was the only one who hadn't crashed; though I rectified that later, hitting a Merc in the Kings Road). Ever since then I've thought these courses should replace the driving test. Just raise the standard across the board. I suppose that would be considered uneconomical; but there's a glaring disconnect, there!
It's not even uneconomical. The cost of a KSI incident costs the taxpayer over £1 million. They could easily save that money by making people do an advanced test.
Driving and riding licenses are the lowest level of acceptable skills to control a vehicle, to allow the majority access to this form of transport. CBT's are a even lower entry point based on the fact that you can probably only kill yourself. I don't disagree the standards could be higher or that learning the advanced skills should be better rewarded but it's not about the machine control it's about thinking. In a car I can't do handbrake turns or donuts, but I can avoid being in a bad situation. Sadly there are people in the world who don't care to do any more than the minimum of thinking.
Unfortunately, policymakers in the Government have little or no first-hand experience with advanced training. So, we end up focusing on taking away control from drivers and riders, i.e. Intelligent Speed Assistance, to stop us from ever exceeding the speed limit. While no Government can condone speeding, it's treating every road safety problem as a nail because the Government's only using a hammer. This issue is exacerbated by our continuing to take EU rules devised by the European Transport Safety Council (Brexit hasn't changed this situation). This council has never looked seriously at advanced training, instead prioritising controlling our accelerator pedals and motorcycle throttles. EU countries don't have genuine advanced training because it's a UK thing, yet we continue (post-Brexit) to follow the EU's rules that remove control from drivers and riders. The Earl of Cottenham invented advanced road driving for the British police, and it's been taught in Britain to civilians since 1956. No country in the EU has this know-how.
Just received a text from one of my associates to say he has been allocated an examiner. Fingers crossed I’ve prepared him well enough to be my first test pass. Andy
There are times when you are flummoxed by the result, both for better or worse. Different examiners have different things they like and dislike, so a good pre ride chat to get as much info as possible is helpful.
To be safe, if you don't feel your associate will pass the test even when he's having a bad day, he shouldn't be taking the test.
Passed my test in August and got a F1RST, well worth the money, not only do you learn how to ride better. But you also meet a great bunch of like minded people, I am going on 3 rides next year with our group Wales, Yorkshire and southern Scotland. I am just starting local observer training, so I can give something back, and help other rider to enjoy their ride and ride safer.
Don’t take this the wrong way, but if someone was trying to observe/teach me who has a licence for a couple of months I’d be looking elsewhere. Competence is combination of learned skill and behavioural habits built over time.
He might have been riding for years and obviously had the skills and competence to obtain a F1RST. I'd be quite happy to have him as an observer if I hadn't already passed my IAM. They have to start somewhere lol and they have to go through testing to be an observer too.
Just like anything else you get better with practise and time. Having been an observer for 10 years I would say that most of us see the same issues, what really important is how you discuss these with your rider in a nice concise and easily understood manner, that takes a bit of time. One tends to try and get everything across in one go at first, and it’s better to just concentrate on a couple of the most important issues first, which then make it easier and more logical to work on other things later. Although good overtaking is a subject all to itself.
I did not ask, I was approached by our chief observer to apply for the training. I have ridden with him on a few occasions and he says my riding is well up to the standard required. Now comes 6 months + of study, practice observer runs, and continual assessment before you can qualify as a local observer. If you have not tried it don't knock it, Give it a go you may surprise yourself. You may find that some of your behavioural habits are not beneficial to your riding, IAM riding is about reading every situation as it develops and planning, not relying on habits.
You'd think it would be easy on a bike, but this is the main thing I struggled with when planning to do properly and keeping within speed limits. Keeping within speed limits was my other problem .
I got totally put off doing my advanced test by a mate of mine who is without a doubt the most dangerous person I've ridden with, he has a dangerous mix of arrogance/Self Belief, and some of the stuff he has done on rides has frightened me. People keep telling me he's "one that slipped through the net" but he is regularly out riding with IAM colleagues etc and yet never seems to have had it bought to his attention, maybe my perception of what's dangerous isn't others: 1) Overtaking other motorbikes on the 'inside' into right handers at the point where the rider has already turned in. 2) Overtakes cars in lines within 1m of the side of the car, leaving no room should the car move to it's right to avoid a pot hole or obstruction, even when the opposite side is completely clear. 3) in traffic breaks rather than move into the gaps created by (say) me as I'm working past groups of cars, he will just follow me on the overtake, taking away my concentration as rather than look for suitable clearance space, I now feel like I have a bike about to rear end me if I slow to a gap. 4) He rides 1m off the cars rear right quarter, almost certainly so the car can't really see him. I admit on this one, when I was commuting regularly this is an easy habit to get into because you are wanting to set up for the next opportunity to pass. I've made a conscious effort to stop this. I once challenged him with these examples and he told me that I "couldn't understand how far ahead he's processing all these things" and that basically if I had some proper training I'd understand. I have for a while been considering ROSPA, and a local instructor is an ex cop and I really like his attitude and think I'd benefit from it, but as per the above, bad apple or not, I don't think IAM are doing enough to weed out these people. My other friend has recently passed, he totally agrees with me that there are pockets of people in those circles who's arrogance has remained but the skill set has diminished and he found certain groups really quite unwelcoming. I don't go out with that other friend now, he's going to have a massive crash one day because he seems to have this notion that he can use his body language to 'Dominate' cars and other road users, rather than ride with what I was taught to ride with a healthy expectation that the cars are much bigger than you, and are almost certain to have not seen me.
This ^^^ is genuinely disappointing, no rider is above criticism and sadly, I think your decision not to ride with him is the right one. Too many riders make excuses for poor riding discipline within their peer group. IAM RS do not have the resources (or the will in my view) to police riding standards, that is expected of the affiliated clubs and ultimately the courts. I don't know the answer and my compromise is the same as yours, I don’t ride with people I know don’t give a s**t and I have earned the reputation of being prepared to leave a led run if I’m unhappy with the riding standard. There are some who won’t ask me to ride with them but I can live with that Andy
