In answer to Rudolph Hart who asked about whether non-Lincs residents can do Bikesafe in Lincs. Last year. I did one of the "Performance Plus" bikesafes at Cadwell Park with Hopp rider training (Performance Plus | Microsites) There was half a day of the usual classroom stuff analysing accident causes and how to avoid them, some practice drills on the track (e.g. emergency stops, slow riding, locking up your brakes so you know what it feels like so as not to panic if it happens again) followed by around 6 laps of Cadwell. I live in Hampshire but that didn't seem to be a problem. I think Lincs do another more traditional road based Bikesafe - not sure if the same is true.
£10 in Cumbria, and you still get a goody bag with a copy of roadcraft :smile:, have to take your own lunch though.
I also think this is a hampshire police bloody rip off. How come it is so cheap everywhere else or am I missing something. perhaps the Hampshire lot are much better. It would be my nearest place to do it so peeved that they charge the most. Regards Steve
The cynical might argue that if no-one is prepared to pay the Hampshire Bikesafe price, instead of lowering the price, Hampshire police would say that it demonstrates lack of demand for Bikesafe schemes and cease to run one at all. In austerity Britain, Bikesafe would be very low on the list of priorities for retention when police forces are looking to make budget cuts. After all, there won't be Daily Wail headlines bemoaning the withdrawal of a constructive road safety scheme like Bikesafe ...
So who do you think is paying for the cheap courses?! Maybe Lincs and co are happier to have it subsidised on the basis that saving lives etc is worth that few quid £70 is the thick end of feck all really, you'd spend more on a boys night with a curry and unless you had some gorgeous Eastern european stripper show you a few tricks (in which case you bet have more than 70 quid in yer bin) are bound to learn less than you do from old plod who mostly give their time for free for many of theses events Get it booked:biggrin:
Local taxpayers. You wont find many lottery grants for this :wink: Which is a shame as if they spent a hundreth of what is going in screaming lord coe's pocket, sorry I mean locog budget on the olympcs, the legacy would probably have some value
Ar sorry missed the point. There is organising, food, fuel, expenses even if they dont charge their time and if they do its probably local plod force pick it up in some budget somewhere
costs for this is also broken down to mileage on the bike wear and tear, plus officer time.........one of the managerial decisions with ours is that it is "cost neutral"................so we got an amount of support from the local council, money from the casualty reduction and any sponsorship of freebees we could get to pass on....plus a bit of creative accounting...
I would go on one of these but they only seem to run them at weekends and I'm not allowed out at weekends so I keep getting advise when the courses are being run and am told that there is no interest in weekday courses. I don't think that £70 is that expensive if it may save you for injury or worse, we all pickup bad habits and constructive criticism can be beneficial.
While Bikesafe is an excellent first move for introducing yourself to some of the principles of advanced riding, why not save the money and put it towards an IAM or RoSPA course which will teach you a whole load more, plus give you the opportunity of a joining a social group full of similarly qualified people too?
\ given that the tag line of bike safe is "bridging the gap" i think you've kinda missed the point..........
I did mine tail end of last year at Milbrook. I really cant rate it highly enough, the cops were top notch and you got a glimpse into just how much they really know. FYI they weren't bothered by either my black visor or my notably louder than stock exhaust...
Bikesafe is an excellent initiative and well worth attending if the principles of Road Craft are totally new to you, they weren't to me. The videos clearly showed some of the more common ways of getting killed and more importantly how to avoid them. The IAM guys were very ernest types who just take it all a bit too seriously though, why get all anal about precise road positioning when travelling through a town at less than 20 mph with multiple hazzards developing all around if you can stop in the clear space in front of you. Plod were much more relaxed and professional about it all. I can't possibly be more positive about Road Craft; read it, dip into it regularly and practice what it preaches.
