Stumbled upon this on youtube, ignore the fact it is French and to save wasting time…fast forward to around 25 minutes in. A nice demonstration of road position to improve forward vision and safety on the road. Obviously miles different to track riding but some road riders might find it interesting. Pretty much transformed my riding around 15 years back after adopting the technique. Purchase of an R1 meant everything started to happen..faster, and I felt out of my depth until I made changes. Looks to be the same as UK ‘Roadcraft’ .
umm, like I told the road safety guys on my last day. Good luck in Lincolnshire with that "be close to the white line when taking a left hander" Will not take longer that a week until someone takes you out as they come the other way clipping the nose of the corner by a metre.
To be fair its easier to adopt these rules of thumbs in somewhere like France. Its every man for himself over here isnt it.
Tough to watch, but the general principle has seen me safe for 30 plus years. Nothing beats our plod riders. I found the French lot on the video were far too 'jerky' moving from one position to another and you need to assess position based on road conditions too, so not something I would start after that video, but still...
I noticed the jerky movements and assumed he over exagerated them to highlight position moves to the left/right to the following rider.
Possibly, but teaching is teaching and a good student would follow the instructor to the letter, so not too sure. I think it was a little 'French'
Currently, THE, single, most common and IMO, biggest risk to bike riders in the UK. I recently attended an informal feedback session with IAM RS examiners and a common issue they are seeing, is Associates (and Observers) compromising the safety bubble for view. Andy
Surely if something coming the other way over the white line, the point of being there is you see it earlier and can react quickly and more safely
To add to the comments: Yes, the Gendarme does seem to shift road position in a ‘jerky’ manner. Not sure if he was trying to make it really obvious or what? As to being close to the line on the road, as per ‘Roadcraft’ (and depending which country you are in…for which side of your lane to be in relative to a left/right hander!) it works 100%, because you are correctly positioned you will see through the corner much earlier. This gives you much more ‘time’ and reduces surprises, be they traffic, debris, whatever.
Are they being too extreme and rigid with their interpretation ? I am often surprised by people who use the system, but will ride through gravel patches on corners rather than change their line a bit. Common sense must prevail.
Imho and experience, faster safer riders are those who use roadcraft over IAM. However, being on the wrong side of the road can be worrying for both riders with you and vehicles coming the other way: they don’t know what you are doing. I use (loosely, learnt from friends over the years) in both car and on bike when making progress. Right time, right actions
I can’t speak for other IAM RS Observers but from my perspective, the ARC (Advanced Rider Course) encourages riders to use the tools and techniques developed to train Police riders, which , if used appropriately, help the rider anticipate and act as a situation develops rather than reacting in an ‘oh shit’ moment. It’s not about permission to ride like a loon, it’s about making the most of your opportunities to ride progressively, appropriately and in control. Andy
In my opinion they aren't properly following the system, roadcraft is a system of riding meaning you can approach every decision on the road within a framework. It's Information, Position, Speed, Gear, Acceleration. In the gravel example, the approaching view should have shown the gravel, so you move position to avoid it as it's a hazard (you might also move for other reasonably likely hazards like a car cutting the bend), change speed due to likely reduced view around bend, pick the right gear, go through bend then accelerate out of the corner when your view increases again. If applied correctly it's infinitely adaptable to circumstances, the limitation really being how effectively the rider can process and respond. Some people do struggle with the constant decision making and ease their mental burden by adopting more rigid interpretations of their own.
As a long time observer taught entirely by plod, you are bang on! BTW I love to make progress,my speed is relative to hazard, and so too for the off duty people I ride with. Sometimes 20 is plenty, or 120 is ok.
Ive outrun bike cops on lambrettas. Just sayin. Once on mates PK50. Times were different back then tbf. I press on and have 100% concentration. Its always at pottering speed or very low speed Ive had incidents. Because my concentration drops. So, stay on it until its in the garage. A lot of the advice is good common sense. How you apply it is meant to be adaptable.
