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- ⁄ Post test training aims to make bikers safe on the road
Post test training aims to make bikers safe on the road
18 January 2005
Newly qualified bikers will soon be able to take to two wheels in safety…thanks to a scheme being launched by Derbyshire County Council next week (Wednesday 26 January).
The county council is the first local authority in England to introduce post test training for bikers. The Bike Plus initiative is aimed at new and inexperienced riders who want to feel more confident on the road.
Like the Driving Standards Agency’s Pass Plus for drivers Bike Plus offers post-test training to people who have passed their test in the last year. Qualified instructors will work with bikers to develop their riding skills and improve their awareness of potential hazards on the road.
People will be able to take the one day course for as little as £60 - depending on how many sign up - with the county council subsidising 60 per cent of the cost. Application forms are available from the county council’s road safety team, motor cycle dealers, approved training instructors and motorcycle test centres at Burton-on-Trent, Sutton in Ashfield, Derby, Chesterfield and Worksop.
Training - covering hazard awareness, forward planning, road positioning, overtaking, rural/urban riding and bends and cornering – will be given by qualified motorcycle instructors, registered and approved by the Driving Standards Agency and who have also registered to take part in the scheme.
Derbyshire County Council’s cabinet member responsible for public protection and transport Councillor Walter Burrows said: “Bikers continue to be over represented in road accident casualty figures both nationally and locally – where they are attracted to riding the rural roads to be found in Derbyshire.
“Bike Plus is a practical initiative offering potentially long-term benefits to the safety of riders. It supports the county council’s commitment to reducing the number of casualties on our roads in line with targets set by Government.”
It has been found the major cause behind 21 per cent of crashes in Derbyshire over the last three years was either inexperienced riders or a new bike. Accident figures for urban roads also show more than half of the riders were aged 16 to 20 years-old and mainly on smaller bikes.
Figures from 2004 showed eight bikers were killed and (from January until October) 109 were seriously injured on the county’s roads. Riders – and drivers – are believed to be most at risk from being involved in an accident in the first two years after they pass their tests.
It is hoped Bike Plus will help tackle this problem and go some way towards achieving targets of cutting the number of adults killed or injured in road accidents by 45 per cent and the number of children by 60 per cent by 2010.
Newly qualified bikers will soon be able to take to two wheels in safety…thanks to a scheme being launched by Derbyshire County Council next week (Wednesday 26 January).
The county council is the first local authority in England to introduce post test training for bikers. The Bike Plus initiative is aimed at new and inexperienced riders who want to feel more confident on the road.
Like the Driving Standards Agency’s Pass Plus for drivers Bike Plus offers post-test training to people who have passed their test in the last year. Qualified instructors will work with bikers to develop their riding skills and improve their awareness of potential hazards on the road.
People will be able to take the one day course for as little as £60 - depending on how many sign up - with the county council subsidising 60 per cent of the cost. Application forms are available from the county council’s road safety team, motor cycle dealers, approved training instructors and motorcycle test centres at Burton-on-Trent, Sutton in Ashfield, Derby, Chesterfield and Worksop.
Training - covering hazard awareness, forward planning, road positioning, overtaking, rural/urban riding and bends and cornering – will be given by qualified motorcycle instructors, registered and approved by the Driving Standards Agency and who have also registered to take part in the scheme.
Derbyshire County Council’s cabinet member responsible for public protection and transport Councillor Walter Burrows said: “Bikers continue to be over represented in road accident casualty figures both nationally and locally – where they are attracted to riding the rural roads to be found in Derbyshire.
“Bike Plus is a practical initiative offering potentially long-term benefits to the safety of riders. It supports the county council’s commitment to reducing the number of casualties on our roads in line with targets set by Government.”
It has been found the major cause behind 21 per cent of crashes in Derbyshire over the last three years was either inexperienced riders or a new bike. Accident figures for urban roads also show more than half of the riders were aged 16 to 20 years-old and mainly on smaller bikes.
Figures from 2004 showed eight bikers were killed and (from January until October) 109 were seriously injured on the county’s roads. Riders – and drivers – are believed to be most at risk from being involved in an accident in the first two years after they pass their tests.
It is hoped Bike Plus will help tackle this problem and go some way towards achieving targets of cutting the number of adults killed or injured in road accidents by 45 per cent and the number of children by 60 per cent by 2010.
