Comment: 09 March 2007

  Lobbying really does work

Good news for the bikes in bus lanes campaign. A Traffic Advisory Leaflet has been published by the traffic management division of the DfT on the use of buslanes by motorcycles.

Though enthusiasm for the document has been somewhat lukewarm in places, because it doesn't say "we encourage the use of buslanes by bikes", this document represents a huge shift in government policy.

Hitherto, the the DfT's position has been in effect to tell local authorities that "we don't advise that you let motorcycles in bus lanes". This document represents a shift to a neutral position, ie. "there may be benefits to it, so consider it".

I've been critical of some of the organisations out there in the past, but shifting the immovable mountain that is the DfT in a direction that favours motorcycling is a huge result for the people out there lobbying. So let's offer a resounding thanks to all of them.

You can find the document here:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/tpm/tal/trafficmanagement/trafficadvisoryleaflet207

Comment: 09 March 2007

  Recent break-downs not the first blamed on petrol

As I'm sure you all know by now, engine problems have been reported by drivers across the south and east of the country.

Many cars have had oxygen sensors replaced and garages in the area are now reporting problems getting hold of new sensors. Trading standards officers have confirmed that silicone, an anti-foaming agent normally added to diesel, had been found in petrol blamed for causing the breakdowns.

Although I was lucky and didn't fill the car at Morrisons, what annoyed me was that the affected supermarkets instantly bumped up their prices, supposedly to compensate for having to replace the contaminated stock on the spot market.

Had petrol alone risen in price, that explanation might have held water - but diesel, which has apparently not been contaminated in any way, also went up in price.

I can't imagine that the supermarkets will find themselves out of pocket either, they'll undoubtedly claim against the fuel supplier for the repairs and fuel costs.

Although Tesco has taken out full-page adverts in the national press on Tuesday 6th March and is promising to pay for damage caused by faulty petrol sold at its stores last week, but a phone in suggests that callers are having trouble getting through to their help line, and of course many drivers won't have retained receipts or samples of the petrol.

Interestingly, this isn't the first time that the supermarkets have had problems supplying contaminated fuel. Back in April 2003, motorists across north Wales, Cheshire and the Wirral were brought to a standstill after filling up with petrol from supermarket fuel stations. Garages then were having to empty fuel tanks and give pipes a thorough clean at a cost of up to £200 per customer.

Tesco's record on payouts isn't too good either. A shop fitter from Swindon, filled his Mercedes Sprinter van with 61 litres of diesel from his local Tesco Extra store in November 2003. A £3400 bill ensued to repair damage caused by water. Although Tesco admitted liability, they refused to pay more than 25 % of the repair costs. Mr Bond sued Tesco and won full compensation in December last year, but three months later he was still waiting for a cheque.

It took action by baliffs who seized £60,000 worth of alcohol from one of their stores to force action. Tesco states the cheque is now in the post after an adminstrative oversight. Where have I heard that before?

Comment: 18 February 2007

  Survival Skills launches e-learning courses

The big Survival Skills news for 2007 is that we are taking motorcycle training online! In this pioneering step, Survival Skills is probably the first motorcycle training school in the country to make full use of the internet to deliver training using interactive websites, email, and online chat facilities.

Most people are aware that e-learning has taken off in a big way in the field of education generally. However, with the latest developments in interactive learning environments online, it's now technically possible to support e-learning in many practical subjects that many would have thought quite impossible to teach without face to face contact - for instance, open heart surgery and other medical techniques are now done routinely demonstrated via the internet.

Survival Skills has been long been offering online advice and coaching both through the Survival Skills website (online since 1997) and in chat forums, notably the CompuServe Ride forum from 1996 to 2003, and from 2000 to date through the Survival Skills bike safety forum on Visordown.com, probably the busiest motorcycle forum in the UK.

In addition, Survival Skills has made available the theory element of the practical training courses via articles on the website and also a series of illustrated e-books published on CDROMs since 2000.

By combining the huge database of information about the problems that riders face, the solutions that work and our considerable experience of delivering those solutions via online, the obvious step has been to combine these into a structured e-learning course, and for the last year or so, that's exactly what Survival Skills has been working on behind the scenes.

The benefits to the e-learner are many, the most obvious of which is that the Survival Skills courses are now open to anyone in the UK, and potentially beyond:

• location independent - learn where you want to
• flexibility - learn when you want to
• expert, personal advice - your tutor is focused on your individual needs
• interaction with other learners - in a group learning environment you can swap ideas with others
• communication - be put in touch with a wide body of learning and information resources available on the internet
• easy access - if you can access the internet, you can access the course

In particular, don't discount the ability to learn in your own time at your own pace, even the easiest pace training courses are still a hard day's work!

To see the Survival Skills e-learning centre, and learn more about e-learning and the options open to you, log on here.

More editorial

Comment: 2 February 2007

  Survival Skills on Tour Dates 2007

It's taken a little longer than normal but I now have some dates for training in Montgomery (Wales) and Grassington (Yorkshire) for the annual Survival Skills Tour.

Wales will take place in mid-May. Initially I'll be taking bookings for Thursday and Friday 10/11 May, and should there be sufficient interest, I'll open up other days as necessary.

Yorkshire will take place in mid-June. Similarly, I'll be taking bookings initially for the Thursday and Friday 7/8 June and will open other days as necessary.

General format will be the same as the last two year so have a chat with some of the folk who have already joined us to see what the format is. Full courses available will be:

• 2 day Survival Skills
• 1 day Confidence Builder for new riders
• 1 day Creaky Rider for returning riders
• 1 day Bends or 2 day Double Bends for pretty much anyone
• 1 day Refreshers

Training is 2:1 but I'll do my best to match you up with a similar rider. Days will be leisurely and relaxed, but we'll cover plenty of ground for both participants.

I'll have the full training set up, with portable video player and on-bike video camera, so pre-ride videos to watch, as well as footage of you in action (weather and camera operator error permitting). You'll get full briefings and training aids including lesson plans e-mailed to you before the session, and you'll get a written assessment and a video of yourself burned to CD and posted to you after the course.

There are some absolutely top roads in all these areas, both for training and for simply fun riding. I'll point you at a decent B&B, and beer will definitely be arranged. We normally use the Dragon hotel in Montgomery and the Foresters Arms in Grassington.

Cost of the training is £105 per person per day (same as last year!) including a free Survival Skills CDROM. Accommodation is extra.

More details on the relevant page here on the website, or drop me an email to reserve a place.

  Advanced Instructors Register - latest news

The DfT have been slowling trickling out information about the advanced instructors' register that has been on the cards for the last four or five years as part of the Government's Motorcycling Strategy.

The forthcoming register of advanced instructors now has a formal name - henceforth it'll be known as the Register of post-test motorcycle trainers (RPMT), and this register will be accessible by riders looking for an accredited instructor from the summer.

What are the advantages for trainees? Well, according to the Dft, the main reason for the register is "to ensure that the training delivered is of an agreed national standard. In order to qualify to be on the register, instructors will have demonstrated a high level of skill and competence in riding and instructional ability". The idea is that the register will allow "riders to make informed choices about appropriate training".

Which is all very well, except that during the period in which the DSA were drawing up the entry qualifications, they proved lamentably uninformed themselves about the qualifications available to instructors, and didn't appear to be doing much research to find out. The organisers of my own BTEC in advanced instruction had to contact the DSA to alert them to the scheme. The full range of accredited courses hasn't yet been announced, as bodies are being invited to make themselves known at the moment.

This doesn't give me any great confidence that the base line that aspiring advanced motorcycle instructors will be required to demonstrate to the DSA will be all that high if they haven't researched what is out there, particularly as, rather oddly, once in the scheme, instructors will not need to maintain external qualifications such as the RoSPA diploma in advanced instruction or my own BTEC.

Whilst the aim of "raising awareness of risk and improving riding skill thereby contributing to a reduction in the number of crash related incidents" is undoubtedly one of the major reasons people like myself get involved in rider training, one can hardly put the need for riders to show "awareness of environmental issues (reductions in emissions and noise pollution) through DSA accredited instructor training courses" in the same "must do" bracket.

So, what does it mean to you if you are an instructor?

There are three different ways to gain entry onto the register:

• by passing a DSA theory test, riding ability test, and instructional ability test.
• by successfully passing a DSA-accredited training course and passing a DSA theory test.
• by the deferred qualification route, commonly referred to as 'grandfather rights', providing applications are made within the first 12 months from the launch of the register and by passing the DSA theory test.

The DSA fees are not insubstantial:

• Starter Pack - £ 6.99
• Theory Test - £58.75
• Riding Test - £92.83
• Instructional Ability Test - £92.83
• Registration Fee (4 years) - £235

At very least, if you already have a DSA-accredited qualifiication you're going to have to stump up just on £300, or if you can prove "Grandfather" rights, you'll get to undergo a practical check-test on riding ability and fitness to coach within 12 months of joining.

That may not sound a lot, but to someone who trains part time a few weekends a year, it's probably a lot more than they want to spend. There's also the issue of having to take time off work for the theory test and probably travel to Cardington for riding and instructional ability assessment. Check -tests are free at least for the moment, as the cost is built into the other tests.

To remain on the register, trainers will be subject to "ongoing quality assurance", although what this means isn't yet clear as the full competency set for professional motorcycle instructors isn't yet available (but are expected to be available when the scheme is launched), particularly as (as mentioned above) it won't be necessary to maintain an entry qualification.

The implication of this ongoing assessment being internal, rather than being entrusted to the body which qualified the instructor in the first place isn't immediately obvious. But if I was someone who had put a lot of time, money and effort into getting an externally moderated scheme (like my BTEC - moderated by EDEXCEL) off the ground, I'd be less than happy that the DSA are effectively taking away "repeat business" from that scheme.

Public Liability Insurance will be required, which could prove something of a challenge - the only people I know who will provide public liability insurance to motorcycle instructors are the Driving Instructors' Association.

For the time being, the scheme developed by the DSA will remain voluntary, but it's proposed that the register will become compulsory at some point.

The new register will be officially launched at ACE Motorcycle Café, Wembley, London) on 7 February by Stephen Ladyman, Rosemary Thew and senior representatives from the motorcycle industry.

  Training Courses - latest

Just a reminder that "short notice" courses restart mid-February (ie - given decent weather forecasts I accept last minute bookings in Maidstone only to avoid bad-weather cancellations) and scheduled training (when I accept advance bookings) in Maidstone and Kent will resume in mid-March, by which time the weather is usually reasonable.

From April on, we'll be running our training courses in Northern France, this will be for the third year now, so the routes I use are well-practiced and risk assessed for the safety of trainee, instructor and public alike.

Comment: 12 January 2007

  Welcome to 2007

Christmas is over, and we're the best part of a fortnight into 2007 already, although the traffic on the roads suggests quite a few people are still on holiday. Good luck to them but some of us have to go back to work!

Training Courses

Short notice courses restart mid-February (ie - given decent weather forecasts I accept last minute bookings in Maidstone only to avoid bad-weather cancellations) and scheduled training (when I accept advance bookings) in Maidstone and Kent will resume in mid-March, by which time the weather is usually reasonable.

The "Tour" events will be going ahead as usual in Wales, Yorkshire and Devon, and dates for those will be up on the site in the next update in a fortnight's time.

From April on, we'll be running our training courses in Northern France, this wll be for the third year now, so the routes I use are well-practiced and risk assessed for the safety of trainee, instructor and public alike.

I've found an excellent gite not too far from the coast, at a perfect distance for 2 days steady riding, and I can't emphasise how good the riding is over there, compared with the south of England, even given the effort I've put into finding empty and challenging roads in the UK. I've found a route with a dozen hairpin bends so if you've never ridden abroad and are planning a trip to the Alps, Pyrenees or any of the other mountainous bits of Europe, a 1 day 'Bends' course, or the 2 dayer with the overnight stop at the gite would be an excellent way of warming up for the longer event, not least as I clearly explain the french Priority to the Right system, something few people (including the motoring organisations in this country) seem to fully understand.

The gite is run by a anglo-french woman and her italian husband, a couple who ran a restaurant in Brussels for 20 years, so I can promise you the home cooking for our evening meal is a treat. On our trip down there in September, the home made bread and goat's cheese starter was matched perfectly by the main dish of fresh fish from the quayside, and the zabaglione made whilst we sat and and chatted over a couple of bottles of wine.

With Eurotunnel still doing crossings for under £30, it's an excellent way to spend a couple of days riding and a wonderful way of experiencing riding abroad or practicing your riding skills in a new environment.

Training Environment

The radio system I use is being updated with a Freecom noise cancelling system, which will hopefully solve the odd problem with the radios not being clear enough on windy days.

Survival Skills Publications

I'll be continuing to add to the expanding portfolio of Survival Skills publications. To go with the existing "Course Notes" CDROM covering advanced riding skills, and the "Getting Started" CDROM for learner riders, "Tarmac Tactics" was launched at the end of 2006 to make the third full-length CDROM in the portfolio.

Where "Course Notes" is an explanation of good defensive techniques, machine control and advanced riding skills, "Tarmac Tactics" is about how to use those skills practically on 21st century roads, with pages of tips and tricks I've learned both from 16 years despatch riding and my decade in advanced training.

It's all useful stuff I personally use everyday to give myself the edge to survive in all kinds of riding environments from country lanes to busy motorways. Unlike most riding guides which are designed to get the reader riding the perfect ride, "Tarmac Tactics" takes the opposite approach; to know how to ride well, first of all you have to know where something will go wrong, why it goes wrong, who to try to avoid it going wrong, and most importantly of all, how to avoid coming a cropper when it DOES go wrong. Because sooner or later, however good we think we are, we will face an emergency.

An additional concise "Guide to CBT" will be added in the spring, and there are some other ideas up my sleeve - keep an eye on this space!

Comment: 12 January 2007

  Site updates and improvements

It's equally hard to believe that the site makeover is now a year old! It seems like I only sat down to resign it a few days ago. However, as is always the case, it's a never ending job and there are a few areas that I plan to update over the next few weeks.

The first and most immediate change is that the hosting will be shifted from the www.survivalskills.clara.net address to the www.survivalskills.co.uk domain. This won't affect the functionality of the site if you have linked to the front page which has been hosted on the .co.uk domain for over a year, but if you have a link to any of the subpages - for instance, the Riding Skills section - then you will need to update your link. To ease the change in, the site as last updated on 12 January (ie including this editorial) will be uploaded to the old .clara.net site as well as the new .co.uk one, but it won't be updated at the old location after today, and eventually it will be taken down.

There will also be a number of changes to the site content and structure. The editorial area has got a bit unwieldy. I'm going to try to break up the editorial to make shorter pages, and with the archives now going back more than 5 years, they've been temporarily removed, probably to be republished as a downloadable file for those who are interested in my ramblings, rather than take up space with what have become over-long single pages of unrelieved text.

Similarly, the Doctor's Surgery is in need of attention - the main problem this year is that it hasn't been updated quite as regularly as it should have, and so has got out of step with the editorial. What's more, many of the questions that I answer come up over and over. I've not quite decided how to deal with that section but an indexed and downloadable e-book is on the cards. Fresh questions will still be answered however, so don't feel you can't email in with your problems!

Finally, the tests section also needs a makeover. Some of the tests are now well out of date, and of historical interest only - this particularly applies to the riding kit, the turnover of which means that some gear I've bought one month isn't available in the shops even a month later.