The Initial Rider Training Project

Ever heard of this? Nope, nor had I!

Bearing in mind I belong to the Driving Instructors Association and the British Motorcyclists Federation, and receive their publications, as well as the Driving Standards Agency 'Despatch' magazine, I'm surprised that this one had passed me by.

The project

The need to understand

Training is recognised by the motorcycling community as a key element to improve motorcycle safety. OECD members recently confirmed this view, putting training programmes on the top of their priority list : “Countries have different training needs, based on their vehicle fleet and training resources. Motorcycle training should therefore build on existing standards, focus on risk awareness and risk avoidance, and develop an understanding of the rider/motorcycle capacities and limitations.”

The efficacy of rider training within the European Union, indeed the very existence of rider training in a number of Member States, are areas of consideration that have manifested as a consequence of the development of a harmonised European driving licence. Whilst the means by which a person acquires the knowledge and skills to satisfy the defined criteria is not yet addressed, it is an area of considerable interest.

The need to understand the different and distinct approaches adopted in Member States were the starting point. The views and the need of the Rider project (1997) identified rider training up to the standard required to pass an official test of competency that was applying in Member States, and categorised and evaluated the various distinct approaches. The following project Developing a European Approach to the Initial Training of Motorcyclists (2008) then considered the acknowledged problems of pre-licence rider training in Europe.

The relationship between newly qualified rider overconfidence, failing to recognise hazards and take risks and pre licence training that has overly focussed on machine control skills, has been recognised for a long time. However, today’s training programmes overwhelmingly concentrates on machine control skills to the detriment of hazard awareness and rider attitude and behaviour. An innovative approach was therefore developed by acknowledged experts.

The programme was also structured in a modular and pedagogic way for use in all kind of training circumstances.
This new approach to training delivers machine controls skills in the context of their relevance to the hazardous environment of today’s roads, with an understanding of the rider having a primary responsibility for his or her own safety, a real improvement to much of the pre licence training presently available to riders within the European Union.

The IRT Project also considered the innovative area of e-Coaching to improving initial rider training, in exposing riders to virtual hazardous situations without putting them at risk. The e-Coaching approach is viewed by the project experts as having the potential to make a significant contribution to safety of riders.

The IRT web site includes plenty of stuff to download, including:

Manual PDF
Manual .doc

And while we're on 'did you know' topics, did you know about:

“Ride-Safe 2009” - Worldwide Rider Training Survey/Competition for best Rider Training Exercises

Nope, neither did I . . .



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