More On "Safety Is"

As an addendum to my recent 'Safety Is' post, Nikos said...


The UK CAA obviously have a better script writer - "Safety is no accident".

And quite right too :)


I was asked many years ago: "Is a 'good' rider a 'safe' rider?"  The knee-jerk instant answer qould be to blurt out "Yes, of course!".  But I didn't, I managed to restrain myself long enough to think about it first.

Of course, if safe is 'no accident', then you don't have to be particularly 'good' to achieve that.  Assuming that 'luck' plays no part, then it could quite simply be a case of recognising you're not a 'good' rider', and keeping with what you can achieve.

In fact, when I taught with the MSF on their Experienced RiderCourse they advised keeping within the limits of the road, your bike, and - most importantly - your own limits.

Sounds easy when you say it . . .

On one of the internet forums (yes, I know . . . 'fora' :) ), someone has a signature line which reads that 'advanced driving isn't just avoiding accidents, it's avoiding the situations where they might occur'.

This is similar to the idea of near miss recording, where a large number of near misses may eventually result in a few minor accidents but perhaps one serious accident.  I haven't explained that very well, if you want to know more about accident theory, Google 'swiss cheese accident theory' :)

One UK construction company (Balfour Beatty) has a variation on the '  . . . no accident' line, they demand 'Zero harm' from (and for) their staff, and adjust procedures to suit.

Perhaps I should do a third post 'Moron safety'?  :)





PS:  Nikos!  Why isn't this blog listed on your profile?



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