Hi all,
having suffered more than once for the ignorance of motorists [as I guess many of us have] I thought it has to be worth a shot at getting the Dept. of Transport to do something about educating motorists. I’ve started a petition - http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/73464 - please read, sign & share if you agree with what I’m asking for. Thanks,
Steve
I’ve signed it.
When I did my driving test (including hazard perception with the theory) very little was discussed when it came to motorcyclists and as highly as I think of my instructor, he didn’t really discuss motorcyclists either.
I also find the standard of driving in London to be lower than anywhere else. I’m not just being arsey here, the instructors are poor, on two particular experiences it really worried me that these people were responsible for training the future generations of drivers.
In one experience on my 125 as a learner, a instructor on his own in his car decided the best way to avoid traffic was to cut into my lane and get side by side with me (forcing me into the gutter) when merging onto the A4 from a minor road and continue to do so and preventing me from safely merging with the flow of traffic.
In a more recent experience, a learner in an instructors car behind my sisters car had to have the instructor slam on the brakes as, when my younger sister was turning to pull into the driveway of my house (indicators were on in case you were wondering), the driver was going to continue dispite her still being in his lane and only just starting the manouvre. The instructor then beeps his horn as if she is the one who made the mistake.
You need to be very careful here…
If people thought they had to do extra compulsory, (unnecessary in their eyes),
lessons because of some other group of people then they’re hardly likely to be
enamoured with the other group.
The general public in the UK has only recently, (last 30 years), moved on
from “all bikers are filthy scum, they rape your daughters and go on the rampage
at the drop of a hat”. I can still remember “No Bikers” signs on pub doors.
i.e. this could just polarise car drivers and motorcyclists even more.
However, the idea of better education is good.
I’ve signed better education is a must in my eyes.
you could also end up with the people who think they know more now, making them less safe
My 18 year old cousin recently passed her driving test - from what it seems they have improved a lot since I did my driving test, they focus on Cyclists and Motorcycles a lot more.
Have a read of this month’s fast bikes, the police are starting to take bikers into account, they want to see people educated at school age on awareness etc, they think that more motorcycles on the road will lead to less accidents as we will become more aware of them, they also state people who ride motorcycles are better drivers as they are naturally more road aware
I think a bit of basic education would be useful, if only so ignorant drivers are aware that motorbikes are allowed to filter, cyclists don’t have to ride in the gutter etc. But expecting advice on making life safer for us to have any great effect is wishful thinking imo - mirror, signal, manoeuvre has been standard in driving lessons/tests for decades but how many drivers do you see every day not bothering with the first two?
Signed.
I think it would be far more beneficial that every person has to spend 60 -100 hours on a motorcycle or moped on the public highway as a precursor to applying for their provisional car licence. I believe the reason that our French cousins are so considerate to motorcyclists is that they can ride moped from about 13 or 14 years of age, or at least they used to be able to do this. Therefore in most french families, at one time or another, is a moped rider. They’ve all either ridden or moped, or had a close family member that has done so, therefore they have a heightened sense of awareness and care to moped/motorcycle riders.
