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The biking ʻproblemʼ – the Dalek solution


As bikers unite in MAG – divide and conquer has been replaced by decimate and conquer, is it all an insidious plot?


Rider training is like a tap controlling the flow of new riders taking-up biking. Restricting the flow is a sure-fire way to slowly kill- off biking which is why MAG takes such a close interest in the multiple threats converging on new, and not so new, riders.


MAG believes that new riders deserve an affordable, accessible system delivering effective training and a meaningful test of their suitability for a licence. With the 3rd EU Driving Licence Directive bringing yet more changes to rider training and testing from January 2013, trainers and riders alike are deeply concerned that the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) are simply incapable of rising to the challenge in a way that will not add yet more layers of cost and complexity to burden an already struggling sector. Perhaps inevitably, not everyone has been convinced by recent pronouncements from the upper echelons of the DSA heralding a new dawn for rider training. Indeed, an urgent clarification' was recently made by Department for Transport officials amid concerns that DSA have once again swaggered over the mark with a set of proposals that sound more like a death knell for mass-participation in rider training.


So which point of view is right and, more importantly, what can ordinary riders do to make sure we don't face another calamity on the scale of the ongoing motorcycle test fiasco? The 'Driver/Rider Training Standard' published by DSA on 31 October is said to be ‘a logical basis for ongoing discussions around plans to modernise the qualification, registration and


48 The ROAD


quality assurance arrangements for the motorcycle training industry... to ensure the right people, with the right skills and motivation enter the profession, minimum standards of training, continued development of skills and improved consumer information."


At this stage, we are told by


DfT that the options under consideration include: an end to Training Schools training their own instructors ('down-training') future instructors to qualify via an NVQ or DSA course, assessing theory, riding ability and instructional ability,


questions as they emerge, but you will get your own opportunity to tell DSA and DfT what you think of the final plans when a formal consultation takes place next year.


One major aspect of the proposed changes we will be focussing on, is the cost of the proposals. There has been an official announcement to the effect that the current DSA fees structure will be changed to account for the costs of implementation of these changes and to reflect the ‘user pays’ principle. That suggests a significant amount of additional


Exterminate learners and you cut motorcycling at its roots


In broad terms the number of riders gaining a full licence has effectively halved since the DSA slashed the number of test-sites


regulation of instructors and training businesses, mandatory Continuing Professional Development for trainers, smarter checks on training standards, a website showing skills, qualifications and services provided by trainers. All of which sounds progressive, but organisations representing trainers and riders are concerned that it fails to address some fundamental questions, such as whether current businesses running CBT sites will be forced to close down, how current instructors will finance the new


qualifications and how future instructors can earn a living while qualifying. We'll let you know the answers to those


cost will be added to the price a new rider has to pay for instruction and also for test fees. The latest figures I could find from DSA suggested an annual loss of £2.5 million on motorcycle tests, which in turn suggests an additional £35 per rider just to cover current problems, let alone the costs of implementing any future changes. So, we appear to be heading toward a situation where riders may be forced to pay twice as much as it cost to take a bike before the current two-part test was introduced or, put another way, twice as much as the £62.00 it currently costs for a car test. The numbers speak for themselves; there are around 1.3 million bikes licensed for road


use, of which about 350,000 are under the 125cc learner-limit yet less than 35,000 riders gained a full-licence last year and the published figures for 2011 are looking even more bleak. In broad terms the number of riders gaining a full licence has effectively halved since the DSA slashed the number of test-sites and biking is now well below the 'replacement rate' that would be needed to maintain the size of the current rider population, let alone allow for further uptake of powered two-wheelers as the cost of getting from A-to-B increases and congestion gets worse.


As readers of The ROAD will


know, Mike Penning MP (the Minister in charge) invited MAG to work alongside training schools, manufacturers and others to help his officials at the DfT and DSA to find a better way forward for the UK's system for training and testing new riders. As well as DSA's plans for Compulsory Basic Training arrangements and creating systems for learning to ride from novice to expert rider, we have been focussing on the


possibilities for finding a better alternative to the controversial two-part bike test overcoming DSA’s reliance on just 50 testing sites to serve all of Great Britain and tackling the inadequate arrangements for booking tests.


NB: arrangements for Northern Ireland are being developed separately and MAG is consulted by the authorities there.

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