Anger over motorbike 'swerve test'

[Spiderman]

Originally Posted by arcdef

Lots of my friends had car tests cancelled due to heavy rain, wind and fog etc aswell as snow!

Stupid if you ask me, how can they expect you to drive freely no matter the weather if you cant do a test in it?

That is just totally pathetic imo, as you say how are they supposed to do this by themselves if they aint given the courgae to do it in exam conditions.

Originally Posted by Viney

No one has noticed that they require you to accelerate to 50kph! When did we go metric in britan then? At 31.5 mph you would be breaking the speed limit on a urban road! Its typical european bol**. Remember this when you vote next week folks!

yeh i noticed that too, as you say cos its a euro directive its been implemented in KPH. I for one cat wait till we start driving on the other side of the road too, will make the commute in the mornings far more interesting anyway. We can randomly play the "avoid the old git who forgot what side of the road we are supposed to use" game

Originally Posted by arcdef

The idea about having a cbt for a set amount of time before the test is a good one.

Is it?

If you couldn't pass this test on a 125 because you're under prepared or lacking tuition, then how would you be safer riding one on the road on your own? The "likely" mistake is only going to be all the more costly.

[hindle8907]

there asking you to do somthing to pass what on the on road part you would fail for !! i did it first go in the rain .... was fun acutally

and i passed on a 125cc

[Jayneflakes]

This both inspires me and worries me. I am hoping to take my test quite soon, not only do I face a long ride to the particular test centre to do this part one test, I have to ride through Bristol just to get there! That will be fun.

I have already learned the swerve move out on the roads due to rude, ignorant road users not allowing me the room to ride safely. I have been pushed into the pavement by Chavs speeding past, had to apply an emergency stop due to a tart on a phone not stopping at a give way and had people change lanes, pushing in front of me because they have forgotten how to look in a mirror.

When these things happened to me the first time, I got home shaking and I admit that I cried a bit because I was scared. A bit of confidence gained riding on L plates and I think I could swerve around an oil tanker now.

My partner was a motorcycle instructor for close to sixteen years and has trained me up to a suitable level, however even she has expressed concern about some of the tests requirements now. Not because difficult moves, but entirely because of the lack of specialist test centres. My back side is numb after a twenty mile ride on a CG125, having to complete a test and then ride twenty miles back home is more of a concern to me than swerving to avoid an obstacle.

I think I will be nailing a cushion to my seat...

[Spiderman]

Originally Posted by ranathari

I think it's reasonable to sue the DSA if you've broken a bone or two while crashing during the off-road portion of the test. Surely the examiner has a duty to assess if the conditions are safe for the test to proceed and should call it off if it's too wet, which seems to be what caused that rider to break her leg.

Disagree with you here, Fizz saved me typing my reason why....

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

I agree with Sinbad to, its not the fault of the test its the fault of the people doing the instructing.

One instructor said all his pupils bar one had passed and the ones that he had seen falling off were pulling on the front brake whilst in the middle of the swerve procedure.

We all know what happens if you grab a massive handful of front brake whilst turning on a wet road. These people who are falling arent being taught properly or simply arent ready to take their test.

And as for this, i was gonna refer to it earlier but didn't think anyone would know what i was on about. I saw this on Top Gear once, where they wanted to know if there was a reason why so many Finnish drivers are so good at the rallying. And they found out jusy why.

Originally Posted by ranathari

You could also do it the Finnish way where there's more than one test and they're also spread out over a period of time. My girlfriend said she had to do a skid test on a road that was hosed down before she got her licence!

Now apart from the costs being the possible restricting factor, why are tests not as all encompasing as this? Even to the simplest variations, like driving at night before you pass your test, or even driving on motorways.

Originally Posted by Spiderman

Disagree with you here, Fizz saved me typing my reason why....

Fair enough but I think it's fairly trivial to argue that the examiner has a duty of care towards people taking the test, so I'd be surprised if she doesn't win the case.

Now apart from the costs being the possible restricting factor, why are tests not as all encompasing as this? Even to the simplest variations, like driving at night before you pass your test, or even driving on motorways.

Because people regard driving as an absolute right rather than a privilege.

[Spiderman]

I disagree with the instructor having "a duty of care" since when you pass there aint gonna be no-one "caring" about you but yourself. So the instrutcor has a duty to educate you enough to pass the swerve part of the test in the same way he's educated you to pass the emergency stop part of the test.

I saw people fall off doing figure of 8s in the car park on 125s, does that mean the figure of 8 should also now be banned or a subject to sue over?

its learning a new skillthe instrutcors job is to give the training, guidance and confidence that you can do it. if you go into it and panic and grab the front brake too hard then you would do the same in real road conditions and end up having a crash. At least here you're only avoiding cones. Get it wrong too many times in the training and you may not want to be on a bike, get it wrong once on the road and you may not be around to make that decision again.

[Stu]

Originally Posted by Jamiebridges123

While you and I may be able to this on our own bikes, you try doing it on a CG or a CBF125 or a YBR125... those little skinny tyres and bad enough in the dry, let alone the wet... they also have a top speed of 28mph so getting to 31 can be a bit of a problem..

I think you're getting very confused.
Am I not right in thinking this swerve test is part of the A1 licence for 500cc bikes not 50 cc bikes that are restricted to 30mph?

reading through the posts Ive got;

+1 to Arcdef, Sinbad/Spiderman and ranathari's first posts lol.

Bottle and glass me if you will, but I think this test is actually a good thing. If you cant do a simple swerve wet or dry you shouldnt be on the roads on a bike. end of.
If you cant do it then you clearly need more time and practice on a cheaper less deadly machine simply getting used to avoiding manholes/white lines and just bad tarmac is essential in riding. As a city commuter I have to aviod these obsticals daily in year round conditions and I do so, so far with 100% sucess.

and I am certain that is because;
First I learnt to ride (I did my CBT to get on the road and then had the DT for a year)
Second I took my test (Even with the experiance I had I took a 3 day course so that I could iron out the bad habbits).
Third after passing I went out and got the SV. A year on and I've never even dropped it.

Now I dont think I'm better than anybody else I dont think Im more sensible than anyone else I sure as hell dont think I'm lucky. What I did was learnt to ride a bike, and get myself some road sense (I've noticed missing from most new riders).

These people IMHO cant ride, shouldnt ride and deserve to fail. These are the people who havn't ridden much these are the ones who wont ride much but will still buy powerful 750+cc motorcycle then go out and introduce themselves to a tree because they dont have the experiance to dodge a manhole and instead straightline the following corner. Or as I've heard them most affectionatly called, statistics!

not sure whether asking them to do the swerve section in the wet at the same speed is truly representative of normal road riding. I'm a newbie so got a long way to go but the only way i'll get any better is by getting on with riding. Having them swerve around some cones once is almost pointless, they might get it right once but then bin it a week later. Being out on the ride and getting "road sense" is the only way. But then theres the added dangers of other road users. No test is ever going to be good enough, roads are always going to be dangerous and thats just the way it is