Government wasting millions on failed motorbike training

The government must bring in tough motorbike awareness tests immediately, says car review website dogandlemon.com.

Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says successive governments have been ‘conned’ into believing that advanced rider training would reduce the number of motorbike crashes.

"In fact, most studies show that advanced driver and rider training, at best, makes no difference. In some cases this training actually raises the road toll, because riders become overconfident. The 2018 motorcycle road toll is already higher than the whole of the last year, yet the government continues to fund these failed programmes" [1]

Matthew-Wilson, who is an outspoken road safety campaigner, says that, instead of funding failed training campaigns, the government needs to prevent unsafe riders from using motorbikes.

"All motorcycle riders should be put through a far tougher test, one that measures awareness, lateral vision, reaction times and eye-hand coordination."

"Awareness, lateral vision, reaction times and eye-hand coordination all decay with age. That’s why it’s no accident older men are generally the ones dying on large motorbikes. Clearly, some of these men are not capable of controlling the machines they're riding. These unsafe riders should have their motorbike licenses revoked immediately."

Matthew-Wilson adds that it’s a waste of time asking people to drive or ride safely.

“The science is quite clear: road safety campaigns aimed at changing behaviour almost never work.”

“I don’t doubt that the people who run these campaigns sincerely believe that they are making a difference, but facts are facts. If we are going to lower the road toll, we have to stop repeating the failed strategies of the past, and instead focus on what works.”

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