It is fair to say that winter is finally upon us – with more bad weather on its way. Last week, gales of up to 165mph battered the country, bringing chaos to parts of northern England and Scotland. We have heard about a couple of tragic deaths possibly related to the conditions and the Met Office has issued weather warnings for wind and snow.

Longer periods of darkness, snow, ice, heavy rain and freezing fog can make for treacherous driving conditions, as was the case particularly over the last two winters, so it pays to be prepared and adapt the way we drive to suit the conditions.

At RoSPA, we have issued some winter driving tips to help you stay informed and reduce the risk of having an accident. I have also recorded a video which summarises the tips in more detail to ensure you are fully prepared. Planning your journey in advance at this time of year could make all the difference and you should adjust your driving accordingly to suit the conditions.

 It is important that you do not get caught out by Mother Nature this year, so make sure that your vehicle is in tip top condition before setting out on the road. Check the following:

• Lights are clean and working
• Battery is fully charged
• The windscreen, wiper blades and other windows are clean and the washer bottle filled with screen wash
• Tyre condition, tread depth and pressure (of all the tyres, including the spare)
• Brakes are working as they should do
• Fluids are kept topped up, especially windscreen wash (to the correct concentration to prevent it freezing), anti-freeze and oil
• It is also good practice to stock up on de-icer, windscreen wash, oil and anti-freeze and keep them topped up.

Among the most vital things to remember to check are the tyres. Make sure they are legal. We recommend that worn tyres are replaced with an equivalent new unit well before the legal minimum tread limit of 1.6mm is reached – ideally as soon as they reach 3mm. After all, the tyres are the vehicle’s only point of contact with the road and therefore need to be in excellent condition.

It is also worth packing an emergency kit, particularly on long journeys. An energy drink, blanket and the odd chocolate bar could make all the difference if you become trapped in a snow drift or stuck on a motorway overnight. We also advise carrying a shovel, tow rope, Wellington boots, a working torch, hazard warning triangle, first aid kit (in good order) and a fully charged mobile phone.

Hitting the road during the winter months should be approached with caution. If it is blowing a blizzard outside and hitting sub-zero temperatures, ask yourself, “Is this journey absolutely necessary?” Remember, conditions can change quickly and your chosen route could worsen as a result. But ultimately, the responsibility lies with the driver in determining what an “essential” journey is; just ensure you keep up-to-date with weather broadcasts and travel bulletins in order to stay one step ahead.

The key message for winter driving is space and plenty of it. In snow and ice you may need up to 10 times the normal distance for braking. That is why it pays to drive at a safe distance from the car in front. In snow, or on icy or snow covered roads, your speed should be reduced to limit your chances of skidding. Your stopping distance will increase massively, so adjust your speed accordingly.

To brake on ice and snow without locking your wheels, get into a low gear earlier than normal, allow your speed to fall and use your brakes gently.

Refresher driving training is a great way of preparing yourself for the dangerous road conditions which may may greet you on the roads this winter. Your employer may offer driver training or alternatively you can contact the RoSPA Advanced Drivers and Riders group in your area. To find out which is the nearest to you, go to www.roadar.org

And, if you do find yourself in trouble this winter, do not abandon your vehicle. Call the emergency services on your mobile phone or from a roadside telephone and stay with your vehicle until help arrives. Stay calm and try not to panic.

For further advice about winter driving, visit www.rospa.com/winterdriving/ or www.highways.gov.uk/knowledge/333.aspx

To keep up-to-date with traffic news and information visit www.highways.gov.uk, www.trafficscotland.org, www.traffic-wales.com and www.trafficwatchni.com/site/default.asp

Bob Smalley, RoSPA’s chief driving examiner

On Saturday, May 21, 24 bikes gathered at the holding bay of RAF Wittering, in glorious sunshine, ready for a day of skills training – and all completely free of charge.

A team of tutors took over the very large maintenance area for a day full of exercises aimed at improving handling skills and giving the members the opportunity to practise things that it is just not practical to do on the public roads. The exercises ranged from countersteering through a slalom course to braking at high speeds and were designed to build up into a comprehensive package by the end of the day.

Peter Vasey from CADAR said: “The feedback has been really positive and we will be looking to run a more advanced skills day towards the end of summer. Everyone seems to have enjoyed themselves which is always very important. We intend to run these courses more frequently now whilst sticking to our ‘no charge’ approach”.

The RAF base is very keen to support road safety and it provides CADAR and their members with a safe environment away from the public roads.

Peter went on to say: “We really appreciate RAF Wittering allowing us to use the facilities; it is not easy to find space like this. We’d like to thank the RAF base and also Greenham Safety and Workplace Supplies who provided us with some of the training equipment. It is really appreciated.”

Training is free and open to all members on a first come, first served basis. The intention is to provide a two-stage skills course each year so that new members have a path for developing their skills even further.

If you are interested in joining CADAR and improving your riding skills, please contact info@cadar.org.uk or call 01223 853596.

Harry and his expert team spent 1979 and 1980 racing to the scene of motorcycle accidents in southern California to try to work out why and how the riders had crashed. When they got there, they talked to witnesses, the attending police, any involved drivers and where possible the riders themselves. They followed up over 900 accidents on site and reviewed a further 3,600 accident reports.

The findings were presented in 1981 as “Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Counter-measures”, better known today as the “Hurt Study” or “Hurt Report”.

It was the first half-way scientific study of motorcycle accidents.

The full report is over 300 pages long, and Hurt and his team drew no less than 55 main conclusions. I’m not going to repeat them here (a search on Google for “Hurt Report conclusions” will find them for you) but I will summarise one key area:

Approximately three-quarters of these motorcycle accidents involved collisions with another vehicle, which was most often a passenger automobile. Intersections are the most likely place for the motorcycle accident. In multiple-vehicle accidents, the driver of the other vehicle violated the motorcycle’s right-of-way and caused the accident in two-thirds of those accidents. The failure of motorists to detect and recognise motorcycles in traffic is the predominating cause of [multiple vehicle] motorcycle accidents. The driver of the other vehicle involved in collisions with the motorcycle did not see the motorcycle before the collision, or did not see the motorcycle until too late to avoid the collision.

Before the ’80s were over, a UK-based study conducted by Booth looked at nearly 10,000 motorcycle accidents in the predominantly urban Metropolitan Police area.

It concluded that nearly two-thirds (62%) were primarily caused by the other road user. Half of the accidents were caused by car drivers, and 10% by pedestrians. The report found that two-thirds of motorcycle accidents where the car driver was at fault were due to the driver failing to anticipate the action of the motorcyclist.

Notice the similarities?

As the authorities and rider groups themselves picked up on the problem that motorcycles simply weren’t being seen in traffic and that many accidents happened when drivers pulled out in front of riders, one obvious suggestion was that motorcyclists needed to make themselves more visible

The result was that the use of day riding lights (DRLs) and other conspicuity aids such as high visibility clothing (hi-vis) were suggested in books like the Highway Code and in some cases became mandatory (permanently-illuminated turn signals in California, headlights-on in France and Australia, CBT instructors and trainees required to wear day-glo bibs in the UK – just a few examples).

Yet there were warnings that this might not be a fully effective strategy. From “Motorcycle Safety – a scoping study” published by the Transport Research Laboratory in 2003:

“The conspicuity problem appears to be partly associated with car drivers learning visual strategies that are not very effective at detecting motorcycles, and there is potential to address this by training – although it is not clear how effective this would be in the long term given that the basic problem may be the relative rarity of motorcycles.”

So what are these visual strategies they are talking about? Somewhat simplified, it’s down to three things:

1. The way the eye works (a very narrow zone of clear focus right in the very centre and a large “fuzzy” area where what seems like a clear image is actually filled in by the brain from memory, rather like the way software interpolation on a digital camera “invents” detail from the surrounding pixels)

2. The way the brain interprets what the eye sees (it detects what it sees using movement or light/dark contrast, but then identifies what it sees from a “database” of shapes it knows from prior experience are important – thus drivers tend to be aware of cars and trucks, but not bikes and cycles)

3. Where and how drivers look (research shows they look for gaps, not vehicles, because that’s what they need to pull out into, and they look for an average of just half a second, which isn’t long enough to scan and focus on the full area between that gap and close up to their car).

So how does that lead to “detection failure”?

The first thing to understand is that your brightly-coloured and illuminated bike isn’t moving relative to the background until you are very close to the driver – this is called the “looming effect”. So you’re not picked up by the “motion detection” system, particularly when drivers are glancing rapidly to the left and right.

The second thing to understand is that your brightly coloured and illuminated bike only stands out if there is a strong contrast against the background (incidentally, hi-vis vests are too small to be effective, particularly behind a fairing – so use a sleeved hi-vis jacket). An increasing number of vehicles now also use DRLs, so the “contrast detection” system fails too.

In both these cases, even if the driver appears looks straight at you because you’re between them and the gap they intend to use, they tend to look behind you so you’re out of focus. Combined with the failure to detect you via motion or contrast, it means from their perspective the road ahead of the gap appears to be clear (even though there is a bike in it) so they pull out.

This kind of behaviour even has a name – it’s called “looked but did not see”.

And that’s the point I want to make about the effectiveness of DRLs and hi-vis.

Thousands of riders across the world are still injured or killed in this self-same accident that was identified 30 years ago.

If hi-vis and DRLs really worked, we’d find a big shift in the location of accidents since the 1980s when those first serious studies in accidents were done (when riders didn’t use hi-vis and DRLs). But we don’t.

We’re still having virtually the same proportion of junction accidents 30 years on. There’s been a slight drop in the frequency of accidents per vehicle mile, but the same accidents are happening in the same places in more or less the same ratios as ever.

So, the main benefit of hi-vis and DRLs is to help the driver to see you when you’re five or even ten seconds and more from collision (which is miles away in urban riding) and to remember you’re there when you enter the “killing zone”, which is where YOU cannot avoid a collision if the driver starts to emerge.

But the main drawback of hi-vis and DRLs is that just when you’d imagine they would be most effective (because you’re so close to a driver it seems obvious he can’t fail to see you), is when they don’t work and that’s when you’re at risk of a “looked but did not see” accident.

Kevin Williams

© Survival Skills Rider Training 2011

survivalskills@clara.net

That’s: “No, not in the ‘Friday the 13th’ sense” – and I certainly don’t believe that stepping on the cracks in the pavement will allow the monsters to get me (well, not recently…).

But there are superstitions which make sense. Walking under a ladder, for instance, can be unlucky for you if the person “upstairs” drops their hammer… so some superstitions are a bit like stereotypes and clichés – there may be some “real” reason or “truth” behind the belief.

Similarly, superstitions are often supposed to involve “luck” – but it can be possible to swing that luck in your favour. I don’t walk under a ladder unless I’ve looked up first – and from some way back. Indeed, a friend says there are two types of luck: good and bad.

Many riders believe they’re unlucky when they’re involved in crashes – but I can’t help wondering whether they’ve relied on “luck” rather than choosing which luck they’ll rely on – like the quick check up before walking under that ladder. Indeed, the way some riders rely on racing leathers and a bright headlamp to keep them safe you’d think they’ve discovered the biking equivalent of a lucky rabbit foot – and they were never lucky for the rabbit…

Biking has its clichés and stereotypes as well as talismans, as riders tend to have the same basic types of crash again and again:

• Junctions: the well-known SMIDSY (sorry, mate, I didn’t see you) or RoWV (right of way violation)
• Corners: usually crashing at speeds where the bike could have got around, but the rider failed to achieve it
• Overtaking: often passing a group of vehicles in one move, without checking why the group is moving slowly.

None of these types of crash are big secrets. Indeed, there are even more detailed “cliché” bike crashes that continue to catch riders out – the “taxi does a U-turn” is a classic example.

So if riders have the same types of crash, over and over, involving the same basic situations, why is there surprise that the crash has happened? Why are they considered to be bad luck?

More importantly: why don’t riders make the effort to reduce their reliance on good luck? By looking at the situations you’re riding towards, and then either influencing the situation, or altering the way you react to it, you can change the “luck” and put it in your favour.

Let’s change the wording. Rather than “luck”, let’s use a more modern set of terms: why doesn’t the rider use risk assessment and risk management? Look at the road ahead, and start to take control – rather than sitting and waiting to see what happens. Instead of trusting to good or bad luck, use another more modern term: change from reactive to proactive.

Each of the three main types of bike crash has its own details, its own clues, and likely effects on the rider.

• SMIDSY crashes are more likely to be urban, at slower speeds, and involve injury more than death
• Cornering crashes are more often ‘rural’, at higher speeds, and more like to be fatal
• Overtaking is usually rural, and at very high speed.

Although all three have different build-ups – often by a very simple sequence of seemingly minor decisions – there are ways in which a rider can think about the situation ahead.

There are two simple questions to ask which give a good idea of this:

• How can that affect me?
• What if that happens?

In traditional Roadcraft terms, this is using “observation links”: finding a small detail, a clue, and using it to link to a likely outcome. This is hazard perception, but not in the form used within the DSA’s Hazard Perception Test where you’re marked only on reacting to developing hazards (where you must change speed or direction); instead we’re looking at risks, seeing potential danger before you must take urgent action.

Of course, it isn’t really as simple as proactive versus reactive, it’s more a matter of reacting sooner to a hint of a problem, rather than waiting for it to develop. Often your only early reaction will be to notice a potential problem then keep an eye on it in case it worsens.

Then there’s the extra mental step of looking for problems where they don’t exist (or, at least, can’t be seen). Here you’re using guesswork or imagination to create a mental picture of problems likely to occur. In an odd way, you move from superstition to fortune-telling and looking to the future! Of course, this is not so much “end of the pier palmistry” as informed guesswork.

Essentially, you’re looking and planning for possibilities from “clear, straight, road” to “narrow, blind bend with oncoming vehicle”, depending on what you can see ahead, and what your imagination tells you. In old Roadcraft terms:

• What can be seen?
• What can’t be seen?
• What can reasonably be expected to happen?

Having an idea, imagined or otherwise, of what you’re about to meet allows you to plan a response – or a range of them. This pre-planning reduces your reaction time if something does happen, and can help avoid panic reactions.

This might seem a doom-laden, down-beat, way of thinking about your riding. Well, perhaps it is. I call it being a happy pessimist! If nothing you’ve planned for happens, then you continue on and if something untoward does happen then it’s no big deal – you already have it predicted and planned for.

Having identified actual or potential danger, there’s one final action you must take, and that’s to believe what you’ve decided enough to take notice of it! For instance: if a narrow bend has a limited view it’s reasonable to expect oncoming traffic. In fact, it’s more than reasonable – it’s essential to think like that if you wish to avoid becoming a bonnet mascot! If you’ve decided that, what are you going to do about it? Your planning must allow for stopping within – at most – half the distance you can see is clear, and being prepared to stop if necessary.

I used the term essential to expect oncoming vehicles, and I ride with that in mind. Do you agree it’s essential, or do you rely on luck? When you arrive at a blind bend, can you roll a six every time?
© Malcolm Palmer

http://the-ride-info.blogspot.com/

Signalling is how we road users communicate. These days, riders who have been training the police way still use the occasional arm signal. Obviously they require careful consideration: for instance, giving a slowing down arm signal with little room to manoeuvre is not a good idea. The reason being that when you let go of the handlebar you begin to slow down and you may need to give a following driver more room to react to you. So, if flowing traffic is close, maybe a brake light signal might be better before you slow down.

On motorways or fast roads you may need to give more than one or two flashes of an indicator or risk other road users not seeing your signal. If they don’t see it they can’t react to it. At 70mph a rule of thumb is to give a left turn signal near the three hundred yard count down marker when exiting a motorway or dual carriageway.

You also have to remember that your motorcycle is a small target. You have to look and think well ahead in order to give yourself time to react to situations and also to provide others with time to see your signals. The rule of all training should be to create time and space for yourself: time to react and space to manoeuvre.

As an aside; if you think about adding small aftermarket indicators to your bike, do yourself a favour and check that they can be seen easily.

I was taught never to accept a signal at face value. How many times have you seen a signal given that does not tell you what the other person intends? While out training, I stopped a student from undertaking a van that was signalling right and approaching a junction on the right. Although the vehicle slowed down and kept a right-turn indicator flashing, the driver eventually turned left! It could have been a disaster if the rider had taken the signal at face value.

NEVER let any other road user have any percentage of YOUR safety

And how many times have I seen bikes being ridden with an indicator still flashing? Loads. Get the action of cancelling a signal into your head as a reactive process – and remember to check that pressing the cancel button actually does the job.

I very soon learnt that the police training manual Roadcraft is a concept rather than a rulebook. I put it in the same league as Dave Jones’ “Not the Blue Book”, which is one person’s idea about safer riding (and a good set of ideas it is too).

“Safer riding” is another concept. It means different things to different people in terms of the level of safety that each of us is prepared to accept. So, what does the concept mean to us as riders who appear to need some form of order by which we can ride? There are people who accept the principles of the System some of the time and those who use the principles all the time. Within this systematic way of riding there are individual levels of acceptance of the guidance that Roadcraft provides.

Take signalling. One of my first police instructors came up with a little verse to help: “I will always give a signal unless I don’t have to”. This is instead of: “I will only give a signal if I have to.” The emphasis is on giving the signal.

One signal that came up for discussion recently was the signal to join a motorway. What we use, as if I need to explain, is a right turn signal. This has been accepted as a change of inference in different situations: I intend to turn right, or deviate, or filter.

Someone told me that when entering the filter lane to join a motorway I always need the signal to change lanes. Police training teaches riders to question and consider every action. I don’t consider filtering from a slip road onto the main carriageway a change of lanes.  If I don’t join the main carriageway, what am I to do? Stop? This is similar to approaching a parked vehicle on my side of the road. Do I need to signal right prior to overtaking it? What are the consequences to me if I don’t overtake it? What do other road users expect me to do?

So, having arrived on our slip road, matched our speed to traffic on our right, found a suitable gap in lane one, do I need to signal? What will that piece of information give to anyone on our right? Is it a courtesy signal? Does it provide another road user with relevant information? The answer is that if you decide a signal is needed then be sure to give it. Remember the person who may need to see your signal most may not yet be in sight!

As we approach a roundabout, we see there are two exits: one on the left and one on the right. The road is divided into two lanes, one marked left and one right. What signal could we give that would provide anyone else with a sign of our intention at the roundabout? If we indicate on approach are we giving a signal of our intentions, or confirming our intentions? If we signal right, for instance, are we saying we are turning right, or intending to exit on the same road on which we entered?

Signals require much thought to decide whether they will confirm or confuse. They should signal your intentions, not an action already begun. They should not be ambiguous, so be wary when overtaking stationary vehicles that there is not another junction nearby.

My police training tells me that only constant practise to make signalling a part of your riding style, and constant observation of the area in which you are riding, will do.

Stu Bullock.

Senior Motorcycle Examiner for RoADAR and Diploma Course Director.

Chapter 1 contains the “Ten Commandments of Motor Cycling” but no vehicle checks were included. The 1970 edition included a section on motorways and included “advice on mode of address to road users”. It focuses on being polite. Good heavens! The 1978 edition saw the Ten Commandments moved to the end of the book, but formalised vehicle checks appeared.

The big revamp came in 1996 where the layout changed and content grew in size. What I am hoping this will show is that the principles contained in Roadcraft have developed along with changing motoring conditions and vehicle controls.

The System was introduced for police riders and drivers to ensure that “their own standard of riding should be at all times above reproach”. (Good heavens.) By having this high standard it was hoped the public would co-operate with accident reduction and law enforcement schemes which police patrols and the Highway Code promote. It’s not a bad thing for members of the public to want to raise their standards too. After all, the RoSPA Gold pass is the highest standard available to civilian riders.

One area that appears to cause much angst is in the area of road position. The newest Motorcycle Roadcraft, chapter 7, talks about “zones of different risk” and introduces riders to the “relatively safe zone” between the extreme left and right of a particular traffic lane. It continues with “positioning for advantage” and discusses the nearside, central and offside positions of a particular traffic lane. I’ve heard it said that there are three positions to consider and indeed Roadcraft does state that. Unfortunate, in my view.

There are in practice an unlimited number of positions to adopt to defend a rider from risks. In support of my view I quote directly from my 1965 edition of Motor Cycle Roadcraft, chapter 5, positioning:

1. One of the essentials of good riding is the correct positioning of the motor cycle on the road and this can only be achieved if the rider’s powers of observation are constantly exercised. The position which is adopted from moment to moment must be governed by the dangers, or potential dangers, which have been observed.

2. The position to be taken up when approaching and while negotiating certain types of hazard has been explained in chapter 2 but no hard and fast rules can be laid down which will cover every hazard likely to be encountered. Something must be left to the intelligence of the rider.

I detect a theory in some circles that the latest central position is the “default” or a “safety” position to hold or return to when no other problems are detected. If this results in creating a fixed rule about adopting a road position in particular circumstances, then I would urge caution about that. Both Roadcraft and the Highway Code provide advice about the kind of risks from both the nearside and the offside of a road. This advice gives a clue that there are very few times when we should not be defending ourselves against risk by making changes to our road position to match the changing risk.

I’ve also heard it said that novice riders need fixed rules to apply until they learn to be more flexible in their application of the System. Good heavens. Is that inflexible learning, or inflexible teaching? We used to have “rules of the road”, such as keep to the left except when overtaking or turning right. Look to the 1965 Roadcraft for explanation. It says: “This must always be kept in mind but to adhere rigidly to it at all times may prove dangerous in certain circumstances.”

We have to progress. We have to debate, question and learn or we won’t develop. Progress, however, does not mean forgetting or ignoring the past because it was relevant once – and it might still be.

Our development with Roadcraft should include teaching methods and standards for tutors. That is why the advanced tutor test was developed from the RoSPA Diploma Course and test. It enables those with Gold passes wanting to teach advanced riders, to learn about the principles of teaching and tests their knowledge to a high level.

Let us get this message straight: rigid teaching and rigid learning is not how it should be. Our attitude must encourage all ages and types of rider to engage with advanced rider training. RoSPA training is, after all, a well established accident reduction and law enforcement scheme. Good heavens. Have you read that before?

Stu Bullock

Senior Motorcycle Examiner for RoADAR and Diploma Course Director

It was with a sense of trepidation and intrigue that I arrived in the meeting room: I do not drive cars often. I am a motorcyclist, and only a couple of inches of snow will induce me to abandon the bike and climb into a car.

My fellow trainee was Michael; our trainer – Gareth – was very friendly, and got right down to business.

The day began with a classroom session; a couple of hours spent going through common accidents; hazards; road signs.

This was a useful recap; but it did leave me wondering: “Do people really not know this stuff?”

One thing that occurred to me was that if more people knew what had happened at accident black-spots, they would understand why speed limits had been changed, or cameras had been put in. When presented with a corner that is covered in paint, chevrons, warning signs and Armco, do people realise just how much that costs, and that councils would not waste their money putting it all in there if it wasn’t needed?

Classroom chat out of the way, the practical session began. We walked out to the car, with me muttering under my breath: “Do not attempt to filter. Do not attempt to filter.”

I have to admit I was a little nervous; as I said, I don’t drive cars often, and it felt a little like taking my driving test again. I did wonder what bad habits I’d picked up, and decided to be on my best behaviour.

We did a quick check around the vehicle: tyres, lights, finding out where the lights, horn and windscreen wipers were – and we were off!

It was a really enjoyable afternoon. I wasn’t sure how much I would learn, or in fact how competent a driver I would prove to be, but I was pleasantly surprised on both counts.

Much of what Gareth was trying to teach us was second nature to me; I’m not sure whether this is because I spend most of my time on two wheels or not, but my use of mirrors, shoulder checks and general spatial awareness is always done naturally – as is reading the road as far ahead as I can.

However, I discovered a new way of driving which was both relaxing and enjoyable. As Gareth pointed out – your arrival time has very little to do with what you do behind the wheel. Most of the time, it’s beyond your control, as you have to follow the traffic. I’ve found driving cars very frustrating in the past, precisely because of this. On the bike, I can filter past queues and save myself a lot of time (about half an hour a journey on my commute). Obviously, filtering is a little more tricky in a car, and people tend to object…

Adopting this mindset was soothing, and I began to enjoy myself.

Our instructor also encouraged us to leave much more space between ourselves and the car in the front. I probably did have a tendency to get a little close in the car, so I did drop back – and again, spaces opened up and afforded me more time to choose my manoeuvres.

Having said that, I do feel that I wouldn’t leave quite as much space as Gareth suggested. I have changed my following distances; but I’m always mindful of leaving a gap so big that it tempts people to cut in where there really isn’t quite enough room to do so. So although I’m leaving more space, it’s probably not quite what the instructor would like – there is always room for discussion on such matters, as there’s often not a right or wrong way of doing things.

A little courtesy goes a long way, and taking into account the “body language” and attitude of other road users can make everyone’s lives a lot easier. If someone adopts an “I’m coming through this gap no matter what” stance, it’s much easier and quicker to just let them get on with it.

While in the past I might have insisted on “my right of way” in the car, it just made two people bad tempered and impatient rather than the one in the oncoming vehicle. And it saves all of, ooh, five seconds. So I learned a little patience, and lowered my blood pressure.

Finally, a really useful tip I picked up for driving on the motorway, was to back off the accelerator to bring a gap to you, while waiting to pull out and overtake. I pride myself on early planning and not being surprised by situations that develop on the motorway (I’m shocked at how many people seem surprised when they arrive right behind a truck in lane one, and swerve out at the last minute…) – but I hadn’t really thought about backing off the accelerator.

It not only brings the gap towards you quicker, it means that you can start to accelerate out of your lane more smoothly, and you probably lose less speed in the end. Especially if you’re driving a big, heavy diesel!

My driving was assessed, in the end, as being very competent; Gareth flagged up following distances, and suggested being a bit lighter on the accelerator through towns, but I was really pleased I’d done well.

Everyone thinks they’re a good driver, but a driver development course really does help you to assess your own skills. I was genuinely surprised to find that I enjoyed driving. Thinking about what you’re doing enhances your enjoyment of it, and I’d recommend it to anyone (and specifically to one or two individuals…). I’m even thinking about doing some advanced driving, and taking the advanced test…

Vicky Fraser

RoSPA’s press officer/web editor

RoADAR Northern Ireland will have an information stand and leaflets at the event, which takes place on Saturday from 12noon – 7pm and Sunday from 12noon – 4pm.

RoADAR Northern Ireland, which was re-launched in 2009, aims to show how improved skills can play a crucial part in cutting the death and injury toll on Northern Ireland’s roads and help drivers and riders get more enjoyment from being behind the wheel or on their bike.

Volunteer observers, who are members of the group, offer assessments and training to people interested in becoming advanced drivers or riders. Observers mentor potential advanced test candidates until they are ready to take their test.

There are more than 50 local RoADAR groups across the UK.

For more information about RoADAR Northern Ireland, visit www.roadar.org.uk or call RoSPA’s Belfast office on 028 9050 1160.

Road Safety Awareness Weekend is being organised by Road Safety Awareness NI. See www.roadsafetyawarenessni.co.uk for more information.

It’s worth being aware of just how much front your friendly local thief will show when trying to steal a motorcycle: as well as those opportunistic thieves who will pinch anything not nailed down, many motorbike thefts are actually pretty well planned. When planning your bike security, bear in mind that potential thieves will often wander by to have a look – sometimes in the daytime, but often late at night. They then return tooled up a couple of hours later, having laid their plans.

If your pride and joy is hidden away, or just looks like it’s far more bother than it’s worth to try and steal, you’re more likely to find it safely tucked away in the morning.

Chains

There is no chain on the market under 16mm, that I am aware of, which cannot be broken with 42″ bolt croppers. Some can even be cropped with 36″ croppers.

If you want a chain that requires a noisy attack to breach, you need 16mm plus. There are plenty of videos on the internet – just do a YouTube search for “cropping a motorbike chain” to find out how easy it can be to break motorcycle security.

There are two basic types of security chain, long link and short link. Long-link chains enable you to pass a leading link through any link along the chain, allowing the user to customise the length of the chain according to the situation. Best practice is to keep it tight.

Short-link chains will always be heavier as well as not having the facility for shortening. You can shorten a short link chain by twisting it until it tangles up on itself, then you can lock it off; this is not ideal but every bit helps.

Plenty of chains boast “through hardening”; this is generally bad, because a through-hardened chain is brittle and usually only needs one side cropping because the other side shatters and the thief saves valuable time.

Ideally, a chain will be case hardened – hard as nails on the outside and ductile on the inside. There are several 16mm chains that offer varying levels of case hardening on the market, but it is very unusual to find a properly case-hardened sub-16mm chain purely because it’s so hard to achieve cheaply on a smaller-size chain.

Padlocks

Generally speaking, if it has the word “motorcycle” in front of it, it will be substandard and expensive.

Look at the locks used on lockups and yards: closed shackle, sliding pin and usually cost at least £50 just for the padlock.

Remember, padlocks often have a limit to the size chain they will take, so thieves with croppers will go for the chain. The padlock is irrelevant until it becomes the weakest link in your security plan.

If you buy a 16mm+ chain and padlock separately, make sure the padlock will take a 16mm link, there are very few that do, even fewer take 19mm chains.

I would advise that you don’t use round key padlocks on anything you’re not happy to lose because they are very easily picked, requiring little lock-picking skill and basic, readily-available tools.

Cables

I will go as far as to beg that nobody reading this should use a cable lock on your bike! They are about the worst type of security you could use, even for a bicycle. I have tested and chopped three cable locks, all new, and none of them put up any significant resistance. One was cut in front of an ITV crew, the other in front of Carlton Reid (a cycling journalist) and the other in front of ACPO crime prevention representatives at their HQ in Northampton.

For a cable to be thick enough to fend off a cable cutter, it would need to be about three-quarters of an inch thick. Cable that thick in a one-metre length would not be flexible enough to use, so cable lock manufacturers use little articulated armoured cups to make it look bigger, and clear plastic sheathing to use the refraction of the plastic to enhance the appearance of the cable inside.

It is a fallacy that cable locks cannot be defeated by bolt croppers: all cable locks have pins and locking mechanisms. I lost a scooter years ago while using a cable lock. Investigation of the cable afterwards showed that the initial attack was on the cable, then the thieves went for the pin on the end – and that’s how they got the scooter. A fresh pair of cheap croppers will cut cable, but generally the lock mechanism is the weakest point.

Additionally, cables can be cut with more tools than chains. Small cables can be defeated by secateurs, scissors, tin snips, pliers, Dremels and can even be twisted off with a chunk of wood.

D-locks

Popular among cyclists and motorcyclists who need quick and easy immobilisation of their bikes with minimal effort, a D-lock can be a handy addition to your arsenal. However, as with chains, size matters. 10mm – 15mm locks can all be cropped – if you’re serious about a D-lock, it needs to be at least 16mm and should not have a round key because they can be picked with a pen.

Using locks

There is a simple rule to getting the most from your D-lock: fill the D! That is, make sure that the space inside the lock is filled as much as possible, be that with frame, wheel, brake disc, sprocket, whatever – just make sure the D is filled to an extent that you couldn’t fit a large orange into it. The reason for this is to deter jacking attacks: leave enough space and a thief can use a regular car jack; leave enough room for an orange and a mini jack will make short work of even 16mm and 18mm locks.

A D section made of square steel is preferable, as a thief needs to break both sides of the D to remove it; whereas a round steel D only needs one side breaking, which allows the thief to twist the body of the lock away to create a gap big enough to remove it.

Having said that, a D lock on a motorcycle is only slightly more useful than a decent disc lock because only one wheel will be immobilised. This means that the bike can still be stolen unless it’s used in conjunction with a suitably-sized chain and anchor point.

Keys

If you have a blipper on your bike to activate the alarm or immobiliser, keep it on a different key ring to your ignition key – that way if you ever leave the key in the ignition by mistake or lose the key/blipper and are followed home, the bike can’t be ridden without both. In addition to that, if they are kept in separate places in your house, it’s just another layer of aggro for any burglars who might consider using your bike as a getaway vehicle.

Zanx

Chainbreaker General

I’m a pro helmet anti-compulsionist.

I wear a helmet because I’m a mountain biker too and it’s now pretty much standard equipment off-road. I’ve also raced in the past and helmet-use is a requirement for any form of racing. Hopefully, when road riding, I don’t go quicker or more recklessly because I’m wearing a helmet.

My three kids (11, 13 and 11) have always worn helmets and two still do. The third is now getting more fashion conscious and she prefers to wear a hat rather than a helmet. I don’t force the issue, she’s old enough now to realise concrete and tarmac are quite hard and unforgiving.

Cyclists are united by their love of cycling, but are very often divided over the sometimes vitriolic subject of helmets. But I don’t think my bicycle helmet will save my head should I be unlucky enough to be hit by a speeding car.

Polystyrene is tough, but it’s not that tough. Helmet manufacturers are very careful when it comes to claims about the efficacy of their products. They have to be: if they overstated the effectiveness they could be held liable in those cases when, sadly, cyclists have been badly injured or killed while wearing protective head gear.

Most bicycle helmets are designed for falls to the ground from one metre at speeds of 12mph. They offer almost zero protection in collisions between bicycles and fast-moving cars.

Riding safely is the best form of protection.

But the way some in the mainstream media portray bicycle helmets you’d think polystyrene was a magical material with amazing force-field capabilities. It’s very common for news reporters to mention the use – or non-use – of helmets when describing car v bike fatalities. Recently, a TV news report from Carolina in America had this awful headline: “Cyclists involved in deadly accident not wearing helmets”.

The first paragraph of the news story said: “Investigators say Trey and David Doolittle were not wearing protective helmets at the time of the car accident…that killed both cyclists. Highway Patrol Trooper B.R. Phillips says David Doolittle was wearing protective gloves as well cycling shoes and spandex but neither cyclist had on head protection.”

Trey and David Doolittle were killed by a drunk driver, likely doing at least 55mph. The driver did not brake before he hit the cyclists. He would have carried on driving had he not been stopped by a motorist who witnessed the crash. The TV reporter does not reveal how polystyrene would have protected this father and son, out on a training ride.

This media focus on helmets is classic victim-blaming. And it’s not just a media problem. A 2007 study found that motorists give lid-less cyclists more room when passing, suggesting that many motorists believe cycle helmets offer serious protection.

Bicycle helmets are by no means the most important safety intervention. Physical barriers to prevent motorists hitting cyclists, now that’s more like it. But such infrastructure is expensive. It’s far easier and cheaper to focus on making cyclists wear plastic hats rather than build safer routes for cyclists.

In the Netherlands, such separated infrastructure is common and use of helmets for such an ordinary, everyday activity of cycling is negligible. As this video from the winter of 2010 shows, cyclists who fall from their bikes at slow speeds don’t tend to hit their heads. Shot in Lelystad in the Netherlands, cyclist after cyclist in the two minute video falls to the ground when tackling an icy corner. None are wearing helmets.

One woman nearly hit her chin and a few people might have risked wrist damage but, while it’s an unscientific sample, none of the fallen cyclists came anywhere near to hitting their heads. In this particular case, the best safety intervention would have been to spread grit to melt the ice.

Carlton Reid is the executive editor of BikeBiz.com and editor of BikeHub.co.uk, a website for new cyclists funded by a bicycle industry levy fund. He’s also on Twitter.

http://www.bikebiz.com

http://www.bikehub.co.uk

http://www.twitter.com/carltonreid

RoSPA’s advice

RoSPA recommends that cyclists wear a cycle helmet that meets a recognised safety standard. Cycle helmets, when correctly worn, are effective in reducing the risk of receiving major head or brain injuries in an accident. They do not guarantee protection, nor prevent accidents from happening in the first place, but wearing a cycle helmet is a simple, low cost and effective way that individual cyclists can protect themselves.

A cycle helmet cushions the head in a fall, providing a last line of defence between your head and the ground. It reduces the force of an impact before it reaches your head and brain. The hard outer shell spreads the force of a blow over a wider area than the initial impact site.

Choosing a cycle helmet:

• Try the helmet on before buying it
• Make sure you like the type and style
• Check it has a CE mark and meets at least one recognised Standard: BS EN1078:1997 (European Standard) Snell B.95 (American Standard)
• Make sure it fits comfortably and securely
• Check that the straps are easy to do up and adjust
• Ensure it stays in place on the head when the straps are fastened
• Make sure it does not obstruct vision
• Ensure it does not cover the ears
• Check that it is well ventilated
• Ensure it comes with clear advice for the user.

Remember:

Helmets do not prevent accidents. An accident can still be very serious, even when wearing a helmet. So be just as careful, look around for traffic, dress brightly and follow the rules of the road.

And most importantly of all, RoSPA urges drivers and motorcyclists to ensure they keep a proper look-out for vulnerable road users like cyclists, and to watch their speed, particularly in residential areas and around schools.

Take a look at RoSPA’s cycle helmet information.