[Chrissybenn]

anyone else get the letter in the mail from vicroads recently?

A world-first trial of on-road coaching for beginner motorcycle riders was announced today as part of a Brumby Labor Government strategy to improve motorcycle safety on Victorian roads.

Roads and Ports Minister Tim Pallas launched the unique VicRide: on-road coaching trial today and said finding new ways to improve safety was vital as motorcyclists were among the most vulnerable people using the road.

"We understand Victorians are concerned about road safety, which is why the Brumby Labor Government is improving community safety to drive down the road toll," Mr Pallas said.

"The VicRide trial is a world first. No other on-road motorcycle safety program has been implemented on such a large scale or evaluated as comprehensively. This on-road trial will include 2,400 newly licensed riders and will show how effective coaching can be in making motorcyclists safer road users."

"However, this year we've seen a dramatic increase in the number of riders being killed on our roads - with 32 dead almost double the number at the same time last year."

Mr Pallas said the VicRide coaching trial would help improve safety, with half the participants to be given on-road guidance from experienced coaches.

The other half will ride without coaching and the results of the two groups will be compared to determine the effectiveness of the program.

"The trial will improve our understanding of the benefits of on-road coaching for beginners and the findings will assist us in determining how it could be used in the future," Mr Pallas said.

"Each rider who participates in the trial will receive a four-hour coaching session involving a variety of city and country riding, and participation in interviews. The coach will discuss riding styles, provide advice, hints and feedback, and demonstrate safe riding skills."

The trial, developed with the support of the Victorian Motorcycle Advisory Council, will be conducted by Monash University Accident Research Centre and independently evaluated by The George Institute for International Health.

Recruitment for the trial will begin immediately and is expected to take several months.

The trial is part of the Government's Powered Two Wheelers Action Plan 2009-2013 strategy released last year, which promotes safety and better integration of motorcycles across the Victorian transport network.

all you have to do is participate in the program and do the phone surveys and you receive a $90 gift card and a free 4 hour on road riding course with an instructor trained by HART.

looks pretty good to me, and i just sneak in on the eligibility..

only catch is your bike must be over 125cc, so no scooters.

 

[fitzy]

finally some training for new riders...in nsw we just got higher ctp ...not that it effects me

 

[richo]

On road coaching?

Interesting...

 

[shockdesign]

Yeah I got this letter, tempting actually. Just to see how it would all go.

 

[dayeve]

Sounds like a step in the right direction.

 

[Hessian]

Totally win win win. Sif you'd be in the other group not doing the training

 

[richo]

I'm interested to see how it pans out, however imo public roads aren't the right place to conduct rider training. Don't get me wrong, training is better than no training, but it's only a tiny step in the right direction.

Def better than nothing.

 

[Chrissybenn]

yeah, better than nothing thats how i saw it...

if there were any large enough off road training courses, that werent also racetracks, im sure the government would have looked into it

 

[Worm]

"imo public roads aren't the right place to conduct rider training."

I would say its the perfect place. Learning how to ride with traffic and react to other vehicles is pretty important. As is riding out of vehicle blind spots, road position etc...
Riding on a track to learn about cornering, breaking etc... should be taught on a track also though.


Good initiative. But I dont THINK it will do much to curb the road toll. Most of the crashes I have seen and been in are due to racing around the roads like a GP rider.

 

[richo]

"imo public roads aren't the right place to conduct rider training."

I would say its the perfect place. Learning how to ride with traffic and react to other vehicles is pretty important.

I think the road is the right place to practice.. For example the superbike school tell you to ride at 80-90% while you're there because you can't focus and learn very well when you're riding at 100%.

Same deal applies to the road, if you're focusing on learning a given skill you want to be spending as little as possible of your attention on focusing on other road users, as well as the simple fact that some drills really need to be practiced on a closed circuit. You just can't teach emergency braking safely on the road.

As I said though, it's a lot better than nothing.

 

[Drew]

Richo, I'd say they're intending on running some critiquing courses rather than trying to improve peoples lap times, so you'd probably get 4 hours of guided rides with about a dozen conversations about your road positioning, threat perception etc.

BTW +1 it the ONLY move I've ever seen from Vicroads in the right direction.

 

[richo]

I realise it's not a go fast school.

Meh, maybe I'm not expressing myself very well. Or I'm missing the point. *Shrugs*.

Do you have to be on restrictions to do it? or does P's count? I wouldn't mind doing it just to see what the story is if it's free.

 

[Chrissybenn]

yeah it specifies you have to be on restrictions..

if they were serious tho, they would include all riders under say 24, because thats a high risk accidentl group isn't it?

according to insurance and stuff anway

 

[Tromac]

if they were serious tho, they would include all riders under say 24, because thats a high risk accidentl group isn't it?

Since when is the government serious? Even if they do something good it's going to be half arsed.

I think it's a great idea. Here in Vic you might not necessarily have the opportunity to have an experienced rider give you tips on your traffic-riding, especially by pointing out what you might be doing wrong.

 

[Dicko]

HART used to do rides aimed an novice riders with the Yarra Ranges Shire. They had some pretty good routes too, including Toolangi and Reefton. I think you had to pay about $50 or so to do those ones though.
This initiative sounds like a good idea to me, I just hope that it gets good feedback and they roll out the scheme on a wider basis.

You never stop learning new skills and techniques, and if they can stop new riders developing bad habits, then that's got to be a good thing.

 

[Freddy Kruger]

whats the $90 gift voucher for? just off rego or something? probably the same thing with DECA training and the $500 vouchers with conditions so hardly anyone uses them...

 

[Chrissybenn]

just did the phone interview then, and it really seems like they are going to turn this against us somehow.

"when riding, do you think the road rules apply to you"
"is it safe to exceed the speed limit"
"how many times have you scared yourself"
"how many times have you tried to lift the front wheel from the ground"
"how many times have you deliberately or not deliberately spun the rear wheel on acceleration"
"do you think its fun to race cars from the traffic lights"
"is the top speed on your motorcycle important to you"

i said to her, these questions are obviously geared in an anti motorcyclist point of view aren't they? she lol'd. then said, no, we are just doing a study of new riders.

 

[richo]

Hah. Awesome.

I told Andi about the on road training thing and she was keen, I'm probably planning to tag along and see what it's all about.

 

[Matt]

just did the phone interview then, and it really seems like they are going to turn this against us somehow.

"when riding, do you think the road rules apply to you"
"is it safe to exceed the speed limit"
"how many times have you scared yourself"
"how many times have you tried to lift the front wheel from the ground"
"how many times have you deliberately or not deliberately spun the rear wheel on acceleration"
"do you think its fun to race cars from the traffic lights"
"is the top speed on your motorcycle important to you"

i said to her, these questions are obviously geared in an anti motorcyclist point of view aren't they? she lol'd. then said, no, we are just doing a study of new riders.

if it looks like a trap and sounds like a trap...

 

[dayeve]

Sounds like rider profiling. Unless they teach you how to lift the front, spin the rear or reach top speed.