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General / Re: "biker down" course
« on: 30 January 2014, 10:12:44 am »
Good Morning All...
Following on from Jim Sanderson's reply about 'Biker Down', my name's Kevin Williams of Survival Skills Rider Training and I'm the guy who put together the third module for the course. When we piloted Biker Down in Kent, Jim wanted something 'proactive' to go with the accident scene management and the first aid modules - ie, something to help stop riders actually needing someone else to deliver those skills on them! So we put our heads together and come up with the 'Science of Being Seen'. As far as I know, the other Biker Down courses outside Kent are running their own versions of our presentation. They contain some great info for all riders, of all ages and Jim's been a bit shy and forgotten to mention we won a Prince Michael of Kent International Road Safety Award for the course in 2012! If you can get along to your local fire and rescue service and do Biker Down, it really is valuable stuff.
The most common motorcycle accident is a collision at a junction. They've been happening since an engine got stuck in a bicycle frame over 100 years ago and in the UK they continue to happen despite 60 years of safety campaigns like 'Think Bike'. More importantly, they happen whether riders are in Europe, N America and Australia / New Zealand wearing hi-vis clothing and using day riding lights, and they happen in South America or in Thailand where riders wear flipflops, carry a buffalo on one shoulder and wear a rice strainer on their heads. In short, junction collisions happen all over the world wherever people ride bikes!
So rather than just tell riders they should ride around like Dayglo Derek, we explain that there's no quick fix!
The idea of the session is to help riders understand why it is that bikes don't get seen by drivers, even when we think there's no way we can miss us and to try to get over the idea that it's not simply 'bad driving' but it's actually a human eye / brain problem - human beings were never designed for hurtling round the countryside or through busy towns at high speed and our eyes and brains play tricks on us and don't work the way they think they do.
Then we explain the pitfalls of relying too heavily on hi-vis and dipped headlights in daytime and reflective material at night. And we round off with a quick review of the positive steps we can take to make ourselves a bit safer at junctions and avoid the frights and the offs.
The presentation is based on real science - in fact, at last night's Biker Down I mentioned a new bit of research which was only published in Australia a days ago, which I haven't yet had time to put into the slide show. I've written a book called 'MIND over MOTORCYCLE' which covers the conspicuity problem and a lot more. You can also find out about our other books if you follow that link, as well as access an archive of free articles on better riding skills.
We also present a module for the 'Ride Skills' session at Brands Hatch. Here we also do something theory but it's presented in a completely different style to the usual dry 'Roadcraft' lecture. It's highly interactive and although I won't spoil it by telling you what you will learn, I will say that you'll be surprised! All in all, Ride Skills is a good day out, and a bargain for £50!
We run practical training courses in Kent and Oxford (in Kent from mid-Feb if the weather's OK, in Oxford from mid-March or thereabouts), but we don't just churn out the usual 'by the book' training based on Motorcycle Roadcraft, we've looked a motorcycle training all over the world and pinched the best bits, as well as looking at cutting edge scientific research into rider safety. So if you're interested in something that will really challenge the way you think and ride, drop us a line!
Following on from Jim Sanderson's reply about 'Biker Down', my name's Kevin Williams of Survival Skills Rider Training and I'm the guy who put together the third module for the course. When we piloted Biker Down in Kent, Jim wanted something 'proactive' to go with the accident scene management and the first aid modules - ie, something to help stop riders actually needing someone else to deliver those skills on them! So we put our heads together and come up with the 'Science of Being Seen'. As far as I know, the other Biker Down courses outside Kent are running their own versions of our presentation. They contain some great info for all riders, of all ages and Jim's been a bit shy and forgotten to mention we won a Prince Michael of Kent International Road Safety Award for the course in 2012! If you can get along to your local fire and rescue service and do Biker Down, it really is valuable stuff.
The most common motorcycle accident is a collision at a junction. They've been happening since an engine got stuck in a bicycle frame over 100 years ago and in the UK they continue to happen despite 60 years of safety campaigns like 'Think Bike'. More importantly, they happen whether riders are in Europe, N America and Australia / New Zealand wearing hi-vis clothing and using day riding lights, and they happen in South America or in Thailand where riders wear flipflops, carry a buffalo on one shoulder and wear a rice strainer on their heads. In short, junction collisions happen all over the world wherever people ride bikes!
So rather than just tell riders they should ride around like Dayglo Derek, we explain that there's no quick fix!
The idea of the session is to help riders understand why it is that bikes don't get seen by drivers, even when we think there's no way we can miss us and to try to get over the idea that it's not simply 'bad driving' but it's actually a human eye / brain problem - human beings were never designed for hurtling round the countryside or through busy towns at high speed and our eyes and brains play tricks on us and don't work the way they think they do.
Then we explain the pitfalls of relying too heavily on hi-vis and dipped headlights in daytime and reflective material at night. And we round off with a quick review of the positive steps we can take to make ourselves a bit safer at junctions and avoid the frights and the offs.
The presentation is based on real science - in fact, at last night's Biker Down I mentioned a new bit of research which was only published in Australia a days ago, which I haven't yet had time to put into the slide show. I've written a book called 'MIND over MOTORCYCLE' which covers the conspicuity problem and a lot more. You can also find out about our other books if you follow that link, as well as access an archive of free articles on better riding skills.
We also present a module for the 'Ride Skills' session at Brands Hatch. Here we also do something theory but it's presented in a completely different style to the usual dry 'Roadcraft' lecture. It's highly interactive and although I won't spoil it by telling you what you will learn, I will say that you'll be surprised! All in all, Ride Skills is a good day out, and a bargain for £50!
We run practical training courses in Kent and Oxford (in Kent from mid-Feb if the weather's OK, in Oxford from mid-March or thereabouts), but we don't just churn out the usual 'by the book' training based on Motorcycle Roadcraft, we've looked a motorcycle training all over the world and pinched the best bits, as well as looking at cutting edge scientific research into rider safety. So if you're interested in something that will really challenge the way you think and ride, drop us a line!