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[Rattlebattle]

The last time I had a collision (not an accident, genuine accidents are rare) it was down to having ridden too long at a stretch in France. Consequently I looked the wrong way before making a turn (should have looked both ways anyway) and got t boned by a Renault 5. My fault; lesson learnt. More recently (again in France - must keep away from there) the club run leader ran into the back of my Thruxton. I was leading the run at the time and, as I always do, stopped at a Stop sign. He didn't, assuming that as there was nothing coming I wouldn't stop. He is a policeman and rides a bike every day, so was a bit embarrassed. Cost him a new silencer, about £330. We're still friends; these things happen. FWIW I've had a clean licence for well over 40 years, after a speeding fine and a ban as a young man. Not even a parking ticket. Do I speed? Of course I do, but I choose my time and place, the same as every off duty bike cop I've ever known. It's called discretion. I'm a firm follower of Oscar Wilde - Laws are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men. I too have passed the IAM tests for bikes and cars, in that order. Bike test is the harder of the two because positioning is more demonstrable. I would be happy to do retests at this standard. For one thing it is a lot cheaper and also I doubt that there is sufficient capacity to force retests via the DVLA and I pay enough tax already. Higher insurance premiums and licence points should be levied on those who have blameworthy collisions IMO.

[nigelphoto]

Rattlebattle - They're 'collisions', the 'Road Safety Industry' no longer calls them accidents - thats what old dogs do on the carpet . . . .

[2cvandy]

A bit off topic, maybe there should be an "Advanced riding / re-training" thread?

But I also passed IAM bike and car tests and tbh, I wasn't really convinced they were difficult enough. Seemed pretty easy to me anyway, the sort of standard I would have hoped most people could reach given a couple of years experience. But then I trained as a driving instructor, and realised that whilst about 10% of people have some natural ability, 80% will eventually muddle through and the remaining 10% should be given a free bus pass. I'm talking about car drivers here of course, I did volunteer as an instructor on the old RAC / ACU training scheme many moons ago and although some young bikers could be a bit "cavalier" at times, most were keen to learn and improve. BTW, I also worked as a DSA examiner for 12 months (car tests, not bikes) and was also quite shocked at the poor standard of instruction too. Maybe a third of the instructors I saw regularly I could have recommended to family and friends.

Given the fact that I also hold class 1 HGV and PSV licences (or whatever the DVLA is calling them this week) you can perhaps see why I get a bit miffed when newly qualified riders want to tell me about safety. I've seen the roads from all sides, over many hundreds of thousands of miles, and I'm still here.

Like most riders who've managed to survive a while, I've developed that sixth sense that tells you when another road user is going to do something stupid. I've also been around enough to know that it's not infallible, so I don't ride like a dick. On the other hand, I don't go out expecting to crash either, hence my aversion to "all the gear all the time". When I nip down to the village for a baguette on my Enfield, I will probably continue to just jump on her wearing whatever I have on at the time, I can't be bothered to dress up in battle gear to bimble down to the shop on a sunny day.

So, back on thread,,,,,, I don't need ABS,,,,, but luckily, I don't need a new bike either.

[Rattlebattle]

Nigelphoto: I thought that's what I said. The police refer to collisions where a vehicle hits something. Common parlance is usually "accident" but is incorrect. I agree with 2CVAndy that the IAM test is not particularly demanding (masters excepted) but I would also say that doing it demonstrates a willIngness to learn and at least provides an independent assessment of one's riding/driving ability - most claim to be good drivers based on nothing more than their own say-so.

[PeteF]

2cvandy, I know what you mean about the sixth sense. Its not scientific but it does develop over the years. Having done over a million and a half miles I seem to be well on the way to acquiring it. The problem is, of course, getting the experience while staying safe.