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Learn To Ride, Keep On Learning: UK Org Launches “Elite Rider” Program


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What’s the best way to safe on a motorcycle? It’s not loud pipes, a get-back whip, memes about shoving cellphones up car drivers’ anal cavities or even whining about traffic laws. The best way to safe on a motorcycle is to improve your own riding skills. That’s why the UK-based Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA) is launching its new Elite Rider program. It wants motorcyclists to keep on learning, and getting better at riding.

The MCIA announced this new program on April 27, just before the onslaught of “May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month” posts on Facebook, so you could say the timing is just about perfect. According to the MCIA’s announcement on the Elite Rider program, this initiative is intended to help riders become more considerate of other road users as well as the environment. The MCIA wants to promote the idea of rider training after initial licensing is sorted out:

Road safety statistics demonstrate rider safety continues to be a major challenge for the sector where Industry, road safety experts and Government all believe the best way to address this is to increase the number of riders taking up post-test training. To put this into perspective, only around 14% of all motorcycle full licence holders undergo any form of further rider training. The Elite initiative’s main goal is to increase this percentage significantly.

Post-test training is not only proven to be a key factor in improving road safety for the motorcyclist, but it also speeds up the development of riding skills giving more confidence, and in-turn increasing the enjoyment levels of riding.

Good points, all around. It’s true—better riding skills don’t just have the benefit of added safety, they also offer more enjoyment in riding itself. Talk to any experienced rider who’s done a track day, and ask them how those skills transfer to the street.

Of course, the point of the program is not to promote speeding or other, errrrrr, anti-social motorcycle activity. Just the opposite! We get this note, at the same web page:

The large majority of motorcyclists are very respectful toward other road users and the environment, but as we see more and more electric cars hitting the road, excessive noise from motorcycles is becoming a major threat to the sector. As a result, we are seeing several European Governments taking firm action to address this issue. We want to encourage riders not to fit non-road legal exhaust systems and to be more considerate when riding.

In other words, the industry is asking riders to please, pleeaaaaase tone down the aftermarket pipes, before Big Brother does it for you. Not an unreasonable request, given the ever-increasing crackdown in Europe in recent years, where motorcyclists are restricted or outright banned from certain roads.

How will the new program work?

The UK already has advanced rider training schools; the MCIA’s Elite Rider program kicks off with the new Elite Rider Hub, a centralized webpage where motorcyclists can visit for info on updating their skills. Here, riders can find contact info for advanced skills programs, along with free advice and links to training books. It’s intended to be a one-stop shop, where industry insiders can direct motorcyclists as an entry point into this scene, instead of trying to haphazardly remember a jumble of URLs to various training schools.

It’s probably a solid plan, by the sound of it, and the sort of thing the industry should have been working on two decades ago.

Thoughts on the MCIA’s Elite Rider Program? Do you think advanced training is a good idea, or do you think loud pipes save lives? Sound off below!

Vezi sursa

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