The New Motorcycle Test
You are probably reading this article only a few weeks before the new motorcycle test comes into effect at the beginning of October. If you already have a full bike licence, you may not be overly bothered by the latest Euro tinkering, but spare a thought for those around you who have yet to cast off their L plates. If you are new to biking and thinking of taking your test, I have some good news – it’s not as bad as the media are making out!
I have to declare an interest, my day job as Chief Instructor at Bike Smart gives me some insight into the workings of the new test and I’ve spoken to senior DSA officials regarding its structure. The actual test itself isn’t too much of a problem and perversely, I think we’ll see a higher pass rate under the new scheme. The problem lies in its delivery – or lack of it.
Firstly, what is the new test? We’ve heard every rumour from candidates having to perform stunt riding tricks around cones through to the examiners eating your first born if you don’t hit exactly 50kph before doing a stoppie on a sixpence (or 7.35 euros). The reality is somewhat different and well within the capabilities of any DAS (Direct Access Scheme) trained student presented for test.
The whole exercise takes about eight minutes on a specially prepared area of tarmac about the size of a football pitch, and then the test continues on-road as before. The U turn and controlled stop will not be repeated on the road – which actually makes the test easier!
Where this wonderful new test begins to unravel is in the way it’s carried out. Our government has committed us to spending hundreds of millions of pounds in building these new centres unnecessarily, to comply with a European directive we could have rejected. To implement this massive building programme, the DSA has to find almost 70 sites across the country and get planning consent. After seven years of preparation, yes, seven years, and with eight weeks to go – they are only one third of the way to achieving their target. They have also stuffed up the booking system and with only a few weeks to go, can’t actually take bookings for the new test.
Any commercial organisation guilty of such gross incompetence would rightly suffer the results of their failure, and scapegoat middle managers would be clearing their desks... But, being a branch of government they can simply impose this mess on the public and charge us more for doing so. What this means for us in the south east is simply not enough test centres for the size of population, unacceptably long distances to travel to test and not enough test places being made available.
A less obvious problem with the new test is one of fairness. I cannot think of another situation where someone is expected to perform a test of manual skills without the opportunity to practice first. The DSA have agreed that access to the test circuit is important so that candidates can practice, but due to the pressure of not enough centres/examiners/availability we are not being allowed access to the sites. This means that the first time a student tries to hit 50kph through the speed trap is during the test itself. This is clearly unacceptable to any professional trainer. In addition to this, some candidates may have to ride up to 50 miles to get to the test centre, adding to the stress and cost of taking the test.
The solution? My apologies dear reader, there isn’t one. We are stuck with this shambles until the DSA build more test centres or we see less people taking their bike test... Any guesses which option the government prefers?