Issue #236 Testing Times | Have, Training, Driving, Motorcycle, I’m

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Issue #236 Testing Times

Written by Robert Smith
Monday, 03 December 2007
It was one of those “uh-oh” moments. I’m riding home from the Abbotsford Air Show on Fraser Highway. Ahead is an intersection, a green light and a full-size pickup facing me, waiting to turn left. It’s a clear, blue-sky day, there’s no other traffic around me, I have my headlight on, I’m doing within 10 kilometres of the speed limit, and I’m heading into the sun, so there’s no chance Mr Pickup has el sol in his eyes—but I cover the front brake just in case, and try to make eye contact. I’m within 20 metres of the intersection—already inside my stopping distance—when ordure-for-brains decides to roll ahead, starting across my path. Fortunately, I still have 10 metres when he finally sees me and hits the anchors. If I’d been able to stop shaking, I would have turned the bike around to offer him some advice and a few choice epithets. There have been so many motorcycle fatalities (30 per cent of total road deaths) on Vancouver Island this year that the RCMP has taken the extraordinary step of emailing summary crash reports to local motorcycle groups. Of the nine fatalities reported to August, five involved excessive speed; three inexperience; one, at least, alcohol; and in two cases motorists turned left across the path of the oncoming motorcycle. (I know that adds up to more than nine: some crashes involved more than one factor.) When I moved to Canada 20 years ago, I had to take a driving test for my BC driver’s licence. I didn’t bother with any lessons, and by the time I’d driven five blocks in my borrowed full-size Chevy van, the examiner said he’d seen enough: I’d passed. My motorcycle test wasn’t any more stringent, just a swing through a set of pylons. There are plenty of drivers—and riders—on the roads today whose preparation and testing was just as superficial. Not only that, but many have collected almost a lifetime of bad habits as well. It was when I was training to be a motorcycle safety instructor that I got my wakeup call. As part of the training, we spent an evening just driving around with one of the senior instructors. It was truly frightening to find out how much I’d either forgotten or (even scarier) never knew in the first place, like: maintaining at least a two-second gap to the car in front; stopping behind the line at a stop sign (it’s okay to move forward after you’ve stopped), starting on a hill without rolling backwards; not stopping on a pedestrian crosswalk; not crossing a solid white line; staying in lane when turning at an intersection rather than cutting the corner … and there’s much more that I’ve forgotten. Wait a minute: that was only five years ago! If I’ve forgotten half my training in that time, how much does someone remember who received their only driver education in 1950? He (or she) probably becomes the unthinking killer who turns left in front of you in an intersection. In the UK, the driver’s usual response—“sorry, mate. I didn’t see you”—has become a cliché for this classic car/bike crash. So, what to do? Driver (and rider) training is the obvious answer—at least to me. The more you know, the less you don’t know, and—more importantly—the more you know you don’t know. In other words, training makes you more aware of how simple mistakes can have big impacts. I’m absolutely convinced that periodic re-testing and, if necessary, re-education (every five years seems like a good, round number) would slash collision and fatality rates in BC and Canada. Vehicle operators would find out how much danger they—and those around them—are in because of the way they drive or ride. Maybe the message would get through to those who routinely drive with a dog on their lap; drive while on the cellphone; drive holding a cup of coffee and a smoke; never check their tire pressures or if their lights are working; run red lights; can’t reach the turn signals because their hands are full; shortcut intersections; turn right on a red without stopping; change lanes over a solid white line … I could go on. I know training and testing are far more rigorous now than they used to be. But those changes won’t filter through the road user population for decades. The only way to catch the regressors is re-testing. Yes, we’ll need lots more instructors and examiners; and yes, there would be a cost. But it beats being dead or critically injured. Maybe we start with known bad vehicle operators based on driving record data. This isn’t persecution, an erosion of freedoms, or any other limitation on free expression. Remember, driving and riding are privileges, not rights. If we provide the re-training and re-education, it would—at the very least—explain to road users why bad driving kills and how they can make changes for the better. I like the ring of it. Re-testing every five years. Say it often enough, and it might catch on Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment You must be logged in to a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.