TC1474

Andy Strougler who runs the Essex Fire Bike team is a good guy and has a good team around him. They are taking over from Bikesafe in the county as the guys to go to, and they work with some very well qualified groups and instructors from outside the Fire service. They all hold the RoSPA gold and diploma qualification, and are very real world, and of course they are volunteers so do the courses in their off time and don't get paid for doing it. Really pleased you enjoyed it and found it beneficial.

I was only 11 but I was staying on the Isle of Wight at my godmathers at the time and I saw the Who play that concert. Of course it was also the first time they played Tommy I can still remember it.

A forner colleague and Police motorcyclist with over 20 years operational experience attended his annual audiometric test, only to be told that his hearing was at least 30% defective at certain frequencies. During his service, he had never worn any form of ear defender, and in the days of issue open face helmets, no noticeable degradation of his hearing had been recorded, although he had been wearing a flip style helmet for the previous 3 years. Because of the type of helmet, his helmet radio earpiece volume varied according to the type of riding. The two tone horns/sirens required the radio volume to be louder than would normally be expected, the wind noise passing through this particular style of helmet also increased the wind noise level well above that accepted as a safe level. He was subsequently suspended from riding and his condition was recorded as an industrial injury. It was then made a condition of appointment to become a Police rider that all riders must wear some form of ear defender, and flip front helmets were withdrawn from service, although the audiometric tests remain even now that 99% of riders are part time. I have always worn ear plugs, but I have also been told that I have suffered some degredation in my hearing caused by 40 years or so of riding, but not to the same level as my old colleague and quite a few others who suffered.

No, he dropped his hands to the 6.30 position and was therefore able to continue to input small steering movements

In answer to your original question, advanced driving and riding is intended for those who hold a full licence. The difference between Learner riding and advanced is like chalk and cheese, and 90% of what you learn to pass the L test goes out of the window at advanced level. This link from an earlier thread explains what we as examiners are looking for and it applies by and large to both bikes and cars, although you cannot fikter in a car in the same way you can on a bike https://www.themotorbikeforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=62358&p=971258&hilit=advanced+riding#p971258 Everything is geared around the Police rider/drivers manual Roadcraft which is the bible, and whilst learners are told that they must do something, at advanced level, our favourite word is "Consider" as nothing is cast in stone. The original definition of the system just about sums up what we are looking for. The system of motorcycle/car control is a system or drill, each feature of which is considered in sequence at the approach to any hazard. The aim of the first class rider is to be travelling at the correct position on the road at the correct speed with the correct gear engaged, and for this we consider the features of the system IPSGA Information - Give and receive information Position Speed Gear, Acceleration - The correct degree of acceleration is aplied to leave the hazard safely There is much more to it than that so I won't bore you, but suffice to say advanced riding and driving is not difficult, it is just about applying common sense. I have trained some Police riders from Holland in the past and I think I am right in saying that back in the day wthe Dutch police used to send all their instructors over to us for training. I guess that this does not happen now, but then we used to get students from all over the world.

Over the weekend I carried out a couple of advanced driving tests (I know, it was a car rather than the bike ) Anyway, I gave one of the candidates his briefing, which usually finishes with me saying "Drive naturally and as you have been taught by your observer during your tutor sessions, do what you normally do and you will I am sure do absolutely fine" I always say something along these lines just as a form of another chill pill to help them relax. Anyway, I get led to the candidates car (Bentley Continental) and he does his pre drive check very well, in we get and he does his cockpit drill and off we go. We are about 20 minutes into the drive when the candidate saod "Could you do me a favour and hold on to this please?" and promptly hand me hos packet of rolling backy and proceeds to roll himself a ciggy whilst still driving on test My gast was flabbered. He then lit up and started puffing away. I suppose I should have said something sooner, but in 30 + years as an advanced examiner that was the first time that has ever hapened.. I did ask him to extinguish his cig. Anyway, we got back and I asked him about his behaviour and his reply? "You told me to do what I normally do" Well despite the fact that when he had control of the car it was actually a very good drive, I had to fail him not least because I stank (even though he only took a couple of puffs) and he did not have proper control whilst he was rolling his baccy. I just could not believe what I had witnessed. When I told him that I was unable to pass him, he just shrgged his shoulders and said "OK, I quite understand!" I got back in my car and just chuckled for about 10 minutes before I set off for home. Some people eh?

This was Rogers car. (we had personal issue back in those days) There were something like 40 points of entry and 20 points of exit. It wasn't just all the bullet holes, but you can imagine the mess inside as well. Anyway, the insurance company wanted to put it back into service. Newbury refused to have it back, so the insurers said it could go to Reading. We said No way, so then Taplow were told they could have it. Anyway, they tried every base in Thames Valley (bear in mind we all knoew each other across the 3 counties so word soon spread) and eventually it got to Newport Pagnell. One of the crews said, "No problem, bring it here and we will use it, and the first time it goes out on the road, it will be put straight into a bridge on the Motorway!" Surprisingly, we never saw that car again

The first and possibly the worst masacre ever to occur in this country took place in Hungerford. 19th of August 1987 and Michael Ryan went on the rampage shooting anyoneand everyone at random, including my colleague and friend Roger Brereton, a fellow traffic cop working out of the Newbury office of Southern Traffic Area (STA) of Thames Vally, and responded to the orignal call because having served at Hungerford, he knew the area and had the equipment to get him there quickly to support. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungerford_massacre I along with my fellow traffic cop colleagues were called down from both Readng and Taplow (the other 2 STA bases) and what we saw I can still remember vividly as if it was yesterday. In all my years in the service and all the fatal crashes and dead bodies I dealt with, Hungerford was the only incident that had what I would describe as a profound affect on me. Anyway, I raise my glass to Roger and everyone else that lost their life that day.

I must be getting old or my music taste must be old and very different. I have not heard of any of the bands mentioned But then my music knowledge stops at 1979

The only reference these days is at http://lexisweb.co.uk/cases/2002/october/finnis-v-caulfield-ta-james-car-hire which was in respect of the quantum hearing. Because liability was eventually accepted by the third party, the only document available is my original expert report. My oppo's got one, since he's worn it he's noticed more cagers making effort to get out of his way, he figures the compressed gas pocket on the front is being seen as a CS Gas cannister And the Helite one is excellent and sells itself when you see the demonstration, but it does not prevent a broken neck in a direct impact. The chin bar is a natural weak spot and can and does regularly cave in on impact, and the situation I have seen many times is where a rider is choking to death, swallowed their tongue and so on, and the front in has stoved in so much the chin bar cannot be lifted and it cannot be removed. My old force stopped using them after two friends and former colleagues were killed whilst on duty wearing flip fronts. The issues with them go on, too much to cover here in detail, but because they have EC22/05 self accreditation people will buy them for practical reasons which is understandable.

In the car I currently have Deja Vu by Crosby Stills Nash & Young, probably my all time favourite album closely followed by The Who and Whos Next.

Whether to wear an open face or not is totally subjective in the same way as some riders choose to ride flip front hats. So here is a counter thought. I would rather wear an open faced helmet than a flip front. I have dealt with more serious injuries, brain injuries and fatalities of riders wearing flip fronts than I ever have with open faced hats, and this is going back nearly 40 years when full face helmets were crap, open faced were the norm and flip fronts had not even been thought of. A helmet is intended to protect your brain function. Whatever style you wear, by and large they all do that and have to in order to comply with EC22/05 (as well as the old BS6658-85). A full face will afford a degree of facial protection over an open faced helmet and greater comfort in inclement weather, but that is about it. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what you are wearing, but if your impact is hard enough, you are going to die or be left paralysed anyway. Broken necks are the most common cause of death with riders. A £500 hat or a £30 cheapie is no protection against that. So, it comes down to personal and individual choice. Would I wear an open face? Sure I would. When I started, that was all that was available, and when I started on Police bikes that was standard issue. Would I wear a flip front? You must be joking, No chance. If that all that was available, I would give up riding altogether. (and I was a consultant to one of the big Jap firms to help get their flip front through BSI which is why it was sold as an open face) I choose to wear a full face and have done since the late 70's on my own bikes, but even they are no guarantee that you are going to walk away from a crash unscathed. Look at my case of Finnis v Cauldfield (2001) which I was the expert on, and the riders head shrunk by about a third on impact allowing the helmet to rotate and come off resulting in serious brain damage to the rider. So nothing is ever guaranteed.

Nope. Any helmet can be used in the open position. I did a post about this very subject a few months ago, have a search.

That is a subtle way of having a pop at whatever traffic Police we have left on our roads. 55 - 60 is Police Motorway patrol speed (when they go onto thr Motorway)

Yes. And that is just as worrying as being supervised by the friend of a friend. I have examined many driving instructors, and 95% do not have a clue and their attitude was that they did not need to know how to drive on a Motorway because that is not what they teach regardless of the fact that they may use the Motorway network for their own personal journies. It is a frightening thought.

Lets hope that the instructors are trained and tested before they are let loose on the public and allowed to train on the Motorway. Many instructors have no idea of how to drive on a Motorway, and it defeats the object if they are teaching stuff that is wrong/dangerous/incorrect. I find the thought actually quite worrying. The idea is good in principle and long overdue, but lets hope the application is right.

It sounds very much like the school in question saw you coming and thought they would cream you for more money. The CBT course is intended for first time riders. It is intended to lead absolute beginners by the hand to the point where they can go out on road with a degree of competence and control and satisfy said instructor that you are safe enough to be issued with a DL196 which validates your licence and allows you to get further experience under your own steam. In 25 years as a CBT/DAS instructor I had many come through who had never ridden a bike before. Yes it took a little longer to get them up to speed, sometimes they may have had to return because we ran out of daylight or the rider got very tired, but the aim of CBT is for the benefit of absolute beginners and the school and the instructor should give you as much time as you require. I am not sure if it still applies, but back in the day when I was still instructing, taster courses or starter courses were outlawed because that was what CBT was intended for. As for the bike? It is expected that bikes will be dropped, damaged and crashed. I used to have to change brake levers sometimes 2 or three times a week and damage to control levers was expected. If the bike was that badly damaged (which to be fair I never had that problem) then that is why insurance is in place. I would ask for your money back and find someone more suited to helping you than trying to cream you for every last shilling. You are not the first and you won't be the last that has difficulties.

This is just a heads up to a charity event my firm are supporting later this year, both financially and actively, and is a charity that we all may benefit from at some time in the future. The 11th - 17th of September is​ National Air Ambulance week. 2 guys, Dave and Daren, have set up a charity called Roadbase2017. They plan to visit every Air Ambulance station in the UK (there are 17 of them) to raise the profile of the Air Ambulance as well as raise a couple of thousand pounds for their local service at the North West Air Ambulance service. They will take a week to visit every station and there will be interviews, promotions and all manner of activities going on. Any support whether financially or physically or spiritually is greatly appreciated. you go to their Facebook page below it will give you more information and obviously updates as they occur. I hope you feel that this is a charity you feel that you can and want to support. https://www.facebook.com/RoadBase2017/

If anyone is Interested, Talan (www.talanmotorsport.co.uk) and the team are competing at Brands this weekend. The team are located in garage 2, and Talan and the guys would be delighted to talk to and welcome anyone who pops by to see them. I will be there tomorrow.

Just a quick bounce job as the poll ends on Sunday and then we can make a decision

You may recall a few weeks ago I asked what campaign you would like to see run relative to motorcycling safety. The overwhelming feedback I got was loose gravel and poor re-surfacing/re-dressing of road surfaces. Something that has not been looked at much in the past. Well, we are looking to at this as our potential motorcycle safety campaign for 2017. However, in order to get some decent ammunition, I need to get an idea of how many people have been affected by poorly resurfaced roads and/or loose chippings. This does not include pot holes which is a different issue and which already has various campaigns up and running. So, you response to the poll/survey would be appreciated, and also an indication as to whether you would be prepared to share your story for our website and campaign material, whatever that might be when decided on.

Counselling for the emergency services was unheard of back then. It was available for the public, but not us.... You joined any of the 3 services knowing that part of the job involved seeing some very unpleasant sights and you just got on with it. This is how and why and one of the reasons the black humour developed. It was 1989 I saw something like 85 dead bodies in one year. All fatal crashes. Some were particularly messy, some made you wonder how they died, but you just got on with it regardless. Now, everyone and his dog gets counselling. Sorry, long winded answer, but no, counselling was not available to us back then.

It was the only incident that I ever attended in all my service that had a profound affect on me. And it brought it closer to home as it was my buddy Roger Brereton (a fellow traffic cop) that was my opposite number out of the Newbury garage that was killed. Even now, I can still remember the carnage that greeted aus as we arrived.

I can relate to that On September 15th, it will be 42 years ago to the day I joined the Police service. Next month will be the 30th anniversay that I was at Hungerford when Michael Ryan went on the rampage http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/19/newsid_2534000/2534669.stm Now that really makes me feel old

Just realised, 2 years ago today I came back from holiday got home and within 2 hours I was admitted to Hospital where I spent the next 5 - 6 weeks. Must be a sign of age. It seems nowhere near as long as that....