Bike test for all drivers?

Every new driver in Britain should be forced to do the CBT for bikes before being handed their licence.

That’s what Transport Secretary Alistair Darling and DSA boss Stephen Hickey have been told in a letter from Manchester bike dealer Peter Dean.

Dean, of Williams Motorcycles, Old Trafford, says his idea will save lives.

“We have masses of anecdotal evidence that car drivers who subsequently learn to ride a motorbike become much more observant, knowledgeable and hence safer drivers. Our customers constantly tell us that they are much safer car drivers having the experience of riding on two wheels.

“We believe that when car drivers apply the defensive driving techniques they have mastered while learning to ride, coupled with the enhanced sense of vulnerability you experience on a bike, it makes them safer road users than car-only drivers.”

The idea that all road users should have some experience of riding a motorcycle is in line with the Government’s commitment that ‘through training and testing, to help drivers become more aware of how vulnerable riders are.

“We welcome this and say what better way to make drivers aware than by putting them on a motorbike for a few hours? I know very few motorcyclists that have never driven or been in a car; the majority of car drivers have never ridden a motorbike.”