Senior instructor worried about new test

I am the senior instructor with a m/c training school in Scotland and just as other trainers are concerned my worries are probably being echoed around the country.

The avoidance exercise, I was informed that this was absolutely a requirement in the new MOd 1 test. As an experienced rider and trainer of over 23yrs I find it hard to comprehend how a novice rider can be expected to perform a manouver that requires a reaction time of under 1 second.

Add into that the fact that the rider is under test conditions and it has now been categorically proven that this is a highly dangerous exercise.

What is even more worrying is that when asked what First Aid would be available at the new MPTC and DSA sites I was told in no uncertain terms that there would be no First Aid on site and that Training Schools would be liable for their students as the DSA would take no responsibility for any accidents. What ever happened to the Health and Safety Executive. If I conducted my business in that way I would be up in court in the blink of an eye.

Question? Are the DSA above all that?? A question from several of our experienced qualified “Advanced” riders,having been informed that the “Avoidance” exercise was to ensure novice riders would be able to avoid a vehicle pulling out of a junction ahead of them. “Why would you teach a novice rider to swerve into the path of the oncoming traffic and directly in front of the very hazard he is swerving to avoid”? Surely that is why we teach the “Emergency Stop” and hazard awareness.

There are so many other things we should be concentrating on, ie Riding at night, Joining/Leaving Motorways, Country Riding etc etc. Instead we are faced with not only a world wide recession but also here in the uk, a potential disaster waiting to happen for all of those involved in the motorcycle industry. Who will face the music when the first novice rider on test gets seriously hurt or even killed?