No motorcycle tests on chilly days

Motorcycle tests are set to reach a grinding halt in winter because new test areas will close on chilly days.

Whenever it’s cold enough for grit to be needed as a precaution against surface ice, areas for a new bike examination will instead be shut down and tests cancelled.

Currently it’s up to examiners to decide whether to proceed with tests, according to the DSA. But they are set to lose this discretion at new £71 million test centres from March 30.

There will be no gritting of bike test areas at the centres, the DSA says.

Candidates will be turned away and told to rebook in the hope of better weather next time.

A DSA spokeswoman said: “Examiners will not be required to make a discretionary decision as to whether to grit the test site surface. If the weather is of a condition that would require gritting, it would be considered to be too dangerous to conduct the test.”

She said examiners currently would not necessarily cancel tests in freezing conditions.

Roads can need gritting to melt ice between 40 and 120 times a year depending on the part of the country, according to grit manufacturers. Days on which frost occurs can vary from 35 to 80.

A riding instructor told MCN the problem lay in a special surface at the test centres which is damaged by grit.

Steve Hopkinson, of Sure Riding in Leicester, was astonished when his practice session had to be cancelled because there was no way to remove ice that had formed overnight.

He said: “I was booked on at 8.30am for two hours and by 11.30 there were still spots of ice where water had collected. The examiner said it wasn’t safe to use and they are not allowed to put any grit on the surface.

“It’s porous for drainage purposes and they believe grit will eventually block up the channels. That came from the DSA headquarters when I phoned them about it.
“This will be a massive issue next year.”

The DSA claimed the surface was “not porous” but refused to provide any clarity over the issue, eventually ignoring questions.

It’s a major embarrassment for the agency and just the latest cock-up in an ongoing fiasco surrounding the introduction of a new motorcycle test. 

In September MCN exclusively revealed the multi-million-pound centres were only needed because ministers failed to take into account the fact manoeuvres in the new test must be done at precisely 31mph.

That’s the urban speed limit in other parts of European but one mph too fast for our urban roads. 

The introduction date was then postponed by six months to March 30 because centres weren’t ready – but the DSA refused to refund learners who’d already paid extra for a new test place. Instead the Agency went ahead with a £20 price hike from September 29, and is set to pocket more than £800,000 in overcharges.