Training triumph for new riders as rogue instructors shut down

The DVSA have shut down more than 100 rogue motorcycle trainers who have been delivering sub-standard training to new motorcyclists.

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As a result of their work 18 approved training bodies and 105 riding instructors have had their licence revoked, preventing them from teaching. In some of the worst cases, the DVSA found that instructors had been selling CBT certificates to people without delivering any training, while some training bodies had been found to have issued certificates on days when they were closed.

“A lifetime of safe riding” – DVSA Chief

The campaign was part of a considered approach to improving the quality of motorcycle training, with a view to turning more new bikers into full licence holders. The policy has been pushed heavily by the DVSA’s Chief Examiner, Mark Winn, who is a lifelong biker himself.

“The DVSA’s priority is to help everyone through a lifetime of safe riding,” said Winn. “Too many motorcyclists are killed or injured on our roads every year, so it is vital they have the right training to help keep them safe on Britain’s roads.

“We are determined to rid the industry of rogue trainers who are not delivering the correct training or flagrantly breaking the rules and will take action against anyone we find to be putting lives at risk.”

To see the quality of the training, the DVSA sent out enforcement staff to do more than 600 standards checks and over 160 compliance checks in the last year. Their investigative work has seen 4% of the 505 approved training bodies removed from the official register. The DVSA said that nearly 5,500 motorcyclists were injured in 2018 and more than 350 killed, and that teaching motorcyclists the skills they need to ride safely is key to reducing this number.

As well as the quality of the training the DVSA examiners also looked at the condition of the motorcycles, clothing and helmets they gave to students, their documentation as well as their record keeping. It is the DVSA’s hope in the long term to do more work to digitise the CBT process, as well as have an online directory of approved instructors, with a grading system to indicate the quality of training students can expect to receive.

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