Ride like a Copper...

[CRAIGREVO]

4 week initial course.... followed by another 4 week Advanced Course.... just to get the advanced ticket... then a refresher every two years....which could be a couple or 4 days.... I wouldn't call it arrogance ... confidence in their training .....

That's 80 hours plus of input from the instructor.....

A 17 year old will get far more than 80h training to pass a car test, but it wont make them a good driver. Just good enough to pass the test.

[BrynS]

But the police rider will have shown enough aptitude to get him on the course in the first place ..17 year old don't have to pass a suitability test to take lessons

[sprintster]

It's a decent video, not as prescriptive as some IAM inspired vids I've seen. However does anyone who is not taking a test actually ride according to a set of fixed rules and guidelines? Personally my only consideration is,
Is what I'm doing safe?
Is it going to piss off other road users?
If it's illegal, am I going to get caught?

I have to admit that depending on my mood and the circumstances the second point can be flexible.

I've only been flicking through this thread since I wasn't able to view the video but you're spot on!

[-Ralph-]

@ 9.36 - not totally convinced that holding back on the left for a right hand bend "safe" overtake has absolutely assured there is no concealed entrance on the right.
Why risk it?

Now that was a decent video! Once I realised that the guy behind was an examiner on a test run and ignored what he was doing.

If you look at his head position on that overtake, he was looking down the left hand side of the truck for any entrances, and running his eyes down the solid white line looking for a break in it, whilst looking past the apex of the bend for a clear overtake. Once he decides the overtake is on, you see him take one final look down the left. What he's doing is choosing a fixed point up to which he's "cleared" that side of the road, i.e. he knows there's no entrances. Then his head lean switches from left to right as he pulls out for visibility down the right hand side of the truck. Only when he's out far enough to see the fixed point he chose, does he accelerate. He can now see ahead of that fixed point so knows there are no entrances impeding his entire overtake.

You can use a very similar technique to overtake a truck on a left hand bend, looking down the left and choosing a fixed point on the right hand side of the road, checking it's clear up to that point, then once you pick up that point again on the right as you pass it, you can swapping sides knowing nothing changed in the blind section blocked by the truck, because you've been looking down the left the whole time at what was entering that zone.

Perhaps not worth the risk you could argue for the civilian rider, and to the untrained eye it looks like you've just done a completely blind and suicidal overtake, but for a police rider on an emergency response minutes matter, and that might be his only opportunity to get past that truck.

[-Ralph-]

is it just me or did anybody else flinch at that farm building entrance at 5'12" where he was prone to a head on with anybody exiting :pinch: I would have been having a word with myself

You need to ignore what the guy behind as doing, he's examining the guy in front, so he's making all kinds of manoeuvres to get best visibility or what the guy in front is doing, but that's not necessarily the best road position for him.

[special one]

A 17 year old will get far more than 80h training to pass a car test, but it wont make them a good driver. Just good enough to pass the test.

An average 17 year old won't have 80 one hour lessons to pass their test, they will have a lot less.
I had about 22 I think and that was only because of the old postal application system taking 3 months to give me a test date.

[-Ralph-]

I've learned something new from that video. At 5'55" he chose to hold Position 1 on approach to the junction, for better visibility round the bend, but drastically reduce his speed to compensate for it, then accelerate out as soon as the bend opened up.

I would have held position 2, to stay away from the junction, but not leave myself at risk from oncoming traffic, then return to position 1 immediately after the junction if position 2 meant I still couldn't see round the bend.

The police riders choice was a new one on me, he chose to risk a right of way violation, safe in the knowledge he was slow enough to stop if it happened, but it's probably the tidier and faster way round the bend than what I would normally do. He can afford to lose the speed because he gets better visibility and hence gets on the throttle earlier.

[-Ralph-]

A 17 year old will get far more than 80h training to pass a car test, but it wont make them a good driver. Just good enough to pass the test.

An average 17 year old won't have 80 one hour lessons to pass their test, they will have a lot less.
I had about 22 I think and that was only because of the old postal application system taking 3 months to give me a test date.

I had 12 lessons then passed with 3 minors. Applied for the test after my first lesson. Also due to taking 3 months to get a test date. I had been driving my sisters car illegally since I was 15 though. After pretending to have to learn clutch control on the first lesson, the instructor told me to pull over after 5 minutes and switch off, and said "OK kid, time for a bit of honesty here, what have you been driving and for how long?", so I came clean. To his credit he never told my old man.

[picos mestizo]

@ 9.36 - not totally convinced that holding back on the left for a right hand bend "safe" overtake has absolutely assured there is no concealed entrance on the right.
Why risk it?

Now that was a decent video! Once I realised that the guy behind was an examiner on a test run and ignored what he was doing.

If you look at his head position on that overtake, he was looking down the left hand side of the truck for any entrances, and running his eyes down the solid white line looking for a break in it, whilst looking past the apex of the bend for a clear overtake. Once he decides the overtake is on, you see him take one final look down the left. What he's doing is choosing a fixed point up to which he's "cleared" that side of the road, i.e. he knows there's no entrances. Then his head lean switches from left to right as he pulls out for visibility down the right hand side of the truck. Only when he's out far enough to see the fixed point he chose, does he accelerate. He can now see ahead of that fixed point so knows there are no entrances impeding his entire overtake.

You can use a very similar technique to overtake a truck on a left hand bend, looking down the left and choosing a fixed point on the right hand side of the road, checking it's clear up to that point, then once you pick up that point again on the right as you pass it, you can swapping sides knowing nothing changed in the blind section blocked by the truck, because you've been looking down the left the whole time at what was entering that zone.

Perhaps not worth the risk you could argue for the civilian rider, and to the untrained eye it looks like you've just done a completely blind and suicidal overtake, but for a police rider on an emergency response minutes matter, and that might be his only opportunity to get past that truck.

Like I said above. I'm not convinced that looking up the inside of a very big slab sided lorry & a car gives anybody a 100% clear view of the opposite side of the road for an overtake with absolutely no risk involved.
The importance of his mission shouldn't absolve his responsibillity to other road users & this manoeuvre probably warranted bells & lights.

[Gedge]

4 week initial course.... followed by another 4 week Advanced Course.... just to get the advanced ticket... then a refresher every two years....which could be a couple or 4 days.... I wouldn't call it arrogance ... confidence in their training .....

That's 80 hours plus of input from the instructor.....

A 17 year old will get far more than 80h training to pass a car test, but it wont make them a good driver. Just good enough to pass the test.

My advanced training ( cars) was far more intense than any learner driver gets, and the 40 hrs per week was ALL about driving, whether behind the wheel, observing other students or learning what the books say....in my case ( in addition to anything a learner has to do) I did a 2 week basic driving course, 5 week standard driving course, 5 week advanced course, numerous check runs ( every 9 months minimum, several days of specialised vehicle training 4x4, personnel carrier, towing vehicles, small motorcycles etc) ...then 6 weeks driving instructors course, 3 week squad driving course, 3 week standard motorcycle course.....being an IAM pass holder or even observer doesn't come close to the level of training plod gets....( bikers in most forces have to do most of the car stuff then move on to advanced bikes ,..sadly I never got the chance due to someone else's stupidity... )