Police Rider's Handbook

[Steve C]

Been reading this book recently and on page 23, it says; "Remember that, even in daylight, up to a third of other road users will not even realise you are there".

I think it goes up to 50 per cent at night...

Sobering thought. Explains such a lot.

I ride in what I think is a pretty high visibility style and wear floursecent gear in subdued lighting if I can, use a white helmet. But, thinking about the occasions in just the last few weeks where other road users have looked straight at me, for several seconds, and then gone and done something that suggests to me that they didn't 'see' me at all... I think there's some psychology at work here. We're not just small vehicles, we're also fluid and fast moving, we don't provide much of an obastacle in their world and so they don't tend to consider us as 'there'. We pass through, we nip round, we're gone from sight as quickly as we arrived. Psychologically, we do not enter their awareness as, in most instances, we're not actually 'there' in the same way another car, van or lorry is.

The other point that I took from the first couple of chapters that gave me reason to pause was that in most instances, the accidents any of us has had will have been caused by and be the fault of another road user - usually a car. A result can be that we imagine (ok, I'm talking abut me, so I imagine) that there's a limited amount for me to learn from it as it was all caused by someone else. Of course, the result is, I tend to carry on doing whatever it was that got me into that pickle in the first place - irrespective of who's 'fault' it is, I can still learn from it and that's as true of near misses as it is of actual accidents.

Good book...

Worth a read.

[mightdomaybe]

The other point that I took from the first couple of chapters that gave me reason to pause was that in most instances, the accidents any of us has had will have been caused by and be the fault of another road user - usually a car. A result can be that we imagine (ok, I'm talking abut me, so I imagine) that there's a limited amount for me to learn from it as it was all caused by someone else. Of course, the result is, I tend to carry on doing whatever it was that got me into that pickle in the first place - irrespective of who's 'fault' it is, I can still learn from it and that's as true of near misses as it is of actual accidents.

Good book...

Worth a read.

Hence the value of riding ( & driving) defensively, ie. allowing for the actions of every other road user as they may impact upon you ( hopefully not in the literal sense)

[Steve C]

Hence the value of riding ( & driving) defensively, ie. allowing for the actions of every other road user as they may impact upon you ( hopefully not in the literal sense)

aint that the truth!

[Cie]

Steve, I read the book a number of times and tried to put all of the techniques into practice.

IAM and RoSPA use this book to teach advanced riding, and it was on the IAM course that I had the text book knowledge stepped up a number of levels due to the experience of the observers I rode with.

But yes, an excellent book, there's a new one out called Mind Driving by Stephen Haley, which is sat on my "To Read" pile... I'll get to it eventually

[Sharribee]

When I did some advanced training with the police the message we were given is that even though you may not be technically at fault you should be able to anticipate what other road users are going to do by road positioning, eye contact and that sort of thing. Therefore the majority of accidents are potentially preventable.

When we were doing our assessed drive we had to commentate, which helped me look for potential hazards and adjust my drivng / riding appropriately.

[Steve C]

Thanks Cie - I've been toying with joining a local RoSPA group with that in mind. Time's always an issue for me.
Mabel - I had a police trainer when I returned to two wheels back in the 90s and he was big on eye contact. It went something like, "if they don't make eye contact, assume they haven't seen you".
For the rest, the information is usually all there, but what I see now is defferent from what I saw before I was knocked off a couple of times back then. Different things and events have acquired significance as I appreciate their ability to hurt me, perhaps.

So much to learn. Until I got the AT, going off road was no more than a distant idea but now, it's a real possibility. A whole new range of riding skills to develop though and - at 50, mind you - I'm still working on my roadcraft..!
Plus it really is my only transport so, until it isn't, it gets kid gloves...
Ciao
Steve C

[Cie]

Welcome to my world Steve.

My AT is needed every day to commute on, I'm continuing with the IAM stuff (and may have a bash at the RoSPA course) on it, and living on the edge of Salisbury Plain I get it muddy there too.

The thing with the off roading for me is that it's trail riding, not moto-cross. I won't do fast, there are just too many down sides.

[Chad]

i wouldnt mind having a read of this wheres the best place to buy it

[JohnR]

Waterstone's have it, so I expect most stores will have it as well. Try Amazon.

Amongst many other things I like the brain washing (repeated countless times) about being able to stop safetly within your vision on your own side of the road. It's really stuck in my head.

[Chad]

Waterstone's have it, so I expect most stores will have it as well. Try Amazon.

Amongst many other things I like the brain washing (repeated countless times) about being able to stop safetly within your vision on your own side of the road. It's really stuck in my head.

cool theres a waterstones not far from me