Hi Viz?

[rastuscat]

Gonna start a thread about the ACC subsidies. Off this topic, but remotely related.

[Erelyes]

Experienced and Advanced isn't the same thing. I'd been riding for over 45 years and probably perpetuating the same mistakes every 5 years or so. Then I had an assessment by IAM and sustained major ego damage . It's not for everyone but by crikey, I've learned a huge amount.

Read your blog and always wondered - do ya have an example? Not so much to learn, but to see what an experienced biker learned 45 years in.

[SuperMac]

Your tan jacket is a great contrast, and cool to go with it.

In an irony, if you wear a yellow hi viz vest, your white helmet contrasts with it better than a hi viz yellow helmet.

Hi viz yellow helmets work best with orange vests, or just plain black jackets.

Actually, what you're talking about is disruptive camouflage . . .

You're better off maintaining a 'solid' outline (by using the same colour for everything) but contrasting against the background (which, of course, you have little control over).

[oneofsix]

Actually, what you're talking about is disruptive camouflage . . .

You're better off maintaining a 'solid' outline (by using the same colour for everything) but contrasting against the background (which, of course, you have little control over).

Disruptive camouflage is great for disguising the size and shape of something, like a battle ship, but I thought the idea with us is to been seen and we don't care if they initially miss-judge the shape a little as long as they take a look. As you have pointed out we can't control the background and no matter what colour you choose there will be a background you blend into so a couple of 3 very different colours give you a better chance they will see something.
I'm still going with the scary dark thing moving in the shadows look.

[Blackbird]

Read your blog and always wondered - do ya have an example? Not so much to learn, but to see what an experienced biker learned 45 years in.

I’m going to struggle to answer your question succinctly because each element of the IAM training programme is linked together to form a complete system which is greater than the sum of its parts. However, if I was going to pick out one aspect which stands out for me personally, it’s the huge increase in situational awareness and the consequential actions taken to mitigate risk. On my first assessment ride, I couldn't believe how much information the Chief Examiner was processing when he gave a demo and now it’s hard to believe how little info I initially processed!

The other key thing from my viewpoint is that although the initial goal is to pass the Advanced Test (the process used by UK police riders and others); it’s an on-going procedure. That keeps your skills up to scratch as opposed to one-off training where your standards inevitably start to slide unless reinforced. Even though I thought with 45+ years of riding that I was “experienced”, it took 8 months of really concentrated effort to pass the Advanced Test and a further year of being coached to pass the Observer (instructor) practical and theory exams. You say you've seen the blog. I tried to sum up what it meant for me in this post: http://geoffjames.blogspot.co.nz/201...ills-some.html

As I said earlier, it won’t suit everyone but it worked for me. It’s working for a lot of other people too as current demand means that we have a backlog of people in most of the main centres and we’ve just closed the waiting list in the Auckland/Waikato/Northland region.

Hope that helps!

[Erelyes]

I’m going to struggle to answer your question succinctly because each element of the IAM training programme is linked together to form a complete system which is greater than the sum of its parts. However, if I was going to pick out one aspect which stands out for me personally, it’s the huge increase in situational awareness and the consequential actions taken to mitigate risk. On my first assessment ride, I couldn't believe how much information the Chief Examiner was processing when he gave a demo and now it’s hard to believe how little info I initially processed!

The other key thing from my viewpoint is that although the initial goal is to pass the Advanced Test (the process used by UK police riders and others); it’s an on-going procedure. That keeps your skills up to scratch as opposed to one-off training where your standards inevitably start to slide unless reinforced. Even though I thought with 45+ years of riding that I was “experienced”, it took 8 months of really concentrated effort to pass the Advanced Test and a further year of being coached to pass the Observer (instructor) practical and theory exams. You say you've seen the blog. I tried to sum up what it meant for me in this post: http://geoffjames.blogspot.co.nz/201...ills-some.html

As I said earlier, it won’t suit everyone but it worked for me. It’s working for a lot of other people too as current demand means that we have a backlog of people in most of the main centres and we’ve just closed the waiting list in the Auckland/Waikato/Northland region.

Hope that helps!

Thanks muchly

Read it once... start to finish in a couple night's reading. Y'know how it is, it was hard to put down!

[Ender EnZed]

Just out of interest what does one learn at these days that you don't already know if your a competent experienced road user?
Is it just all the generic road positioning, use both brakes, assess environment, manage fatigue, plan trip etc... or is there some moment of clarity to be had...
It's just that I've lost count of the hours of my life wasted in the likes of Forklift and Hazardous goods courses which are padded out to whole day affairs just to justify the person running it to charge $500 a head or whatever...

There's no moment of clarity and you'll have to very explicitly ask for it if you want to be pushed in any sense, but it's still a fair bit better than the compulsory, necessary-for-employment type courses where people need the piece of paper at the end of the day. Worth a go at least.

[SuperMac]

Disruptive camouflage is great for disguising the size and shape of something, like a battle ship, but I thought the idea with us is to been seen and we don't care if they initially miss-judge the shape a little as long as they take a look. As you have pointed out we can't control the background and no matter what colour you choose there will be a background you blend into so a couple of 3 very different colours give you a better chance they will see something.
I'm still going with the scary dark thing moving in the shadows look.

Again, you're confusing two issues. It's not just about the hi-viz [possibly] attracting a driver's attention, it's also about whether or not they realise what it is they've noticed - and whether or not they take the right (or any . . . ) action as a result.

The intention behind maintaining a 'solid' outline is that they have a larger target (err . . . could probably have chosen a better word there . . . ) to notice and, if they can recognise that as 'bike and rider' rather than 'patchwork quilt of bright panels' then they might, just might, take appropriate action.

http://the-ride-info.blogspot.co.uk/...afety-dog.html

http://tna.europarchive.org/20100413...df?view=Binary