Anyone know anything about this new licence trial starting soon?

[El Dopa]

I was chatting to a bloke at motomail the other w/e, and he gave me some sketchy details on a new motorbike licencing trial that's supposed to be starting soon. The essential details seem to be as follows:

1) Held a clean car licence for 10+ years.

2) Undergo an intensive training course and take a test for (among other things) interaction with other road users.

3) pass the test and get granted a full (thats FULL) motorcycle licence. No restrictions on engine size or speed.

If anyone's got any more details, or can tell me for sure that it's all a crock, then post 'em here.

[Jackrat]

Well I reckon with those standards nobody will ever make the grade.
Should give some Gov't clone something to do I suppose.

[Indiana_Jones]

WTF? so what happens with a 15 year old who wants a cycle license and not a car one

"sorry mate, gotta get a car license and wait till your 25"

-Indy

[Two Smoker]

No what he's saying is that it is an alternative ie wen your 30+ u only have to have your learners for 3 months for a car.....

[bgd]

Over here we have a thing called Direct Access. If you are over 21 and have a car licence (I think) you can do your training on a 500cc bike or over. When you pass you can then ride a bike of any size. Typically training is 4-5 days.

I went down this route, never having ridden a bike before. I found it pretty good but considered it the start of my training rather than the end. The bike accident rates have been going up here and many lay the blame at the DA course.

[El Dopa]

WTF? so what happens with a 15 year old who wants a cycle license and not a car one

"sorry mate, gotta get a car license and wait till your 25"

-Indy

a 15-year old goes through the procedure as it currently is today, but anyone 25-30+ who already has a car licence (for 10 years) can get a bike licence without pissing around for a year with L-plates and a 250cc restriction

[Indiana_Jones]

No what he's saying is that it is an alternative ie wen your 30+ u only have to have your learners for 3 months for a car.....

oh, I see, that makes more sense
150's battle it......

-Indy

[Lou Girardin]

It sounds like the UK pollies are thinking of canning direct access, too many BAB's are killing themselves. But if it doesn't work somewhere else, LTSA is bound to try it.
Lou

[White trash]

It's called "CBTA" (Competency Based Training and Assessment I think?) It's been being trialed here in Wellys for about 6 months and works a treat!

It does work for under 25s but just lowers their restricted time.

[SPman]

It's called "CBTA" (Competency Based Training and Assessment I think?) It's been being trialed here in Wellys for about 6 months and works a treat!

It does work for under 25s but just lowers their restricted time.

I think anything that involves full on, proper training and competency assessment, is worth a look at.

[White trash]

Bloody oath!

It means more competent riders straight out of their training. Thing is, it really seems to benefit people who have been riding for years without a licence.

Like my lazy arsed father. Also works for people who've ridden alot offroad but never held a licence.

I think you need to be pretty confident on a bike to pass the course.

[Marmoot]

1) Held a clean car licence for 10+ years.

Shouldn't it be the other way around?

But, hey, if it is a SPECIAL license (i.e., not a general bike license or the only license) with NO SPEED RESTRICTION as said there, then I will try getting it.

[Lou Girardin]

Shouldn't it be the other way around?

But, hey, if it is a SPECIAL license (i.e., not a general bike license or the only license) with NO SPEED RESTRICTION as said there, then I will try getting it.

Are you referring to Fred Gassits licence to speed?
Lou

[El Dopa]

Are you referring to Fred Gassits licence to speed?
Lou

Just to clear up what appears to be a slight misunderstanding, the 'no speed restriction' I referred to was up to the national limit, 100kmh, so you're not restricted to 70kmh for 6 months. Once you pass the test, you get a full licence, so you don't have to tool around carrying an L-plate, and you can ride at night, carry a pillion etc.

There appears to be 9/10ths of stuff all on the LTSA website about it, apart from a brief reference to a trial in Wellington, so White Trash, if you've got any more info or a URL, let us know.

I'm interested in this because it means I might actually learn some skills and get a bit of confidence before being set loose on other unsuspecting road users. At the moment, although I'm road legal, I reckon if I was riding on the road, I'd be a hazard to both myself and others. However, the attitude of the LTSE appears to be 'well you can stay upright, sort of, so get out there and learn for yourself'. I've also heard that the LTSA tends to discourage training schemes like this because the extra confidence they give riders might encourage them to 'ride dangerously'. Muddled thinking, anyone?

So who is this Fred Gassits bloke?

And as an aside, it looks like Lou could be right about the UK canning direct access, if this article on the BBC website is anything to go by:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3580983.stm

No mention of idiot cagers, because of course it's all the bikers fault.....

[White trash]

www.roadsafe.co.nz

They're looking after the training. The trial has now finished and it's becoming law soon. Speaking to Andrew from Roadsafe, he says the trial was in other centers also but none of the riding schools promoted it so no one knew.

It was tremendously succesfull here in Wellington and I sold a good number of big bikes from it.