[Matt]

This is from info that I got from on of the Garda on the stand at the show. He was very approachable, not in any way condescending, he, and the other around him genuinely seemed to want to help. Now, we all know what outstanding motorcyclists most of the Garda are, there is no question there. So if you've just got your licence or have never had any basic or formal training you could do a lot worse than give this a go.

The figures below are not my own pulled out of the sky but given to me by the Garda themselves, it makes for some interesting and sobering reading :exclaim:

The Facts

• Ireland has a motorcycle fatality rate of 1.5 per 1000 licencesed motorcycles, the highest in Europe.
  
• Motorcycles account for less than 2% of registered vehicles.
  
• Motorcyclists accounted for 13.8% nationally of road deaths.
  
• Motorcyclists accounted for 29% of Fatalities in the Dublin Metropolitan Region.
  
• Motorcyclists are 6 times more likely to be killed on our roads.
  
• 20 Motorcyclists are killed or injured every week in Ireland.
  
• 42% of all motor cycle fatalities between 1996 and 2003 were single vehicle collisions.
  
• As many as 70% of motorcyclists have never received basic riding lessons.

The Initiative

Bike Safe is a Pilot Initiative to be run by the Garda Regional Traffic Division working with bikers to help lower the number of motorcycle casualties.

By assessing (free of charge) your riding skills and passing on their knowledge, skills and experience, Advanced Garda Motorcyclists can help you to become a safer and more competent rider, increase your ability and confidence so you can get even more enjoyment from your riding.

The Bike Safe Initiative is a plan of action to address the number of casualties by promoting safer driving and further education.

The poster

 bikesafe.jpg (349.92K)
Number of downloads: 471

The application form (Use it)

 app_form.jpg (61.36K)
Number of downloads: 596

Contact Details - Website
Email - bikesafe@eircom.net
Application form (word) - http://www.garda.ie/...cation_form.doc

This post has been edited by KildareMan: 29 May 2008 - 03:31 PM

[Loosetool]

Fair Enough.

How much would a day cost me please?

[Eamo]

The idea sounds good. An evaluation by experts (and they are brilliant bikers) at no cost either in terms of money or points, would be great, especially before taking an IRTA course. But has anyone done the evaluation yet - we all seem to be signing up for it, but no feedback as to what's involved (some of us missed the show! )

Eamo

[Nuts]

ridertraining, on Apr 4 2006, 10:53 AM, said:

That just about sums up the response to this 'new' BikeSafe thing - great idea coz it's free.
Never mind that you have been able to avail of IRTA training for the last six years :cry:

Well we're not made of money.

That said, I've done a whole bunch of hours with various riding instructors IRTA and others all qualified up to thier eyeballs with IAM and RoSPA things. At the time I thought it was expensive at in the vicinity of 30 quid an hour (ask your local trainer what he charges) but my god was it worth it. I haven't kept track of how much training I've done, more than I can afford but not enough, so no clue how much I've spent but its been worth it, every penny well spent.

Sure I might have nicer gear, a more expensive bike, waterproofs, aux lights but I'd probaly of been seriously hurt.

I can safely say that the training has saved me from dieing. That's the one thing I will throw money at, so long as I'm still learning, so thats some trainer dudes in petrol money for 40 years or so.

While the Gardaí do have some competant riders its probaly worth noting that they are potentially not qualified instructors and while thier knowledge and experience would be of great value, it may or may not be imparted to you with the same, err, efficency and effectiveness (or some combination of the two words) as somebody who does rider training for a living.

You are getting a great deal for what you pay the trainer lads, for example when preparing for my car test I was regulary sickened to hand over to car instructor more money than I gave to the bike instrutor dudes because all the car instructor dudes were muppets, except for the last one I had. Nah, riding gods thats what those IRTA dudes are and we can all learn a lot from them. =]

Anyway, the Garda thing is free, everyone should do it but don't believe that its all the training you need.


Psssst, ridertraining. Does that deserve a discount? =P j/k

This post has been edited by Nuts: 04 April 2006 - 02:26 PM

[ridertraining]

Nuts, on Apr 5 2006, 12:25 AM, said:

Well we're not made of money.


Psssst, ridertraining. Does that deserve a discount? =P j/k

Maybe

Nuts, I've PM'ed you and Loosetool.
If you are serious, email me.

[John Bulleteer]

Matt, on Mar 4 2006, 10:13 AM, said:

This is from info that I got from on of the Garda on the stand at the show. He was very approachable, not in any way condescending, he, and the other around him genuinely seemed to want to help. Now, we all know what outstanding motorcyclists most of the Garda are, there is no question there. So if you've just got your licence or have never had any basic or formal training you could do a lot worse than give this a go.

The figures below are not my own pulled out of the sky but given to me by the Garda themselves, it makes for some interesting and sobering reading :exclaim:

The Facts

• Ireland has a motorcycle fatality rate of 1.5 per 1000 licencesed motorcycles, the highest in Europe.
  
  
  
  
  
• Motorcycles account for less than 2% of registered vehicles.
  
  
  
  
  
• Motorcyclists accounted for 13.8% nationally of road deaths.
  
  
  
  
  
• Motorcyclists accounted for 29% of Fatalities in the Dublin Metropolitan Region.
  
  
  
  
  
• Motorcyclists are 6 times more likely to be killed on our roads.
  
  
  
  
  
• 20 Motorcyclists are killed or injured every week in Ireland.
  
  
  
  
  
• 42% of all motor cycle fatalities between 1996 and 2003 were single vehicle collisions.
  
  
  
  
  
• As many as 70% of motorcyclists have never received basic riding lessons.

The Initiative

Bike Safe is a Pilot Initiative to be run by the Garda Regional Traffic Division working with bikers to help lower the number of motorcycle casualties.

By assessing (free of charge) your riding skills and passing on their knowledge, skills and experience, Advanced Garda Motorcyclists can help you to become a safer and more competent rider, increase your ability and confidence so you can get even more enjoyment from your riding.

The Bike Safe Initiative is a plan of action to address the number of casualties by promoting safer driving and further education.

The poster

attachment

The application form (Use it)

attachment

Contact Details - Website
Email - bikesafe@eircom.net

Im after filling in an application form for one of their assessed rides for the craic & so I can tell my insurance company next year.

I hope they dont get upset about some of the grey areas on my bike Small reg plate, Mini indicators ect.

Deego (The Bulleteer)

[petecourtney]

Bulleteer, on Apr 17 2006, 08:35 PM, said:

Im after filling in an application form for one of their assessed rides for the craic & so I can tell my insurance company next year.

I hope they dont get upset about some of the grey areas on my bike Small reg plate, Mini indicators ect.

Deego (The Bulleteer)

I applied 6 weeks ago and haven't had any response, so I wouldn't worry about your plates and indi's Bulleteer, you could have changed bike by the time this thing gets off the ground .

Pete.
p.s. anyone else hear anything back??

[Nuts]

I got a form letter today outling what the accessment is about and how you get graded. It says that successful applicants (people they will get to this season*) will get a letter with the details of thier appointment over the next few weeks.

*season?
BikeSafe must be only a summer thing, fair enough though. They don't want to be riding around all day in siht weather and then have to do this thing in siht weather.

This post has been edited by Nuts: 22 April 2006 - 07:27 PM

[petecourtney]

I got a letter today from the Gardai re: BikeSafe
Now confusion reigns.

It says it's not a test or training, then it says (top of page 2) that each category will be marked 1-5. To qualify a rider must achieve an overall points tally of 32, and at least 4 in each category. Any rider scoring 3 or less can be re-assessed at a later date.
What's that all about??

Also, one of the category's is 'carrying a pillion'. I presume I won't be able to participate in this competency, as I'm not insured to carry pillions.

Anybody got any inside info as to when it starts?

Pete.

[EatinGTarmaC]

petecourtney, on Apr 25 2006, 03:01 PM, said:

I got a letter today from the Gardai re: BikeSafe
Now confusion reigns.

It says it's not a test or training, then it says (top of page 2) that each category will be marked 1-5. To qualify a rider must achieve an overall points tally of 32, and at least 4 in each category. Any rider scoring 3 or less can be re-assessed at a later date.
What's that all about??

Also, one of the category's is 'carrying a pillion'. I presume I won't be able to participate in this competency, as I'm not insured to carry pillions.

Anybody got any inside info as to when it starts?

Pete.

I remember reading the flier. It's not a test or a certification as such, otherwise some people* might think they'll get their full licence with it, or go to their insurance companies demanding discounts.

I'd say it's more of a personal test, just to see if you're safe enough to pass.

As for the pillion passenger, I'm sure you could be excempt from that part as you wouldn't carry a pillion on a normal basis. You've chosen not to, agreed as much with the insurance company, so I don't see why they would want to test you on it


*Dumb People

This post has been edited by EatinGTarmaC: 26 April 2006 - 01:23 AM

[TravellinBilly]

EatinGTarmaC, on Apr 26 2006, 02:23 AM, said:

I remember reading the flier. It's not a test or a certification as such, otherwise some people* might think they'll get their full licence with it, or go to their insurance companies demanding discounts.

I'd say it's more of a personal test, just to see if you're safe enough to pass.

As a recent returnee to two wheeled locomotion myself I rapidly found out just how much age and laziness dulls the senses.
Havin managed to ride my "new" 95 BMW F650 from Londingham to Holyhead and thence to Dublin I found some rather interestin items stickin in my mind.
Number 1 item is .....The Brits are different....All those years of washin their cars on Sundays instead of goin to mass has given them a somewhat healthier perspective on life.

Number 2. Why do they not have potholes.

Number 3.Why do they not raise/lower their manhole/access covers at least 25mm from the prevailing road surface like we do.

Number 3. Why do they insist in having so many highly visable and easily comprehended signs in the correct locations on ALL of their road types when we manage quite successfully with hiding such things behind thorny bushes and facing the opposite direction.

Number 4. A generalization I accept,but my own observation nonetheless,why are so many of them so damn Courteous....Riding my unfamiliar Thumper on the immediate exit from London I became uncomfortably aware of my unfamiliarity with its humours and managed quite successfully to stall it TWICE on large scale Roundabouts whilst sittin in front of general traffic.
On neither of these occassions was I subjected to any ballyraggin or threats of disembowelment and on one of them I was assisted by a TAXIMAN (For Chrissakes !!) who put on his hazards and pushed me into the side and waited until I found the well hidden neutral and rumbled F65 into life again.
Second time around I was asked if I needed any help by several car bound folks as YET AGAIN I struggled to get 650 cc`s of piston up and down under its own steam....(Memo to myself...The Choke lever goes FORWARD to OFF position...)

SO having returned to this very Free state of ours I began the slow process of reacquainting myself with 2 wheels and of keeping the same 2 wheels upright in the midst of the 4 8 and 16 wheelers.
Talk about a reality check !
My last machine was a Honda VT500 which I ran for several years until 1993,and which I was quite comfortable and proficient at handling until I sold it and expanded my arse on German car seating.
This time round however the reality of where we are at as a people suddenly became horribly clear to me and as well as underlining my mortality has convinced me that barbarity is in fact a major hereditical trait of the Irish which is accentuated when we are placed in control of mechanical or electrical items.

With this horrible dread lurking in my mind I found myself riding less and less and the possibility of the F650 simply expiring under its cover was very real indeed.

One late night whilst surfing www.f650.co.uk website I came across a thread concerning BikeSafe which is an initiative (Just like the Gardai`s) aimed at improving general Biker safety.
The BikeSafe courses are run by various UK constabularies in league with the IAM,ROSPA and other safety agencies throughout the UK.
I was directed to the course run by the North Wales Constabulary and which operates from Colwyn Bay Police HQ (A Nice spin down the A55 from Holyhead).
One of the publicity notes I zeroed in on was the description of the courses as being for "Nervous Bikers" or "Those returning to biking after a long absence"....Two bullseyes for me there !!
So I made some initial enquiries as to whether I as a republican Irishman would be elegible to partake of a course run by HM Constabulary and was told "Why Bloody Not Mate ?? " by the course coordinator.
The course is run in two one-day modules which can be taken together or at suitable intervals depending on how flush you are with the coin of the realm at the time.
I decided to make a week-end two day event out of it and sent of my £100stg to the Bikesafe Admin Dept.

Having booked early I was offered a choice of dates and picked the 8/9th April in the expectation of some nice biking weather etc.
Bloody Hell Norah.....Frost,Hail,Gale Force Crosswinds,and driving sheets of rain do not make a nervous biker any less nervous..but they DO make him damp...no amend that ...they make him suicidally WET and COLD.
Mind you they also prove the worth of Heated handgrips and a bit of an oul screen.

I wont go too far into the actual course itself except to say that I found it a VERY worthwhile and enjoyable experience indeed which has provided me with tons of stuff to adopt and practice in my everyday riding.
The combination of the easily presented and understood classroom work with the Observed Rides of approx 80 miles each day was exactly the right combination for any such course.
The balance between theory and practical on any such courses can be critical and this one got it spot on.

The course fee includes your dinner and this also provides a great sit around forum for chattin,lying and self publicity of all types.

The routing taken on the rides is some of the loveliest and most Bike friendly terrain in these Islands.
In and around the Snowdownia national Park and passing through Towns,Villages and open country on a mixture of good fast A roads,lesser B roads and the occassional boreen complete with grass strip up the middle.
Anybody familiar with the region around Bets-Y-Coed and environs will be aware of the great variation of enjoyment and hazards which can be combined to suit any riders taste.

Any course such as BikeSafe whether in Ireland or elsewhere largely centres around trying to get the rider to Focus on the items which we usually tend to allow flash past in a blur only realizing their importance when its too late.
To this end the course and the Observers did just that, OBSERVED, then reported back and discussed those observations....No Lectures,Slagging or disparaging remarks...and all handled in an easy going yet VERY professional manner.

There is also a new module this year which is a Biker-Specific first aid which was REALLY interesting.
Given by an Ambulance Service Paramedic (Also a Biker,Triumph Tiger) the module focused on the items which can make the difference between Life and Death when a Motorbike Accident occurs.
Items covered were the actual methodology of Phoning the Ambulance...ie Mobile or Landline...and YES it can make a difference....
Immediate assessment of casualty,how and what to describe to the operator and the CORRECT way to remove a helmet in order to establish a secure airway.
In my own humble opinion the course was worth it for that single module alone as I really DID learn something which could be of invaluable assistance to another Biker in an emergency.

To conclude this long post (Sorry) I have no connection wit BikeSafe or the Constables other than the two days I spent on the course.
IF the Garda BikeSafe initiative is funded and given the Administrative backing to match the UK one then it will be money well spent
BUT ! if like so many other "Initiatives" it is merely intended to provide some PR glow for a Government Minister then forget it now and simply divert the money into the undertaking proffession.

If anybody is interested in the North Wales Bikesafe course then here`s some contact details.

The central admin is handled through ...

www.bikesafe.co.uk.

Once there navigate through the right hand constabularies to North Wales or perhaps the PSNI who offer a somewhat similar course in the North....

The North Wales direct contact is through course coordinator.
Paul Cheshire.
BikeSafe North Wales.
OSD Ops.
Police HQ.
Glan y Don
Colwyn Bay.
LL29 8AW

Tel (0044)11492 510970
e-mail: paul.cheshire@nthwales.pnn.police.uk

NOTE: Remember you will be required to produce a FULL EU driving licence and Insurance Document for your machine and it MUST be in roadworthy condition etc etc.....

Anyway just my Tuppence worth......Bon Voyage.

This post has been edited by Matt: 13 May 2006 - 02:56 PM

[Danbit]

psicic, on Mar 5 2006, 03:32 PM, said:

Yeah - that's what prompted my question, since none of the posters/info they had printed out at the show mentioned this.

I'll be contacting them to see what story is... although does seem a bit odd going out of my way to try and get a Garda to criticise my driving!!!

Hi psicic, did you ever contact the gardaí and if so , what was their response? I have a provisional at the moment and like yourself, would be interested in being evaluated.
Thanks in anticipation.

[jamesobrady]

TravellinBilly, on Apr 30 2006, 04:36 PM, said:

Anybody familiar with the region around Bets-Y-Coed and environs will be aware of the great variation of enjoyment and hazards which can be combined to suit any riders taste.

An interesting read Billy, thanks for that.
I went from Holyhead to Droitwich, Droitwich to Penzance, and Penzance to the ferry....whatever its called(edit...fishguard)....last summer, and i can honestly say the Welsh section above was the most enjoyable.....I found myself delaying my "schedule" just to turn around and redo some roads over again for the fun of it......


...bike safety courses sound interesting too.......

This post has been edited by jamesobrady: 13 May 2006 - 04:56 PM

[petecourtney]

I received a phonecall this afternoon regarding the bikesafe evaluation. Appartently they're looking for availability on Saturday 27th.
Unfortunately I can't make it that day, but I thought I'd give ye the heads-up so you don't get spooked if you get an unexpected phonecall from a member of An Gardai (I'm particularly thinking about you Nuts )

Pete.

[Nuts]

Nice one Pete but they usually knock around to the house... =D

[Ogmios]

*flits in for a flying visit*

TravellinBilly;
love your post! - brilliant!

i was over in Wales for a daytrip last saturday - purely to enjoy them tarmac rollercoasters they call "roads" over there. despite the rain in the morning, it was great fun. the group made er, ..."Good Progress" throughout and everyone had a ball. it didnt matter which road we took - all of them are good.

when it comes to maintenance and engineering it is so ironic that while the Irish made so much of the road network in the you.K. we dont seem to be able to make our own effin roads anywhere near as good.

oh well.
~~
Og.
*flits out again*

[jamesobrady]

Ogmios, on May 24 2006, 06:14 PM, said:

when it comes to maintenance and engineering it is so ironic that while the Irish made so much of the road network in the you.K. we dont seem to be able to make our own effin roads anywhere near as good.

Yes it was after working themselves to death that the Irish navvies decided on the most frequently used piece of work ethic these days..... .... Do something brilliantly once and you'll be expected to do it again...but do it badly....

So for fear of having to build loads of roads over here, they just built a few..really badly.

The tradition continues............only with less Irish actually spoken.

[petecourtney]

Right, I've received another call from the Gardai re BikeSafe. This time I was offered the 10th or 17th of June. So I opted for the 10th @ 10:00am. Has anyone else heard anything? Why am I the only IBFer getting these calls???
I was advised to bring my licence and insurance with me on the day, and to have enough fuel for a 1 hour ride.

Pete.

[Lanfear]

petecourtney, on Jun 1 2006, 06:21 PM, said:

Right, I've received another call from the Gardai re BikeSafe. This time I was offered the 10th or 17th of June. So I opted for the 10th @ 10:00am. Has anyone else heard anything? Why am I the only IBFer getting these calls???
I was advised to bring my licence and insurance with me on the day, and to have enough fuel for a 1 hour ride.
Pete.

They're bringing you down to portlaoise prison

[Matt]

Lanfear, on Jun 1 2006, 06:49 PM, said:

They're bringing you down to portlaoise prison

LMAO. No better man

[Nuts]

for playtime at the zoo?