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Sam Geddis founder and Director of Belfast based Adelaide Insurance Services, has been advocating the need for greater safety and road skills to his customers for many years, however on Friday last he took the significant step of taking and passing his IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorist) motorcycle test. Although Sam passed his IAM car test way back in 1992 and after being obliged to learn to ride a motorcycle 6 years ago because Adelaide had become Northern Irelands premier motorcycle insurer he believed he had nothing left to prove, but sadly as we are losing too many motorcyclists each year on our roads, 16 so far this year; he believed that he had no choice but to set an example to others.
“For most of my life I’ve not been a biker and in the past I used to be hesitant about going out on a motorcycle – this is no longer the case and I feel far more confident as I now know that most of my safety is down to my own actions.” he stated.
Sam was not alone in his quest to set an example to his motorcycle customers he trained alongside Adelaide’s Motorcycle Insurance Head Neil Jarvis. Neil was born on a bike and has done a bit of track racing but here’s what he thought about the IAM experience;
“I’ve been a motorcyclist for 11 years yet found the course really worth while and the main thing I learnt was how to make progression on the road safely and systematically. I now feel I’m in the best possible position to be able to deal with the unexpected.”
Although Sam and Neil are the first two members of Adelaide staff to pass their IAM motorcycle test they also have passed their IAM car test as have 30 other Adelaide car drivers; Sam insists that if safety is to be advocated action by example has to be taken.
Adelaide first got involved in safety issues because so many of our motorcycle customers were being killed on the road. This goes back to 1997 when we began working with the Police to promote BikeSafe which provides a critical appraisal of motorcyclists riding skills through a short, free assessment of ability in key areas. We estimated that as a result of this relationship, 3000 bikers have improved their riding skills by successfully completing the BikeSafe assessment. In addition, Adelaide has also been working with the IAM since 2005, promoting their “Skills for Life” course resulting in more skilled, controlled and confident bikers.