MinutesTitle of Meeting: Motorcycling Matters Meeting

Date of Meeting: Wednesday 5th March 2008 – 1600hrs

Attendees

Name Organisation

Simon Deards Bedfordshire County Council

Kevin Penfold Bedfordshire Highways/Amey

Caryl Jones Beds and Luton Casualty Reduction Partnership

Bob Long BMF

Will Curry SMART Motorcycle Training

Geoff Hoptroff SMART Motorcycle Training

Clive Homan Oakley Motorcycle Club

Phillip Randell Oakley Motorcycle Club

Graham Seymour Honda Owners Club

David Coulson Goldwing Owners Club and CMA

Christine Davy Luton Borough Council

Neil O’Leary Bedfordshire Highways / Amey

James Soos Hastingsbury Upper School

Chris Cundick Hastingsbury Upper School

Susan Ploetz Education Business Partnership

Stephen Sleight Bedford Rural Communities Charity, Wheels to Work

Apologies

Jon Shortland Bedfordshire Highways

Debbie Poynton Bedfordshire Highways

Lorraine Zadruzynska Beds and Luton Casualty Reduction Partnership

Bernie MacFarlane Herts and Beds Advanced Motorcyclists (IAM)

No. Item Actioned by

1. Introductions

Due to the good turn out, and the presence of guest speakers, it was decided that we wouldn’t go through the minutes and actions of the

Motorcycling Matters Meeting, Bedfordshire Highways, Woodlands Annexe, Manton Lane, Bedford, MK41 7NU

www.motorcyclingmatters.org

previous meeting, so we could give our full attention to the guest speakers.

2. Presentations

James Soos - Hastingsbury Upper School

James Soos has been riding for 2 years. He’s an A Level student at Hastingsbury Upper School and a Bedfordshire Police cadet. James came off his bike and suffered severe injuries to his leg.

James and Chris have ideas on what training provision would be useful for younger riders in our area. James gave a brief presentation outlining the key elements of training that they would find useful, notably: Bike Maintenance, Personal Safety / Equipment; All weather conditions training; road conditions / hazard awareness; awareness of how other vehicle drivers may not see you; importance of speed limits, road safety law and enforcement.

Forum members welcomed James and Chris, and were pleased to see younger riders taking an interest in how they could be involved in the forum. There was a general discussion about how they could be involved, and suggestions included:

• that James provides comments on the forum website and say what information could be included to make it more useful and relevant to younger, less experienced riders.

• It was suggested that they may wish to be guest speakers in the pre-CBT course that is being developed.

• That James starts a “Blog” thread on the forum website to establish / generate interest from younger riders in the type of training identified by James.

• Susan suggested that Hastingsbury School link to the forum website.

• It was suggested by Christine Davy that the Partnership would like to speak to James about his potential involvement in and support for the upcoming “Luke” campaign.

Phil Randell of Oakley Motorcycle Club said that someone he knows recently completed CBT but their overall impression was that the content was limited. There was almost surprise that the CBT content was all you had to do before getting on the road. It was suggested that further training and signposting would be appropriate.

James is also producing a film for his media studies A Level about motorcyclists, looking at the role of mods and rockers / big bikes versus scooters since the days of the mods and rockers. Graham Seymour suggested that there were many people in the forum willing to be “extras” in his film.

Hastingsbury Upper School have a PHSE day on 24th June. On these days schools should be checking whether riders have passed their CBT and their vehicle is taxed and MOT’d. Smart Motorcycle Training has offered this service to schools (in fact Smart started life when a headmaster asked a group of riders to go into his school to talk to the pupils).

Susan said that this was currently happening in Luton, but nothing was happening in Bedfordshire. Geoff from Smart stressed the importance

of personal face-to-face sessions when training.

Stephen Sleight – Wheels to Work

Stephen Sleight then gave a very succinct and comprehensive overview of the “Wheels to Work” scheme. It is a programme offered by the Rural Communities Charity (which was established in 1953). Stephen is their Transport Officer, helping people to meet their own transport needs to enable them to participate in work, education or training. Scheme participants are loaned a moped – usually for a period of 6 to 9 months. There are 54 schemes nationally, with 2,000 mopeds on loan. Economically, the scheme saves £15m in benefits claimed. The scheme runs very well in Norfolk – “Kick Start” and there is a moped scheme in North Herts. Bedfordshire was the only county in the Eastern Region without a scheme, but it has recently been introduced in the Sharnbrook area, though the main focus for its introduction is in the south of the county. A study in Leighton Buzzard revealed a need for the scheme. The Steering Group has secured £100K to introduce the scheme, which will be up and running by the end of the year.

Scheme participants have three stages of training including CBT and Arrive Alive (DSA). Safety equipment is provided, which can be bought at the end of the scheme.

What’s needed now is for dealers who supply the bikes and gear to go through a tendering process. A Service Level Agreement is set up with a training provider. It will start with 12-15 mopeds and build up over time. One coordinator will be appointed per 25 mopeds (max).

Forum members can support the introduction of the Wheels to Work scheme in the following ways:

• Suggestions on dealers / bodies• Letters of support for funding bids

Stephen said the scheme should run for 3 years and more funding may be forthcoming from the EEDA if they work more closely with others in the rest of the region.

Stephen answered questions from forum members, saying:• There were no restrictions on how the mopeds were used• The scheme includes insurance • The scheme is usually promoted through schools, at job centres

and careers fairs and Connexions. It’s open to 16-64 year olds, though only available to those over 24 if they’ve been out of work for 1 year or more.

Will Curry said he would supply details of someone who could potentially supply mopeds.

Contact Stephen on 01234 832 645 stephens@bedsrcc.org.uk

Simon thanked both speakers for attending and for their contribution.

All

WC

3. AOB

Simon announced that the bid to the DfT Road Safety Partnership Grant Scheme was successful and that DfT will award £84K match-funding to support the “Motorcycle Training Matters” project. This will aim to enhance the quality of rider training for pre-CBT (Ready Steady Ride) and Assessed Rides with better signposting to training opportunities. It will focus on developing attitudinal / psychological aspects of good riding.

Bob Long said KillSpills team are not going to run their KillSpills event as they felt it was expensive and not necessary any more given the now high profile of their campaign. Simon said DfT had approved the co-branded Motorcycling Matters / KillSpills letter.

Caryl said that Mary Amos Cole is renewing her sponsorship of Rick’s roundabout. Bedfordshire Police Partnership Trust and the Casualty Reduction Partnership are both contributing £250 to support this. If anyone wishes to make a contribution please contact Caryl.

March is “Bike Tyre Safety Month” – check your tyres and check out www.tyresafe.org.

Motorcyclists Survey completed, but findings are so big, summary hasn’t been added to the website yet.

New “draft” Forum Reps page gas been added to the website – please take a look and give comments / or material to Caryl. www.motorcyclingmatters.org/forum-reps/

A new supply of Think Bike stickers has arrived. This time we only ordered the clingy car rear-window stickers, as these were more popular than the self-adhesive top-box stickers.

Forum members are invited to leave comments on the A421 Think Bike poster boards on the blog.

On behalf of Bedfordshire Police, please spread the word that they are using covert enforcement tactics to catch poor drivers and riders, particularly on the worst casualty routes. This is to encourage better driving / riding at all times – not just when a camera or police car is seen, and to take the worst drivers off the road.

David Coulson said he has a discounted rate for the SJA Emergency Aid Course if he can book a whole course for 12 people. He currently has 8 people so please spread the word. He and other forum members highly recommended this course, and in particular the training on how to remove a crash helmet safely in the event of an injury.

Oakley Motorcycle Club members asked whether the “state of the roads” was an issue covered by the forum, and Simon said that this was how the forum initially started. Simon asked for any highway faults or problems with the roads are reported to the Highways Helpdesk, but that Neil was also present if they had something they wanted to discuss with him.

CJ

All reps

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DC / All reps

4. Date of Next Meetings

Tuesday 3rd June 2008 16:00Hrs – 17:30HrsWednesday 3rd September 2008 16:00Hrs – 17:30HrsWednesday 3rd December 2008 16:00Hrs – 17:30Hrs

Amey Offices Woodlands Annexe, Bedford.