Motorcycle manoeuvres review - phase 2 and phase 3 report

The current practical motorcycle test in Great Britain is modular, with the first of two modules testing candidates’ control of their motorcycle in an off-road area during a series of low and higher speed manoeuvres. Concerns about the accessibility and safety of the module 1 test led the Road Safety Minister (in June 2010) to announce a review exploring the feasibility of a single event, on-road practical motorcycle test. TRL was commissioned to carry out research to support the review. The research proceeded in three consecutive phases; the first of these phases is described in Tong, Helman, Fowler, Delmonte and Hutchins (2013), and the second and third are described in this report: 1. Phase 1 (Tong et al., 2013) trialled the manoeuvres off-road so that the initial feasibility, safety and fairness of the manoeuvres could be assessed without exposing learner riders to potential risks on real roads. Test-ready learner riders rode through the proposed set of manoeuvres under mock-test conditions. They also completed the existing module 1 manoeuvres for direct comparison. 2. Phase 2 built on the findings from Phase 1 by piloting the revised manoeuvres on-road with experienced riders, so that a decision could be made on whether to proceed with Phase 3 (on-road trialling with learner riders). 3. Phase 3 trialled the manoeuvres on-road with learner riders.