Motorcycle manoeuvres review: the feasibility and safety implications - phase 1

In June 2010, the Road Safety Minister announced a review of the practical motorcycle test, with the aim of devising a single-event test that is carried out on the road as far as possible. This study is the first stage in assessing the feasibility and safety of carrying out a revised set of manoeuvres for the motorcycle test. Care should be taken in interpreting these findings, and they should be considered alongside the later phases. In this first phase of the research, off-road locations were ‘mocked-up’ to resemble real roads in terms of marking the centre line and the edges of the carriageway. On this mock-road area, ‘test ready’ learner riders rode through the revised set of manoeuvres being proposed for potential on-road use, and through the existing module 1 manoeuvres on a separate layout. In this way it was possible to draw direct comparisons between the two sets of manoeuvres.