22/02/2026
Great read from IMA on further training and upskilling beyond gaining your full licence.
Advanced training is something every rider should considers.
ATTENTION ALL MOTORCYCLE RIDERS!
IMPORTANT ROAD SAFETY INFORMATION
🚨 ENOUGH OF “SMIDSY.” IT’S TIME TO RAISE OUR GAME. 🚨
Sorry mate, I didn’t see you.”
“Nothing you can do about that.”
“It’s just the risk we take.”
No.
It’s not “just the risk.”
And there is something we can do.
Motorcyclists make up a disproportionate number of accident statistics.
That should concern every single one of us.
What concerns me even more?
Too many riders accept it as normal.
Too many aren’t prepared to look at their own riding habits.
Studies consistently show that ongoing and advanced training can reduce accident rates by up to 50–75%.
That’s not luck.
That’s not theory.
That’s skill, mindset, and professional awareness.
And experience alone? It’s not enough.
“I’ve been riding 20 years.”
But is that 20 years of development…
or the same year repeated 20 times?
Think like a pilot.
In aviation, smaller aircraft don’t assume bigger planes will see them. They plan for being less visible. They compensate. They train continuously. They refine their awareness.
On the road, we are the smaller aircraft.
Visibility is not a right.
It is a responsibility.
If you’re approaching a junction and a driver is waiting to emerge, ask yourself:
• Have I maximised my visibility?
• Am I masked by a van, lorry, or glare?
• Have I adjusted my road position to stand out?
• Has the driver actually acknowledged me?
• Do I have space and an escape plan?
• Is my speed right for the road, surface, camber and conditions?
When someone says, “I didn’t see you,”
sometimes it’s not malice.
It’s human limitation.
Professional riders don’t rely on being seen.
They ride as if they might not be.
🚧 And Let’s Be Honest…
A significant number of motorcycle crashes involve no other vehicle at all.
Single-vehicle incidents caused by:
• Inappropriate speed
• Poor bend negotiation
• Bad positioning
• Unsafe overtakes
• Riding too close
• Late decision-making
• Overconfidence
• Limited machine familiarity
That’s not “SMIDSY.”
That’s skill, judgement, and mindset.
🎓 Training Works — And We Know It
Across the Country the police-led initiative BikeSafe exists for a reason.
It bridges the gap between passing your test and going on to undertake advanced rider training.
Why?
Because advanced trained riders are involved in far fewer collisions.
Professional pilots train continuously.
Emergency services train continuously.
Advanced drivers train continuously.
Why should motorcyclists be different?
A licence is permission to ride.
It is not the end of development.
🧠 Advanced Riding Is a Mindset
Safer riding isn’t about surrendering your rights.
It’s about owning responsibility.
• Make yourself unmistakably visible.
• Think further ahead than everyone else.
• Understand how hazards develop.
• Know your machine’s limits.
• Adjust speed and position dynamically.
• Wear proper protective equipment — not as an afterthought, but as a layer of risk reduction.
Collision avoidance begins long before impact.
We can’t control other road users.
But we can control:
• Our preparation
• Our positioning
• Our speed
• Our visibility
• Our decision-making
• Our training
A thinking rider is a safer rider.
Not just for themselves.
For everyone sharing the road.
If this resonates with you, share it.
If it challenges you, reflect on it.
If it motivates you — invest in your development.
Let’s stop normalising preventable accidents.
Let’s raise standards.
Let’s ride like professionals. 🏍
