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
šØ ENOUGH OF āSMIDSY.ā ITāS TIME TO RAISE OUR GAME. šØ
Sorry mate, I didnāt see you.ā
āNothing you can do about that.ā
āItās just the risk we take.ā
No.
Itās not ājust the risk.ā
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 arenāt prepared to look at their own riding habits.
Studies consistently show that ongoing and advanced training can reduce accident rates by up to 50ā75%.
Thatās not luck.
Thatās not theory.
Thatās skill, mindset, and professional awareness.
And experience alone? Itās not enough.
āIāve been riding 20 years.ā
But is that 20 years of developmentā¦
or the same year repeated 20 times?
Think like a pilot.
In aviation, smaller aircraft donāt 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 youāre approaching a junction and a driver is waiting to emerge, ask yourself:
ā¢ Have I maximised my visibility?
ā¢ Am I masked by a van, lorry, or glare?
ā¢ Have I adjusted my road position to stand out?
ā¢ Has the driver actually acknowledged me?
ā¢ Do I have space and an escape plan?
ā¢ Is my speed right for the road, surface, camber and conditions?
When someone says, āI didnāt see you,ā
sometimes itās not malice.
Itās human limitation.
Professional riders donāt rely on being seen.
They ride as if they might not be.
š§ And Letās Be Honestā¦
A significant number of motorcycle crashes involve no other vehicle at all.
Single-vehicle incidents caused by:
ā¢ Inappropriate speed
ā¢ Poor bend negotiation
ā¢ Bad positioning
ā¢ Unsafe overtakes
ā¢ Riding too close
ā¢ Late decision-making
ā¢ Overconfidence
ā¢ Limited machine familiarity
Thatās not āSMIDSY.ā
Thatās skill, judgement, and mindset.
š Training Works ā 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.
š§ Advanced Riding Is a Mindset
Safer riding isnāt about surrendering your rights.
Itās about owning responsibility.
ā¢ Make yourself unmistakably visible.
ā¢ Think further ahead than everyone else.
ā¢ Understand how hazards develop.
ā¢ Know your machineās limits.
ā¢ Adjust speed and position dynamically.
ā¢ Wear proper protective equipment ā not as an afterthought, but as a layer of risk reduction.
Collision avoidance begins long before impact.
We canāt control other road users.
But we can control:
ā¢ Our preparation
ā¢ Our positioning
ā¢ Our speed
ā¢ Our visibility
ā¢ Our decision-making
ā¢ 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 ā invest in your development.
Letās stop normalising preventable accidents.
Letās raise standards.
Letās ride like professionals. š
