Scottish Government

Evaluation Of Bikesafe Scotland

CHAPTER FIVE: VIEWS ON THE BIKESAFE SCOTLAND ASSESSED RIDE PROGRAMME

5.1 This chapter draws on both the quantitative findings from the surveys of participants and the qualitative interviews with stakeholders to discuss their views on the Assessed Ride Programme. It begins by discussing how participants heard about Bikesafe and what their reasons were for taking part, before discussing how useful they say they found the scheme. It goes on to discusses stakeholders' views of the main strengths and weaknesses of Bikesafe Scotland based on the in-depth phone interviews with key stakeholders.

Participants' reasons for becoming involved in Bikesafe Scotland

5.2 Table 5.1 below shows how respondents heard about Bikesafe Scotland, based on the pre-course survey of 2002 participants. The most common responses were from a stall at a motorcycle event (mentioned by 27%) and through word of mouth (23%). A fifth had heard about Bikesafe through a police officer or at a police station.

Table 5.1: How heard about Bikesafe (% of respondents)

Base: 324

Source: Pre-course survey of 2002 Bikesafe participants

5.3 The most commonly mentioned reasons for taking part in the Assessed Ride scheme are shown in Table 5.2. Eighty-five per cent of respondents said they wanted to improve safety while riding, 83% wanted to improve riding skills generally, 71% wanted to gain professional advice and 65% wanted to assess/improve on bad habits.

Table 5.2: Reasons decided to take part in Assessed Ride programme (% respondents) ⁸

Base: 324

Source: Pre-course survey of 2002 Bikesafe participants

Participants' views of the Assessed Ride programme

5.4 The vast majority of respondents thought that Bikesafe was either 'very' or 'fairly' useful, as shown by Figure 5.1, below. Just 1% of respondents to the survey of 2001 participants said they did not find it at all useful.

Figure 5.1: How useful found Bikesafe (% of respondents)

Bases: 2002 = 111, 2001 = 167

Source: Post-course survey of 2002 participants and survey of 2001 participants

5.5 In order to assess participants' views of different aspects of the Assessed Ride programme, they were asked to indicate how strongly they agreed or disagreed with a range of statements about Bikesafe. Responses from both the 2002 post-course survey and the survey of 2001 participants are shown in Table 5.3, below.

Table 5.3: Level of agreement with statements about Bikesafe (% of respondents) ⁹

Bases: 2002 = 111, 2001 = 167

Sources: Post-course survey of 2002 participants and Survey of 2001 participants

5.6 Again, the results suggest that respondents were very satisfied with many elements of the Bikesafe Scotland Assessed Ride programme. A hundred per cent of respondents to the 2002 post-course survey and 98% of respondents to the 2001 survey 'agreed' or 'strongly agreed' that they would recommend the scheme. Ninety-eight per cent of respondents to both surveys 'agreed' or 'strongly agreed' that all bikers should be encouraged to go on the Bikesafe scheme.

5.7 Respondents were slightly less likely to agree with the statement "The assessed ride took just the right amount of time" - 20% of respondents to the 2002 post-course survey and 21% of respondents to the 2001 survey 'disagreed' or 'strongly disagreed' with this statement. Correspondingly, 16% of respondents to the 2002 post-course survey and 22% of respondents to the 2001 survey 'agreed' or 'strongly agreed' that "the assessed ride was not long enough for me to learn much". These findings suggest that while, overall, respondents found the assessed ride very useful, it might be more useful for some participants if more time was devoted to the assessed rides. This finding is supported by the comments of some stakeholders, as discussed below.

5.8 Table 5.3 also shows that 23% of respondents to the 2002 post-course survey 'agreed' or 'strongly agreed' that "The Bikesafe scheme did not cover all the things I expected it to". The most commonly mentioned subjects not covered in the assessed ride from both surveys are shown in Table 5.4, below. These included filtering through slow traffic or performing low speed manoeuvres, riding in bad or wet weather or riding at night, riding in towns or on busier roads and motorway riding. Some respondents again suggested the assessed ride was too short. However, 56% of respondents to the 2001 survey and 65% of respondents to the 2002 post-course survey did not mention anything that was not covered in the Assessed Ride but which they thought would have been useful.

Table 5.4: Subjects not covered in the Assessed Ride which would have been useful (% of respondents)

Base: 2002 = 111, 2001 = 167

Sources: Post-course survey of 2002 participants and Survey of 2001 participants

5.9 Table 5.5, below, shows the elements of Bikesafe that respondents found the most useful. The most commonly mentioned answers in both surveys were traffic awareness/looking ahead/reading roads correctly and the assessed ride. The safety talk and information/advice on cornering were also valued by respondents.

Table 5.5: Elements of Bikesafe which were most useful (% of respondents) ¹⁰

Base: 2002 = 111, 2001 = 167

Sources: Post-course survey of 2002 participants and Survey of 2001 participants

Stakeholders' views - the strengths of Bikesafe Scotland

5.10 In-depth interviews were carried out with various stakeholders, including the eight area police Bikesafe representatives, representatives from other organisations involved in running Bikesafe (MAG, BMF, Black Horse Finance and ACPOS), six providers of alternative (i.e. non-Bikesafe) motorcycle training in Scotland, seven motorcycle retailers based in Scotland and two specialist motorcycle insurers.

5.11 The Bikesafe Scotland Assessed Ride programme received wide support from all types of respondents in the qualitative interviews. Most of the retailers, insurers and other trainers interviewed expressed the opinion that anything that promotes motorcycle safety and encourages motorcyclists to think about their riding is a good thing. Aspects of Bikesafe Scotland that were identified as particular strengths are outlined below.

Free of charge

5.12 Many interviewees commented on the fact that the Assessed Ride programme is free to participants. While arguably cost would not prohibit the majority of motorcyclists from taking part in further training (since they can afford to own and run a motorcycle), it was suggested that it would still deter some riders. A regional police Bikesafe representative noted that some forces in England were involved in The Edge, a motorcycle training scheme supported by the motorcycle industry. The Edge also offered rider assessments (discontinued, as of December 2002) similar to Bikesafe Scotland, but at a cost to the participant.

"One of the benefits of Bikesafe, and I wouldn't want to see that change, is that it's free, and I think that's a great attraction for people. I know South of the border a lot of forces have now got involved in The Edge. (…) But there is a cost to people (…) and it may seem good value but it's basically the same as what we're doing for nothing. And as I say I really don't want to move away from the fact it's going to cost people money, because there are some who will just say 'No, I'm not going to pay that'."

Run by the police

5.13 Police riders are widely seen as experts in the field of motorcycling. It was suggested that many Bikesafe participants enjoy being assessed by specialist police riders and may be more willing to take criticism from them than from civilian motorcyclists. The involvement of police riders was seen as an important part of the schemes' attraction by representatives from motorcycle organisations and several alternative training providers, as well as by some police Bikesafe representatives.

"The people who attend it are delighted to be out there being followed by a police bike with all the police signs, blue lights and all that kind of thing. It gives them all a buzz (…) The police rider is a really positive move. At one time I suggested that we maybe have some advanced trainers trying to help with the backlog (…) but we all agreed that that would take the main buzz out of it because it wouldn't be the police doing it."

(representative, BMF)

Improving relations between the police and motorcyclists

5.14 Most of the regional police Bikesafe representatives, in addition to several other respondents from the motorcycle community, suggested that Bikesafe Scotland had been very effective in improving relations between the police and the motorcycle community. The initative is seen as demonstrating that the police are not only interested in enforcement but have something else to offer motorcyclists. The breaking down of barriers between the police and motorcyclists was widely seen as a positive outcome of Bikesafe, particularly among the police representatives.

"When they see that we're not just preaching to them, we're not just out trying to beat them with a big stick, we're trying to think of alternatives, people come round to our way of thinking."

(regional police Bikesafe representative)

5.15 However, it is worth noting that one motorcycle retailer was more sceptical about the police's motives in launching Bikesafe Scotland. They suggested that the police want to be seen to be doing something about motorcycle awareness, but in reality Bikeafe is more a political gesture than a practical proposition, since the police have in fact been unable to cope with the response to Bikesafe. This suggests that the continued success of Bikesafe in building bridges with the motorcycle community is dependent on maintaining or reinforcing the perception that there is a genuine commitment to the objectives of Bikesafe Scotland, backed by appropriate resources.

Additional strengths

5.16 Additional strengths identified by interviewees included:

• the perception that Bikesafe does act as a starting point for encouraging motorcyclists to think about their riding skills
• the collaborative approach to motorcycle enforcement and education adopted by the Scottish police forces - a representative from MAG suggested that although Bikesafe operates slightly differently in each force area, the approach of the Scottish forces in working together to tackle motorcycle safety is praised by many police in the rest of the UK
• the contribution of Bikesafe to accident reduction - several respondents suggested that Bikesafe was having some effect on the accident involvement of Scottish motorcyclists. Although there is little evidence for this in terms of overall accident statistics, since the number of accidents involving motorcyclists in Scotland have gone up not down since Bikesafe Scotland began in 1999 (see Chapter Two), it was suggested by interviewees that Bikesafe does help those who participate in it become safer riders - for example, only one motorcyclist killed in Lothian and Borders in the last 3 years had taken part in Bikesafe. However, the numbers of Bikesafe participants were seen as too small to have an impact on overall casualty figures - in 2000, there were 39,000 motorcycles registered in Scotland, while only around 1,800 motorcyclists have taken part in Bikesafe since it started in 2000..

Stakeholders' views - problems with Bikesafe Scotland

5.17 Respondents to the qualitative interviews were also asked what they saw as the main difficulties with the Bikesafe Scotland scheme and where they thought there were areas for improvement.

Resources

5.18 Resources were identified as a major problem for Bikesafe Scotland, both by police Bikesafe representatives and other stakeholders. The Assessed Ride programme is clearly resource intensive in terms of police time, and in most forces the police are running Bikesafe in addition to carrying out full-time operational duties with no extra manpower or resources. Representatives from several force areas noted that they had been forced to scale back or cancel assessed rides in recent years due to a lack of resources. All the police Bikesafe representatives interviewed felt that any further expansion or improvement to the scheme would be extremely difficult without extra resources.

5.19 Lack of resources was also perceived as a problem by other stakeholders and interested parties, who suggested that it led to Bikesafe being unreliable, underpublicised and under-utilised. It was argued that cancelling assessed rides put people off participating, while the assessed rides themselves would be more useful if the police could devote more time to running them - perhaps taking people out for a whole day. One retailer thought that Bikesafe seemed to happen sporadically depending on what the police decided to prioritise, and argued for a more consistent approach.

Publicity

5.20 Each police force in Scotland is currently responsible for publicising the Bikesafe Scotland Assessed Ride programme in their area. Publicity strategies currently employed by the various forces include: displaying leaflets and posters in local motorcycle dealers; sending press releases to local papers or radio stations; recruiting people through police patrols by talking to motorcyclists about Bikesafe; setting up caravans at key meeting places for motorcyclists or at motorcycle events; and attending customer evenings at local dealers. Word of mouth was also identified as an important means of encouraging people to attend (as confirmed by the quantitative findings on p31, above), and interviews with retailers and alternative training providers suggested that many of them did pass on information about Bikesafe Scotland to their customers and colleagues.

5.21 However, although the police do take steps to attract motorcyclists to Bikesafe Scotland, there was a widespread recognition that it could be better publicised. Several retailers suggested that their customers were not aware of Bikesafe Scotland while their own knowledge of the scheme was very limited. Police Bikesafe Scotland representatives were aware of this problem, but they suggested that further publicity could lead to them becoming "victims of their own success", since with limited resources they could not cope with a big increase (or, in some cases, any increase) in demand for assessed rides.

"We could sell it more, but the more we sell it, the more we advertise, I think we could end up finding ourselves snowed under and not being able to handle the response."

(Police Bikesafe Scotland representative)

5.22 This tension was recognised by some interviewees from outside the police force. The Scottish representative for MAG suggested that they haven't really publicised Bikesafe Scotland that much since the initial stage of the scheme, since news of the Assessed Ride programme has been spread by word of mouth and several schemes are now over-subscribed.

A 'stepping stone' to further training?

5.23 The Bikesafe Assessed Ride programme is not intended to provide participants with advanced training - rather, it involves an assessment of their current riding and some guidance on what they need to improve in order to become better riders. The police who run the scheme encourage participants to go on to take further training, and in some cases they hand out lists of providers of advanced training in the local area.

5.24 However, although the assessed ride is intended as a 'taster' to encourage motorcyclists to go on and take more advanced training, several of the police Bikesafe representatives noted that participants do not always see it this way:

"Quite a few people, when they're asked 'have you considered advanced training?' have said 'I've already done my day with the police'."

(Police Bikesafe Scotland representative)

5.25 In Strathclyde, this potential difficulty is addressed by inviting representatives of other organisations who offer advanced motorcycle training to attend Bikesafe Scotland presentations, giving them the opportunity to talk to participants directly about advanced training. The Bikesafe organiser also asks participants to indicate on their assessment form for the course if they would like their names to be passed to advanced training providers. This allows these organisations to take pro-active steps to follow-up Bikesafe participants, rather than leaving it to the individual to access further training themselves.

5.26 Of the 7 alternative providers of motorcycle training interviewed for this study, 3 said they had had clients who came to them after taking part in Bikesafe Scotland, while one said they had received enquiries from Bikesafe Scotland participants but the cost of taking advanced training had put them off.

5.27 Overall, around a third of 2002 Bikesafe Scotland participants who returned a post assessed ride questionnaire say their Bikesafe assessor suggested they should undertake further training. This is a slightly higher proportion than in 2001, where a fifth of respondents said their assessor had suggested they undertake further training. All participants in Bikesafe Scotland should be told something about further training during their course. However, these findings suggest that a large proportion of participants are not taking away a clear message that they should take further training after Bikesafe. Further, it may be that they are taking away the message, intended or not, that their riding is fine now they have taken part Bikesafe Scotland. This suggests that the advanced training message could be better promoted by Bikesafe Scotland organisers.

5.28 Around a quarter of 2002 participants say the assessor suggested they undertake Advanced Motorcycle training or Institute of Advanced Motorcycle training. In just under four per cent of cases, the instructor suggested Motorcycle Appreciation courses and for two per cent, some other form of training was suggested.

5.29 Around three quarters of those who were advised to undertake further training say it is likely that they will do so. Just under a fifth say they don't know whether or not they will and 6% say it is unlikely they will do so. Training being too expensive was the reason given for being unlikely to take part in further training.

Reaching 'target groups'

5.30 Although Bikesafe Scotland was initially devised partly in response to the emergence of 'born again bikers', several interviewees identified other key groups they felt Bikesafe should be targeting. In particular, sports bike riders, who ride powerful 'superbikes' designed for speed and quick maneuvering, were identified by many of the police representatives as an important target group. They were seen as particularly at risk of accident because of the power and speed of their bikes. Motorcyclists who gained their licences through the Direct Access scheme were also seen as an important group for motorcycle safety initiatives. Many respondents, especially police representatives and alternative training providers, expressed concern over the impact of the Direct Access scheme on motorcycle casualties. It was suggested that allowing people to ride bigger, faster bikes on the open road before they have built up experience and control on a smaller bike will inevitably lead to more accidents.

5.31 In general it was suggested that Bikesafe Scotland is quite successful in attracting 'born again bikers', particularly those who are members of BMF or other motorcycle clubs. This suggestion would appear to be supported by findings from the quantitative surveys - 67% of respondents to the 2002 pre-course survey were aged 35 or older, while 31% of respondents said they had gone periods of a year or more without riding since passing their test. The surveys also suggest that Biksafe is successful in attracting people who gained their licence through the Direct Access scheme - 43% of respondents to the 2002 pre-course survey obtained their licence in this way.

5.32 However, in spite of this there was a widespread perception among stakeholders that Bikesafe tends to be "preaching to the converted", in that participants are the kind of motorcyclists who would take further training on their own initiative anyway. Bikesafe was seen as less successful in attracting sports bike riders of any age. It was suggested that sports bike riders in general tend to be very suspicious of the police and are deterred from attending Bikesafe because of this. Although findings from the quantitative surveys of participants suggest that in fact, Bikesafe is attracting some sports bike riders (27% of respondents to the 2002 pre-course survey rode sports bikes), there may still be a case for focusing more on this target group if they are seen as particularly vulnerable.

5.33 Several forces have advertised at track days or attended themselves in an attempt to persaude sports bike riders to come to Bikesafe. This was met with some success. However, a representative from the BMF noted that although attending track days was a very effective way of breaking down barriers, it was resource intensive in terms of taking police motorcylists away from operational duties (or asking them to go in their spare time). Effective targeting of sports bike riders may, therefore, require extra resources to be devoted to this.

5.34 Thames Valley Police has attempted to target sports bike riders by enlisting the support of Troy Bayliss, British Superbikes champion, in producing a Bikesafe training video. The video is distributed through sports bike dealers free with the purchase of a high performance bike.

Key points

• Almost 100% of respondents to the surveys said that they found the Bikesafe Scotland assessed ride programme 'very' or 'fairly useful', and the vast majority 'agreed' or 'strongly agreed' that they would recommend the scheme and that all bikers should be encouraged to go on it.
• There was some suggestion that the assessed ride was not long enough however. A fifth of respondents 'disagreed' or 'strongly disagreed' with the statement "the assessed ride took just the right amount of time", while a similar proportion 'agreed' or 'strongly agreed' that it "was not long enough to learn much".
• Qualitative interviewees highlighted the fact that Bikesafe Scotland is free, that it is run by the police and that it has improved relations between the police and the motorcycling community as key strengths of Bikesafe.
• A lack of resources was identified as a major problem for Bikesafe Scotland. This in turn made improving publicity to attract greater numbers difficult.
• Concerns were also expressed about whether Bikesafe encourages participants to take further training, and whether it is successful in reaching key target groups. While it was suggested that Bikesafe does attract 'born again bikers', it was seen as less successful in attracting sports bike riders. Although 27% of respondents to the 2002 pre-course survey said they rode sports bikes, suggesting Bikesafe does attract some participants from this group, there may be a case for focusing more on this target group if they are seen as particularly vulnerable.
• Bikesafe attracts people who want to be safe - 85% of respondents said they chose to participate in Bikesafe Scotland to improve their safety levels. There is a more complex problem in attracting people who need to be safer but have not yet recognised that this is a real problem for them.