Good news everyone...!

The Transport Select Committee report in to the DSA fiasco will be published tomorrow -
they have essentially backed us on almost everything.

Below is th...e Campaigns item for the next edition of TheROAD I sent to Mutch just now,
I've asked if he can cobble together a PR on it as I have to go home and his working
day is just starting :-)

MAG gave written evidence and was called to Parliament for a hearing on this.

Although TSC ultimately agree that the new off-road test is needed, they are highly
critical of how it was done and insist DSA need to work with us urgently to fix things.

Our call for DSA to be broken-up is highlighted in the main body of the report, which
means they think it is an idea worth considering - in fact they qoute us more than just
about anyone else throughout the report.

I have just had this news ...
Here's my piece for The ROAD...

Parliamentary Committee backs MAG concerns over DSA

‘It will take a long time and much resource to mend what has been
broken, but the Government and DSA now need to take urgent action…’

That is one of the less damning conclusions reached by a watchdog
committee of MPs investigating the catastrophic implementation of the
new test.

In its 145 page report on the ‘bungled’ implementation of the new bike
test, The House of Commons Transport Select Committee quotes evidence
submitted by MAG no less than seven times. MAG was by no means a lone
voice, riding instructors, motorcycle businesses, test candidates and
experienced riders alike responded in large numbers. The MPs’ said that
the evidence they received was ‘predominantly critical’ of the new test
and the way DSA implemented it and, for the most part, they agreed with
those criticisms.

The official report reveals that the British Government did not vote in
favour of the new rules when they were debated in Brussels, because it
did not believe any benefits would justify the cost. But it was the UK
Government itself that then ‘failed to apply common sense and work
flexibly’, instead setting-off a series of events that increased the
cost and complexity of the new test beyond anything Europe required. The
Committee finds the resulting test arrangements to be ‘both inconvenient
and confusing for candidates’.

First, the Government failed to request that UK riders be tested at the
UK urban speed limit, instead of the higher European norm. The Committee
labels this ‘bizarre’, saying it is ‘unacceptable’ that the Minister
could not offer a satisfactory explanation for limiting the options
available to future Governments in this way.

Second, the Government allowed DSA to embark on a multi-million pound
building spree which other countries have managed to avoid. Replacing
hundreds of existing test centres with just a few dozen super centres
‘caused significant cost and inconvenience to test candidates and
trainers, with little apparent gain’ say the MPs.

Agreeing with MAG’s long held position, the Committee describes the
justification for these Multi Purpose Test Centres as ‘weak’ and the
implementation ‘inept’. DSA’s failure to provide more than 44 of the 66
MPTCs they promised meant they had to modify the test so it could be
taken on smaller sites. The Committee says this ‘undermined the case for
MPTCs in the first place’ and that it had ‘severely damaged the trust of
the motorcycling community in the DSA’, as did the DSA’s failure to
rectify other problems…‘Such experiences damage trust and mutual
respect, and the DSA cannot afford to let the current situation run for
long.’

The MPs say the DSA should amend the test ‘as soon as possible’ because
it prevents riders from adapting to weather, road and other conditions
that affect stopping distances. MAG told the DSA this was needed during
the first week of the new test, but DSA has done little more than sit it
on its corporate hands and hope for the best.

MAG also raised concerns that the injury caused by reducing the number
of test centres was compounded by the insult of hiking the test price by
50% compared to the old test. The Transport Committee agrees that there
must now be an emphasis on customer convenience and value for money

MAG has made strong representations over many months on these issues,
not only to the Committee but directly to Ministers and DSA senior
management. While DSA refused to accept the validity of our concerns
(their approach is described in the report as ‘dogmatic’), MAG’s
continued efforts are vindicated by the Committee refusing to accept
their blandishments as easily as Ministers have.

Other issues raised by MAG are also supported by the MPs:

Given that the majority of motorcycle crashes involve the actions of
another road user, MAG has been pushing for Government policy on
motorcycle safety to focus more in this area. Again, the Committee has
followed that lead, saying ‘The development of better awareness of
motorcyclists among other road users is crucial to the improvement of
motorcycle safety.’

The Department for Transport must start to collect adequate data about
rider training and testing, so that future training and testing
decisions are based on solid evidence they say.

Ultimately, the Committee supports the Government in its decision to do
more than the Directive requires for testing new riders’ ability. But
their condemnation of the DSA’s continued mishandling of the new test
arrangements lends weight to MAG’s proposal, laid-out in the Committee’s
report, to break-up the DSA monopoly over all aspects of training and
testing.

One thing everyone is agreed on; lessons must be learned before the
government legislates implementation of the Third European Driving
Licence Directive, soon after the General Election. MAG’s partners in
the Riders Are Voters campaign are combining their efforts to reverse
another potentially catastrophic situation.

and here is what the TSC themselves have to say...

22 March 2010: embargoed SCA 26/2009-10

STRICTLY EMBARGOED

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN ANY FORM PRIOR

TO 00:01 TUESDAY 23 MARCH 2010



Publication of Report

The new European motorcycle test

(HC 442)



Millions wasted on new motorcycle 'super test centres'

The Government's decision to introduce large Multi Purpose Test Centres
(MPTCs) and close down many small, convenient motorcycle test sites was
unjustified.

In a report launched today, the Transport Committee concludes that the
implementation of the new MPTCs was bungled

Almost eleven months after the introduction of the new test, it is
unacceptable that the Driving Standards Agency has failed to get all 66
planned centres operational, inconveniencing motorcyclists and trainers
and driving up the cost of doing a test.

Launching the report, Committee Chair, Louise Ellman MP said, "many
candidates and trainers now have to travel too far for their motorcycle
test. This adds to the cost , and in some cases, exposes candidates to
fast and dangerous roads on the way to a test site-before they have even
taken their test. The Driving Standards Agency needs to give much
greater priority to customer service and convenience for test candidates
and trainers."

In its report, The new European motorcycle test, MPs conclude that the
Driving Standards Agency was slow and dogmatic in its approach to test
centres, failing to listen adequately to the motorcycle industry.
Smaller test sites could have been retained, saving millions of pounds.
No other country in Europe has found it necessary to build 'super test
sites'.

Mrs Ellman adds: "A more pragmatic approach would have cost far less for
all concerned. Problems with the new test booking systems and opening
hours, have been bad for business. If the new test brings financial ruin
to the motorcycle training industry then we will have gone backwards."

The new motorcycle test was implemented following European legislation.
The Committee accepts the industry's argument that Government has
'gilded the lily' by adding more manoeuvres to the test than is strictly
required by the Brussels Directive, but believes the Government was
right to do so. The test employs two practical elements: one consists of
technical exercises off-road and the other is a road-based test of
traffic handling skills on the public highway. The Committee believes
the new test needs to be very comprehensive, if it is to help reduce
deaths and serious injuries among motorcyclists.

Committee Chair, Mrs Ellman said, " The new combination of tests is
likely to help improve road safety, provided that the Government and the
industry work together, and that training for other road users to
improve their awareness of motorcyclists on the road is improved too."

The Committee condemns Ministers' failure to negotiate an exemption from
the EU requirement that parts of the test should be performed at 50
km/h*31.07 mph. MPs argue that it is both bizarre and confusing that
tests should be performed at speeds not permitted on the public highway
in built-up areas, and that it should be measured in units not commonly
used in the UK.

The Committee believes the Driving Standards Agency and the motorcycle
industry now need to work together to raise the standard and consistency
of motorcycle training. MPs also reiterate their 2007 recommendation
that the current voluntary registration of motorcycle instructors be
made mandatory.

To ensure that the new test is working, the Government must collect
robust and reliable data on the number of deaths and serious injuries
among motorcyclists, the number of unlicensed motorcyclists, and the
length of time between riders training to ride a bike and taking the
test. It must also monitor carefully the number of accidents which occur
during the test. The DSA must react quickly to modify the test if
incident rates do not decline.
______________________________                                                                                                                                                                              

The DSA should be abolished, pure and simple.   They've proven themselves wholly incompetent in every respect, from planning to execution. Repairing the damage they've done will not be easy, but the sooner they (DSA) are out of the picture, folk who actually know what they're doing (MCIA, BMF, MAG) can begin.                                                                                                                                                                             

The DSA should be abolished, pure and simple   I think they do an ok job with regards to cars Rob so perhaps abolishing them may be a tad extreem.... but they do seem to have made a bit of a pigs ear on the bike side of things.... what I would like to know is, will anyone be held accountable for the mess thats been created, or will it be just swept under the carpet.. Somewhere, someone is being paid to implement all this... and we are the ones footing the bill...                                                                                                                                                                             

Sticking to my guns here. The DSA's handling has been nothing short of catastrophic. I wouldn't trust folk as wholly inept as that to organise anything. After this, even their opinion is nothing more than useless.   Does that begin to show my feelings on the matter ?   Oh, and I've written to MCN's letters page on this very subject. Be interesting to see what/if they print                                                                                                                                                                             

The DSA are too busy trying to comply with European laws & as usual when Europe says it wants something ... our own laws & rules go out the window, 

Its the same with the new laws proposed for 2011 release for bike riders, there is no way that they should be implemented in the UK however we are gonna do it !                                                                                                                                                                              

I've ridden in excess of 33 yrs. My eldest son rides too. Unfortunately, my 17 yr old younger lad can't afford to do his test because of this fiasco. We'd have to travel to Blackburn or Carlisle, a minimum of 150 miles round trip on roads that are utterly unsuitable for an inexperienced rider on a 125. Worse, his cbt runs out in August and our local instructor has jacked it in because it wasn't viable for him to carry on.
Unless this is sorted, and soon, there'll be no instructors, no bike shops due to lack of new customers and we'll be the last generation of riders.
The cynic in me thinks this may all be entirely intentional!

I know of a few schools struggling because of this fiasco in addition to the recession. The government must be held responsible for allowing a load of bozo's to come up with such ideas and then they accept them despite all of the painstaking protests between the BMF and MAG.

 Not only has the DSA proved to be so incapable in so many ways, it has interfered both financially and and blown confidence in the motorcycle world. Riders have so much trouble to get through the test, thats if they can afford it! and the whole motorcycle industry from the small retail shops to the manufacturers have been affected.

I say the government is responsible it doesn't matter which party is in power they all took no notice of the campaigning apart from one small party UKIP So I understand who needed voters.

I could go on and on about the government and many other places apart from motorcycling that they have cocked up and blaintently  (spelling) ruined like Education, Health and Local Government services...  We need something done urgently whoops maybe the latter part should be on the raving rant thread.

I agree my finx there's a conspiracy too towards motorcyclists and PTW