Learner Laws

[DaveS]

Don't worry this isn't another post asking if it's legal to ride an R1 on L-Plates

This weekend I de-restricted my bike because i'm sick of people overtaking me in stupid places and/or tailgating me, so now I can leave them out of corners I think my chances of being involved in an accident have been reduced slightly.

This problem must be even worse for peds and 50s.

Are current learner laws dangerous?

..DaveS

[G]

What often seems to be forgotten is that these are /learner/ laws.

These are not 'ride around for a couple of years on a small bike' laws. They are designed purely to allow you to learn on the road without having to do an intensive course; in a car a friend can sit in the car with you, but you can't do this on a bike. Can't criticise myself, because it was four years between first doing a CBT and passing my test.

[Hex]

Yeah upping the power a "learner" can legally use may actually increase the likely hood of coming a cropper.
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[DaveS]

[JimboJ]

When I was on my moped and being overtaken by EVERYONE and not being able to overtake safely it was very frustrating. 30mph limit is dangerous I didn't learn anything on that moped except that I was a danger to myself on that thing.
I think that 45mph is realistic learning speed, it means you can safely overtake and won't be the annoyance of every driver on the road stuck at 29mph as many mopeds are.

MEH

James
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[G]

[carvell]

In my opinion, the system here should be the same as it is in Germany.

If you haven't passed a full bike test and you are on 2 wheels and have an engine, it is compulsory to have an approved instructor following you and in radio contact, as the DAS system is here now.

This would eliminate the problem with ped bois too!
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[dainesefreak]

I don't agree with the current learner laws but not necessarily for the reasons that you're talking about.

I don't think that the current CBT and DAS test are applicable to riding in the real world.

For example, the only time I have ever had to successfully complete a U-Turn without putting a foot down was on the test. I have never done it since because I have never even tried to attempt it. The Blade has a decent amount of steering lock for a sports bike but I would rather not risk dropping it for the sake of putting my feet on the floor and reversing it back.

I feel that the powers that be need to look at revamping the whole test. I've always said that you learn to ride the way you need to pass the test, then you need to learn to ride properly to survive on the roads.

I find that the whole debate that the government has opened up about biker casualty figures rising and the threat of them enforcing sweeping restrictions leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

If anyone has the answers to help bikers reduce these figures then the government themselves should be in the driving seat, providing incentives/requirements for riders to take advanced/further training as well as changing the way the whole training thing works.

[Mattastic]

I did my CBT last month and have been commuting to work, 12 miles each way, for the past two weeks. I have found my bike to have enough power for what sets out to do, get me to work and let me gain some experience. From 0-30 it is pretty quick and will keep up or beat traffic it's only when you really wind it on that it dies a little but can still manage 60, 70 if downhill and I have a tailwind!

The peds and 50's are dangerous stuck at 30mph as they haven't the power to get out of situations i.e pulling out on a junction but I am sure that if I had been on a more powerful machine then I would have come a cropper a couple of times, mainly for misjudging speeds into corners. My GS125 has 12bhp (I think) and if you use the gears and their ratios properly then it is a perfect learner legal commuter.
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[headlamp]

I vaguely remember in the 70's the laws for learner riders where people could ride anything up to 350cc as long as it was two stroke. These bikes were extremely quick and mainly ridden by 17 year old 'men', without crash helmets. Although I did not know anyone personally who died riding these things, it was as a direct result of these fatalities that the laws changed.

I think that the current system is designed to curtail speed and make people be sensible, I think it works reasonably well. If it was down to me I would make any user of the road (that includes cars)start on a restricted moped/motorbike. Their road sense would improve infinitely and they would show more respect to bikes on the road!
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[Kickstart]

Hi

The old learner law until the early 1980s was a 250cc learner limit (around 10 years after crash helmets became compulsory). Plenty of people landed up with a 250 superdream, which is probably a fair enough learner bike (about 85mph top speed, heavy and stable), but then the sports 250 2 strokes got faster with the RD250LC having something like 105mph as a top speed in an MCN road test.

This system still applied in Northern Ireland until 1996 (I think).

A 15hp 125 should manage around 70~80mph, and should be able to out accelerate most cars on the road. As a learner limit it is fine (although I am not going to loose any sleep over people derestricting them).

The 30mph moped limit is just murderous.

All the best

Keith
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