Skip to main content

Overhaul of driver and motorcycle training welcomed by IAM RoadSmart

Leading UK road safety charity IAM RoadSmart has welcomed Government plans to improve driver and motorcycling training. The plans include learner drivers being allowed on motorways for the first time, novice riders required to complete a theory test as part of their Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) and provisional motorcyclists to be banned after receiving six penalty points. The Government says the changes will see competent learner drivers able to have lessons on motorways with an approved driving i
January 3, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Leading UK road safety charity IAM RoadSmart has welcomed Government plans to improve driver and motorcycling training.

The plans include learner drivers being allowed on motorways for the first time, novice riders required to complete a theory test as part of their Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) and provisional motorcyclists to be banned after receiving six penalty points.

The Government says the changes will see competent learner drivers able to have lessons on motorways with an approved driving instructor in a dual controlled car.

In addition the CBT course, which allows motorcyclists to ride unaccompanied on Great Britain’s roads, will also be updated.

Neil Greig, director of policy and research, said: “It makes no sense that new drivers learn by trial and, often fatal, error how to use our fastest and most important roads.  Allowing learners on motorways with an approved instructor is a sensible and measured solution that should deliver drivers who are much better able to cope with complex new smart motorways.”

On the changes to motorcycle training, he said the proposals close two loopholes that IAM RoadSmart has been highlighting with motorcycle industry training partners.  He said, “A theory test should always be the first step for any motorised road user before they reach the road.  The six penalty point approach also finally brings motorcycle users in line with the New Driver’s Act for car drivers.”

The 1837 Department for Transport and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency have jointly launched consultations seeking views, which will run until 17 February 2017. The changes could take effect by 2018.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Look what she made them do: Taylor Swift boosts public transit
    August 3, 2023
    LA Metro is latest US transport agency to add more services for fans to get to Eras Tour
  • Venkat Sumantran: ‘Smart cities are more hype than reality’
    November 23, 2018
    For all the talk of smart cities, investment in systems lags significantly behind organic expansion in most places. Andrew Stone talks to Venkat Sumantran, who has been looking at how to create a coherent framework which could help authorities answer multiple mobility questions Two megatrends are posing unprecedented challenges to those trying to keep people moving around the world’s urban areas now - and in the years and decades to come. The first is rapid urbanisation. One in six of us lived in urban a
  • Gas HGVs trials have helped kick start the market says FTA
    June 24, 2014
    Crucial feedback on gas heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) has been provided by the Low Carbon Truck Trial, with the provisional results being detailed in a first report commissioned by the Department for Transport (DfT) which was published last week. Responding to the DfT report, the Freight Transport Association (FTA) has said that it supported the trials stating that they have put more gas powered HGVs on the roads, whilst identifying the operational challenges of running gas vehicles. According to the re
  • Navigating a path towards greater safety
    May 31, 2013
    Eric Sampson takes a look at why the European Union’s eCall system is taking rather longer to arrive than it should. There’s an old story about the person who asked an Irishman for directions and after much thought he responded: “If you’re going there from here it would be better to start from somewhere else.” This came to mind when I was recently reflecting on eCall and wondering when it will come - some stakeholders say the answer is never. So despite years of workshops and discussions, eCall is still not