Motorcycle safety training

Motorcycle training teaches motorcycle riders the skills for riding on public roads. It is the equivalent of driver's education for car drivers. Training beyond basic qualification and licensing is available to those whose duty includes motorcycle riding, such as police, and additional rider courses are offered for street riding refreshers, sport riding, off-road techniques, and developing competitive skills for the motorcycle racetrack.

Mandatory motorcycle training, known as Compulsory Basic Training, is common in Europe. There are also schools and organizations that provide training for beginners and refresher courses for experienced riders. In the United Kingdom organizations such as the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) offer advanced rider training with the aim of reducing accident rates. Advanced training is optional but there is often an added incentive to riders in the form of reduced insurance premiums.

Many motorcycle training courses in the USA use the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) course materials. As of 2010^[update], 31 states use the MSF tests for licensing, and 41 states use the MSF motorcycle operator manual. Completion of such courses often results in lower insurance rates, and all but five US states waive motorcyclist license testing for graduates of rider training courses such as the MSF.

The US Hurt Report, begun in 1976 and published in 1981, expresses disdain for the ignorance and misinformation about motorcycle safety among riders studied, noting that 92% of riders in accidents had no formal training, compared to 84.3% of the riding population, and that when interviewed, riders frequently failed to take responsibility for their errors, or even perceive that accident avoidance had been possible. Hurt noted they held such misconceptions as the belief that deliberately falling down and sliding was a more effective accident avoidance strategy than strong, controlled application of the front brake. The final recommendations of the report include the advice that, "The Motorcycle Rider Course of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation should be the prerequisite (or at least corequisite) of licensing and use of a motorcycle in traffic."

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Wikipedia