View Full Version : Mod 1 test changing again.
Mark_Able
04-04-11, 08:47 PM
Yep, the DSA are changing it again middle of next month. The order of the manouevres is the main change, although there will be a little leeway on the speed of the faster exercises. It's rumoured to change again by the end of the year. Then it all changes again end 2012/beginning 2013... :o
I can't keep up... >:(
Uber Dave
04-04-11, 09:07 PM
Thought it was all been scrapped and going back to the old method?
Mark_Able
04-04-11, 09:11 PM
No, so far it's just a revamp of the Mod 1. The minister in charge of the review wants it all to go back on the road as part of a single test. Examiners are objecting.
Ye Gods! I can't keep up! :o
Must be a nightmare trying to work out how to train people! :-/
BB
thank god I don't have to do all that again!!! old stylee was easy peasy lemon squeezy!!
Roxy
Hazel-nut
05-04-11, 01:57 PM
No, so far it's just a revamp of the Mod 1. The minister in charge of the review wants it all to go back on the road as part of a single test. Examiners are objecting.
surely its safer to do the slow manouvers off the road? otherwise where are you gonna do it?
I did mine in a quiet road in Trowbridge...no different to the 3 point turn and emergency stop in the car test etc!
No, so far it's just a revamp of the Mod 1. The minister in charge of the review wants it all to go back on the road as part of a single test. Examiners are objecting.
surely its safer to do the slow manouvers off the road? otherwise where are you gonna do it?
And more consistant. A U turn on a narrower, less well surfaced road is harder that a U turn on a wider better surfaced road. I know examiners will have their favorite locations, but even so, doing it under more controlled conditions can't be all bad.
No, so far it's just a revamp of the Mod 1. The minister in charge of the review wants it all to go back on the road as part of a single test. Examiners are objecting.
surely its safer to do the slow manouvers off the road? otherwise where are you gonna do it?
And more consistant. A U turn on a narrower, less well surfaced road is harder that a U turn on a wider better surfaced road. I know examiners will have their favorite locations, but even so, doing it under more controlled conditions can't be all bad.
I'm not so sure. I agree there should be a minimum width that you require to do the U-turn, but surely doing it under real road conditions is better? On a road you have two opposing cambers to take into account, pot holes, manholes etc which are the real conditions we have to deal with- it's rarely a flat perfect surface.
No, so far it's just a revamp of the Mod 1. The minister in charge of the review wants it all to go back on the road as part of a single test. Examiners are objecting.
surely its safer to do the slow manouvers off the road? otherwise where are you gonna do it?
And more consistant. A U turn on a narrower, less well surfaced road is harder that a U turn on a wider better surfaced road. I know examiners will have their favorite locations, but even so, doing it under more controlled conditions can't be all bad.
I'm not so sure. I agree there should be a minimum width that you require to do the U-turn, but surely doing it under real road conditions is better? On a road you have two opposing cambers to take into account, pot holes, manholes etc which are the real conditions we have to deal with- it's rarely a flat perfect surface.
and how many times do you do a perfect feet up U turn in reality?? :-?
The test should be as near as the same for everybody who takes it, or you get the situation where a better rider fails on a harder test whilst a less able rider passes on a easier test.... is that fair?? :P
No, so far it's just a revamp of the Mod 1. The minister in charge of the review wants it all to go back on the road as part of a single test. Examiners are objecting.
surely its safer to do the slow manouvers off the road? otherwise where are you gonna do it?
And more consistant. A U turn on a narrower, less well surfaced road is harder that a U turn on a wider better surfaced road. I know examiners will have their favorite locations, but even so, doing it under more controlled conditions can't be all bad.
I'm not so sure. I agree there should be a minimum width that you require to do the U-turn, but surely doing it under real road conditions is better? On a road you have two opposing cambers to take into account, pot holes, manholes etc which are the real conditions we have to deal with- it's rarely a flat perfect surface.
and how many times do you do a perfect feet up U turn in reality?? :-?
The test should be as near as the same for everybody who takes it, or you get the situation where a better rider fails on a harder test whilst a less able rider passes on a easier test.... is that fair?? :P
Do you want fair or realistic? Sometimes you can't have it both ways. I did my 3 point turn in a car on a public road - thats not fair either but whose suggesting that should be done in a coned off carpark?
True. I did both tests on the road.
The question is, how realistic are the manouvers? I agree that there has to be an element of road riding, but the manouvers are proof of machine control, nothing else. Equally the swerve is another much loved manouver which if you use it it is generally in an emergency. Where do you do this on the road??
Road riding still has to be the heart of the test, but if ther is a safer, more controlled way to perform the manouvers, why not use it?
As to the car test. I believe this has been looked at in the past and dismissed because of cost.
Hazel-nut
05-04-11, 03:17 PM
snowy has a good point! if you do car manouveres on the road then why not bike, but how many bikers will actually do a u-turn and how many will just find somewhere else to turn round? but then again how many drivers do 3-point turns? i know i dont :P last time i did 1 i think it was more like a 10 point turn when i sandwhiched myself into a dead end car park in my dads car :-/ (should have listened to my mum who said to not go down there rather than my dad who said i should :P )
Jon, there is no right or wrong way here - we all have valid opinions. You can take a view that the technicality of the manouver is more important than the road conditions you are subjected to, which can admittedly be variable. Or you can take the view, as I do, that dealing with real conditions is a more sensible approach. Maybe I'm just going back to a time where an examiner would take the conditions into account as part of the assessment and be given some leeway themselves to take these into account on the test result. It seems to me as a layman, that some of the current test is so specific it can only be done in "sterile" conditions.
Or I'm just bored and being arguementative...... :P
True. There is two sides to this arguement and no test will ever be perfect.
The best answer is to get the roads sorted out....
I liked the Mod 1 being off road - you get to do all your manoeuvres in a controlled environment without traffic or potholes/manhole covers/loose chippings/oil/diesel/insert your favourite road problem here...
Having done it on the bike I reckoned they ought to do it for cars too!
Oh, and Hazel - I regularly do U-turns on the bike and 3-point turns in the car (I get lost easily :-[)
Hazel-nut
05-04-11, 06:02 PM
Oh, and Hazel - I regularly do U-turns on the bike and 3-point turns in the car (I get lost easily :-[)
thats fair enough. i wasnt saying no-one does them just that i know quite alot who wouldnt
I havent met anyone yet who actually needs to use the slalom and figure of 8 on the road but the powers that be believe these manouvres are an important part of the test as are the swerve, u turns, pushing the bike by hand, and slow walking speed....... the way I look at it, if these skills are going to help me in the future then bring it on......ok so Ive failed twice, and I will continue until I pass (god help 'em).....but it'd be great if everyone had a go at all the manouvres as a fun sort of thing......(any chance of setting up our own course for all the 'seasoned' bikers on here, Mark Able??)..... Im sure everyone would pass 1st time but it'd be fun for everyone to have a go lol ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
silly_simon
05-04-11, 07:00 PM
I agree with all that has been said ;)
It was the same for my Lorry test, part of it off road ie reverse and emergency stop manouvers then a road drive of about an hour, :o All in Swindon the spiritual home of the roundabout :P
As I say the stop and reverse are done in a controlled area off road at the test centre and was very basic to say the least, now I have to reverse into close' and cul-de-sac' with cars and allsorts to contend with ::)
Therefore I think more road based testing should be used as lets be honest that is where we ride/drive most of the time :P :P
Mark_Able
05-04-11, 09:22 PM
What gets my goat, is not the test changing, but the reasons why it's changing. We all think it's because of this and that, but the real reason is cost cutting. They've (DSA) spent a small fortune building the new Multi-Purpose Test Centres, and now want to ditch them. LGV testing will be going out to the customer, along with coach and trailer testing. It's been suggested that Module 1 testing could be done at the training school. The latest changes are a small step in that direction, and have nothing to do with road safety.
And just sticking my opinion in, I think Mod 1 testing off-road is a much better option. I know one examiner who would take candidates to a road that was so narrow, even I would have to go full-lock from kerb to kerb, and still only just make it round. You can't expect novice riders to have to deal with that. Doing the swerve test on the road will end up in fatalities. Just wait til More Crap than News gets their teeth into a story like that! The only way to test manouevres like that is to do it in a controlled environment.
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