ADVANCED RIDING IN 500 WORDS

Safety and Risk: riding isn't 'safe' - we're actively MANAGING RISK to deal with HAZARDS and avoid conflict with other road users.

Hazards: are anything that offer the threat of personal harm and makes us alter speed or direction to reduce RISK.

Risk: is "the CHANCE of something going WRONG multiplied by the IMPACT on us IF it happens".

Risk Assessment: our job is to ANTICIPATE and avoid high risk situations, and to ELIMINATE high risk manoeuvres from our riding.

Understand errors: everyone makes mistakes - be ready for them.

Two to Tangle: collisions start when a driver sets up a crash, but are only completed if we RIDE INTO IT. We don’t have to.

The Killing Zone: is the ‘at risk’ distance where we are COMMITTED to negotiating a hazard and can no longer take evasive action.

Avoid SURPRISE! to avoid triggering Survival Reactions!

Survival Reactions: derail our training - we panic, overreact, freeze or target-fixate

Worst Case Scenario: don't plan for things to go right, plan for them TO GO WRONG. Have a Plan B.

Systematic Riding: is building a flexible RIDING PLAN plan to deal with hazards including the WORST CASE SCENARIO to avoid SURPRISE! If we're continually caught by SURPRISE! we're not planning properly.

Search: proactively scan for threats.

Evaluate: ask “What if...?” and decide what to do next to reduce risk.

Execute: change speed and direction, use signals to tell other road users.

SEE and BE SEEN: we need to see hazards, but if other road users can’t see us, they won’t expect us.

A Vision Blocker: is anything with a hidden area behind it.

A Surprise Horizon: is a hidden place a vehicle could appear from.

View: what we CAN'T see is almost always a bigger risk than what we CAN see! To position for view, ask four questions: 1. where are the areas we CAN see into? 2. where are the areas we CAN'T see into? 3. can we move to a position to SEE into blind areas and where we can BE SEEN? 4. if we move there, are we putting ourselves at greater risk?

Be PRO-active, not RE-active: take positive ACTION before things go wrong. Dont wait for emergencies to develop.

The Safety Bubble: is a zone of EMPTY SPACE around us. Pro-actively shrink the Killing Zone by reducing SPEED, changing POSITION and improving VIEWS to maximise the safe spaces by staying clear of hazards and maintaining good following distances.

Prioritise the bigger hazard: which will hurt most? Deal with that first.

Overtaking: is high risk and often kills when it goes wrong. So remember - just because we COULD doesn't mean we SHOULD. Make USEFUL progress at MINIMAL risk by avoiding risky overtakes.

Time: gives everyone a moment to THINK.

Reducing speed: gives us more time, and makes it easier to SWERVE or STOP in emergencies. If we can’t take evasive action when a car pulls out, change our line if a bend tightens up, or abort an overtake when it starts to go wrong we're riding too fast.

Point and Squirt cornering: emphasises positive decisions for bends - braking, steering and throttle.

The Survival Skills Reference Point System: offers a roadmap for efficient lines through corners.

1. Is what I am doing SAFE? Don’t put yourself or others at risk! 2. Do I know WHY I'm doing it? Our actions should have a GOOD reason - don’t copy YouTubers or magazine articles! 3. Does it LOOK safe to other road users? If it doesn't, they may not behave as expected! 4. Learn from MISTAKES. We all make them but don’t make the SAME mistake again!    

One of the UK's longest established post-test motorcycle training schools Survival Skills Rider Training www.survivalskills.co.uk ...because it's a jungle out there