Concerns have been expressed about plans to use current driving test examiners to inspect and appoint motorcycle instructors. The Government is committed to compulsory basic training (CBT) for car drivers and motorcyclists - the then Minister for Transport, Séamus Brennan, told The Irish Times a year ago that he hoped to have legislation in place during the first half of 2004.
Plans are now underway to create the Driver Testing Standards Authority (DTSA), the body responsible for "recognising and examining" motorcycle instructors, as well as carrying out driving tests. It's intended to use Britain's CBT with minor variations.
Last year the Department set up a working group on implementing CBT for motorcyclists which visited the headquarters of Britain's Driver Standards Agency in Cardington. The group comprised two Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA) instructor examiners and a Department official - plus two supervising driving test examiners with no motorcycling experience added at the last moment.
A report drawn up after the visit recommends that current driving examiners, soon to fall under the aegis of the new DTSA, all have the expertise necessary to implement CBT, as well as examine and register motorcycle instructors.
Several experienced motorcycle trainers are not convinced the Department has within its staff a sufficient number of skilled people capable of examining motorcycle instructors.
"There is a fear that this could mean that examiners with no motorcycle instructional experience could end up examining and approving motorcycle instructors," said one source who worked closely with the Department.
Bike trainers feel that the Department has not recognised the difference between motorbike instruction and car instruction. "What in a car environment would be a minor mistake, resulting in dented bodywork, in the motorcycle context could well be a fatality," said one worried instructor.
Defending its decision, a Department of Transport official said: "You don't need to be able to instruct in order to judge an instructor's competence." Later a Department spokesperson assured us that it has people with sufficient expertise to examine motorcycle instructors within the ranks of those who will come within the DTSA.
Another concern is the lack of enough qualified motorcycle instructors to operate the scheme. The worry is that some poorly qualified instructors may slip through. Many instructors have been critical of the driving test for motorcycles.
Stephen Reilly, chairman of the Irish Rider Training Association (IRTA), says that "some examiners are not really qualified enough to do the test". He expressed concerns if these examiners were also involved in examining instructors.