I was having a chat to my (soon to be) new riding instructor the other day and he was telling me about some of the 16yr olds who should NEVER be allowed on the roads who tried to take their CBT.

One daft instance was when Paul (Instructor dude) had to recommend more practice to a kid because he had very little sense of balance and would be dangerous on the road, the kid (who, it turns out, has behavioural problems) then threw a paddy, called Paul every name under the sun and just left his BRAND NEW scoot in the training site.
He still didn't come back after three weeks and the Police had to get involved (abandonned vehicle).

The worst example was someone who had turned 16 on the day of their CBT, he did not know ANY roadsigns and when Paul refused to take the kid on the assesed rideout portion of the course, the kid called his mummy who came storing up to the training site ranting and raving "Your meant to teach my kid how to ride- your not getting a penny from me cos your so F-ing useless...rah rah rah!!"



One thing we both agreed on is that the school should at least teach Highway code for a term in school, maybe not to the length that some areas in America do and offer driving as a proper school lesson.

What do you think?

Definitely.

A lot of this stuff used to get covered by 'cycling proficiency' classes at schools on maybe saturday mornings, but they dont seem to be as popular these days, so if the parents aren't into recreational driving and the kids don't take any interest, then they haven't a clue.

In defense of those that dont know any roadcraft, where in the training brochures does it say you should ?

When booking the CBT does the school inform prospective pupils that the should read up on this sorta knowledge beforehand ?

If they do fair enough, but if not how can the school expect someone who knows nothing to know that he will need to learn A B & C because its not covered in the course ?

I mean to you and me it seems obvious that they cant be covered as there is barely enough time to cover what already needs to be learned but then these people dont even know enough to know that.

As to teaching stuff in school I 100% agree, personally I think roadcraft and driving/riding skills is a far FAR more useful life skill than some of the crud the teach in school. (I use roadcraft more than I use the little french I can remember from school).

I'd even go as far as to say that learning to ride/drive should be covered in school with state sponsership. (And if that was covered in the final year of school it would give a good reason for kids to stay on until their final year).

Oh and BA, depsite my mum teaching cycling profiency I have never done it I couldnt ride a bike at that time (scared myself silly when I was learning at age 5 or 6 and wouldnt go near one again - wasnt until I was about 13-14 that I decided I was gonna beat my phobia and learn to ride a pushbike then discovered they did them with engines )

Maybe because it is the countryside, but all the primary schools around here do the cycling proficiency in their last year (lots of kids still cycle to school believe it or not). I agree they should teach roadcraft in high school too, but as they dont, on longer trips we have been known to play the 'what does that sign mean' game in the car. I looked really smart when I did my CBT coz I knew the order of traffic lights. When I was a kid my dad had got me to almost sing that to keep me occupied

I've always been an advocate for driving/riding training in schools...maybe if it was then it would be an end to the selfish way we drive/ride..but taking riding lessons without a basic of the highway code is just a complete nonsence....geez they get a free copy of the code when they apply for their provisonal.
Whats up with parents nowadays.....dont they know how to show their kids how to survive out there?

I agree, some basic road-sense training should be part of the curriculum at school. Especially considering all the rubbish they teach in P.S.H.E - something useful in there would make a change!

My (also soon-to-be) instructor told me a very similar story - the guy hadn't been on the road before, so he was told to read the Highway Code for a short test. First day of the CBT, he was asked if he had read it. "No."

Not all young people are like this. It's just that the ones who are get the publicity.

Needless to say, I am brushing up on my highway code for Friday (CBT Day One). Roundabouts... doesn't matter what the diagrams say, that roundabout near Tesco has rules all of its own...!

Oh boy could i tell you some stories,

the guy who arrived an hour late cos his dad couldnt find us, then(the dad) asked if we could hurry it up & just get to the roadwork bit as they wanted to go to the match he was told to come back next day, when i took him, spent absofookinlutley ages giving him the basics despite the fact he wouldnt listen, just got through for the roadwork, then fell off trying to impress his mum(who was driving the other way)-guess who got blamed for little precious falling off? retards spring to mind.

or the 17 year old whom i spent 4 hours on the yard trying to get the basics of clutch control, who, when i suggested using a twist n go to get his cbt went off sobbing his heart out cos a scoot was a "puffs ride"

or the other youff who screeched to a halt, pulled off his brand new lid & threw it into a bus shelter cos "you are taking me on busy roads with cars & lorries on it"(it was a country road i use to gently get timid riders to build up confidence).

or the kid who called the police on his mobile when i took the keys off him(it was our bike) cos he wouldnt do a thing i asked & was , frankly dangerous.
remind me to regale you all at squires this year, why the hell do you think i gave it up?
i mean have you SEEN my pic? i'm only 26 FFS

for the record, one lesson a week in the last term of school on basic highway code would be a godsend.
at the schools i worked at, all students were asked to buy a highway code & try to learn the basics. roundabouts seemed to be the big stumbling block.

I wished I'd done more French at school

Having said that, yes, the general principles that I covered in cycling proficiency gave me a sound starting point when I first got a powered two wheeler. It seems to be in decline these days.

People such as those mentioned who are too lazy to pick up the highway code really don't deserve a driving license and I fully support the refusal of the instructor concerned. I take your point as well stated that the riding/driving school should set out some basic preconditions to cover itself against this kind of outcome, but really, it's blindingly obvious that the highway code and basic understanding of road signs is the responsibility of the individual.

But, then, if we are going to get into individual responsibility I'll end up on my soapbox, so I'll stop there...

Dp - brilliant mate! that could have been me saying all that, its always the same old same old with some of the youths of today mate. bless em!!!

ok, when people book cbt's at our place ( and i imagine its the same at other training schools) they are told they need to learn the highway code. On cbt it is not my job to teach the highway code but to assess the students knowledge of it and to encourage them to see the importance of it.

A lot of youngsters will freely admit they had a ten minute shooftie at some of the signs fifteen minutes before they arrive at the training school. some parents will even say they got the kid to look at the book on the way up in the car five minutes beforehand.

I am beyond caring wether it upsets them or not, if they cant be bothered to learn the highway code then they dont go out on the road and they have to come back at a later date. its their fault not mine and the parents can naff off too if they dont like it. the kids are lazy if they dont bother to learn it and the parents eare even worse in my opinion. What would you do if your kid wanted to get a road going vehicle, wouldnt you want to be sure they knew the highway code?

Stroppy kids, stroppy parents and everythingis the instructors fault. I dont care, im not putting my name on a certificate for someone who isnt safe and that is that. rant away they can, rant rant rant. I dont care! my decision is final and thats all there is too it. it amuses me though how when you get a little sh!t kid they always have a big sh!t parent. odd that isnt it?

Not really...

we need an ''rhetorical'' smilie i reckon.

Indeed. I smiled at your comment because during my driving instructor days, little Johnnie and his parents invariably believed that his driving skills were greater than they actually were - little Johnnie was invariably a lousy driver with little or no understanding of hazard awareness and vehicle control... never mind, his mummy and daddy believed in him and it was all my fault that he didn't listen to a word I said or couldn't be bothered to look at the highway code.

Cynic? Me? Some mistake, surely...

dreadful people with dreadful ideas about how to prepare their own children for a potentially lethal enterprise - smacks of the usual view of society to not take any responsibillity for anything at all and to blame others for everything.

Its the ''They'' culture longrider.

Parents look at a smashed up bus stop and say ''They '' should have fixed that by now. regardless of the fact that ''They'' have fixed it several times but the parents kids keep smashing it up. not their kids fault, ''They'' dont provide anything for their kids to do after all.

Mikey read the highway code at 9 yrs old when I was taking lessons. He often sits on the puter at my old training school when we pop over for coffee and sits the mock exams for the theory test - and he usually passes Don't think I'll have any problems with him there then. Now, to just convince him to wait til he's old enuf for a 125 and not get a blardy moped at 16

They should teach parenting at school and have a CBT for people having kids! Maybe more of them would turn up on the road with something other than a life full of being told they are perfect little princes/princesses churning around in their heads and make better people and riders as a result.

The funniest thing is stupid kids thinking they can phone the police to complain that a qualified instructor won't let them on the road because he says they're not safe. LOL! Back of the queue when brains were handed out, eh?

Lucky the good kids are still in the majority, innit? Though the dickbrains make so much noise and headlines you'd be forgiven for thinking 'taint so.

Faze - for your approach with wee Mikey.

Unfortunately I can't take the credit for it Stevie, the kid's a bright spark and did it off his own bat

Good thread topic...I agree whole heartedly

When I were a lad (que flat hat and and slippers) There was stuff like the Green Cross code and as mentioned Cycling Proficiency which set me up quite well as a nipper

Good stories from the CBT Knobbers but hey I get to see the spawn of Mr & Mrs NOB Daily

Skills for life they are truley priceless

mark knocked a lad back recently because his highway code was pitiful. his mum wasnt pleased because it wasnt ''multiple choice'' ?? we explained that the signs onthe road have one meaning and you have but a few seconds to determine that meaning as you approach them. the lad came back a few days later and was fine. the mum however siad mark was ''horrible'' and out of order for what he did. i heard her outside after the lad got his cbt cert telling him to ''be careful'' as he rode his scoot home because apparently the road is dangerous. the lad came in a few days later to buy and l plate. he was wearing shorts and a vest and no gloves. The lad is a prcik, his mum is an ignoramus and me and mark are great. thats all i have to say about that. we do what we do, if these tits dont want to listen .................and their parents dont care...........

I'd vouch for that, Mark was my instructor for CBT and DAS. Top bloke!

and.....well, what can I say about Z? nothing really, words cannot describe lol

I know this is not PC but the sooner some people get run over the better it might be for all of us