Comparing rider training in Malaysia with the United Kingdom.

There was a recent post on Facebook regarding the way motorcyclists are banned from some bridges across the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok, where a Thai friend made a comment comparing Malaysia road safety with Thailand's. That sent me looking to better understanding the Malaysian motorcycle test.

The Malaysian vehicle licence system was inherited from the British, and indeed, has stayed that way for many decades        

Quote from "Should the Malaysian motorcycle licence be revised?"

While it may be based on the British system it is very different to the British approach to rider training. I had noted before that the Malaysian test included "a practical test". With training schools offering 16 hours of training to pass.

A typical rider training course in the UK from CBT to full licence test, starts with a CBT that on day 1 (or for completion if longer) requires at least two hours of on road riding conducted on public roads. Riders can ride up to 125cc for 2 years displaying L plates (or bigger if participating in a test course,) before having to retake a CBT.

While the Malaysian test includes a couple of slow riding excesses not included in a British CBT, note that slow riding is not covered in the British training (The basic art of Motorcycle Slow Riding Control,) but the focus of training is far broader as it covers the many aspects of dealing with real world situations and the application of the training.

in the most basic of course we can manage to get an average novice student up to the Malaysian ( and Thai) practical test standard in a day.

Note the CBT includes two hours road riding, that is on public roads. The main focus of test training is for the Mod 2 part of the test that is also conducted on public roads. We have "direct access" courses that take a novice to full licence in 5 days. With shorter courses tailored to riders who have gained experience first. 90% of all training is focused on real world riding. British students are expected to do their own research for the theory test and while we advise how to play the hazard perception game, it can be practiced online . (If you want to play the game remember there is a short window where the hazard is considered a hazard. Typically the person has to step into the road, rather than just be waiting on the pavement. Reactive rather than proactive.)

This video is of a route I have used hundreds of time to allow novice DAS students to familiarise themselves with their big bikes (for many years typically 500cc bikes, although the newer stepped licencing gives a broader range of steps)

We have many such routes we use for training, most training is done in urban areas similar to where the test is conducted, but we try in the limited time available to teach people to survive rather than just pass a test.

Now lets look at a Malaysian Instructor demonstrating their test-

Lets break that down. Vehicle checks 1st. Interesting observation around tyre pressures, little can be learned from that method. Takes a tyre pressure gauge to do correctly. So much more to add. Chain adjustment is important, so is oil. At CBT we teach "BOLTS" - (brakes, oil, lights, tyres and suspension). But the big one missing here was the rider did not check their brake lights.

Slow riding control along a plank is interesting. Obviously this rider has not been taught slow riding control.

Even at this point the rider would have lost points on a British test for riding covering the front brake. Not sure that's an "emergency" stop either? Looked like controlled braking. The British take e-Stops far more seriously, been honing the art of e-stops for decades.

Right up to four and a half minutes of this test example is about basic machine handling. All that rote learned compliance of adjusting mirrors and beeping is really removed from reality.

@5:07 the rider would have failed for stopping short of the line and not positioning for the turn. The rider passing on the inside and turning even in this controlled simulation demonstrates why this is a poor example.

@5:18 the rider would have failed the British test for putting their indicator on too early, suggesting they were going to take a turning. When actually they did not need an indicator because they were going around a bend and not actually turning right. This is all a display of reality as prescribed rather than reality as done. That's simply not how people ride in the real world. Compare the riding with my video above to see the difference.

Exactly the same at 5:40, signalling (badly) to go around a corner when there is a junction.

@5:55 there is a whole discussion about how to safely negotiate a busy roundabout that is totally missing from this poor simulation. This is what British Rider Training School "Survival Skills" says about roundabouts.

While @6:00 the actual hazard of a parked truck is ignored. Safely passing a vehicle requires shoulder checks and a safe passing distance.

6:22 is having a laugh. "Look both ways" why? there is a fence to the left, is something going to be coming through the fence? While all that beeping and messing about ignores the vehicles that in reality would be waiting to go from behind. The rider is in danger in the name of compliance.

Coasting with the clutch in while doing an arm signal is very poor practice. Another British test fail. The motorcycle is not under control.

Maybe that's just not a good example? This guy is an Instructor -

He does ride the control skills better (ignoring the poor stopping control). But lets fast forward to 2:08 when the road layout practical section starts. @2:48 what would another road user do at a roundabout like that? Are this riders signals actually demonstrating their intentions? Why signal left when going straight on? @2:36 the rider is looking left as the danger is too the right. That behaviour gets riders killed. He was turning right at this roundabout, this would be obvious to anyone riding in the real world. Hence why such testing has been proved to not be successful in producing safer riders.

We have found the limits of compliance focused training in the UK where still the same right of way errors are common. Hence why some of us are looking past the default BBS blame "safety I" default to new thinking like the Science of being seen.

It would be nice to see rider training simply being taken out into the real world as the British have been doing for decades. With the addition of new evidence led thinking that is more in line with reality as done.

Similar surprise events continue to contribute to the same sorts of accidents wherever rider ride on the planet.