HART boss slams Victorian licensing system

The national manager for Honda Australia Rider Training (HART), Mark Collins, has slammed Victoria's motorcycle licensing system for failing to equip riders with real-word skills.

Collins believes the system requires an urgent overhaul.

"The Victorian (training) provider system has been around for 20 years now," Collins was quoted as saying in last Friday's Herald-Sun newspaper.

"Most long-term training providers agree the system has been in a state of decline in the past 10 years and, unfortunately, this has had a negative impact on the standard or riders progressing through the Victorian licence system.

In Victoria, learner drivers have to accumulate 120 hours of supervised riding, but there is no matching requirement for L-plate riders.

"It is possible to pass the leaner permit and licence skill tests by good fortune or by fluking the simple exercise during the five minutes the take to complete," continued Collins, who was at the opening of HART's new Melbourne complex in Somerton last Saturday.

"There is no requirement in Victoria for beginner riders to undergo any rider training before trying for their learner permit and licence-skill tests.

"This is clearly at odds with the rationale in other states, nothing like the 120 hours required by novice car drivers, and hardly a recipe for producing well-skilled and safe drivers.

"The learner and licence skill tests are not capable of accurately measuring a rider's ability to ride safely on the roads."

The Victorian government has recognised in its Strategic Action Plan for Powered Two Wheelers 2009-2013 blueprint that, when compared to training in controlled off-road environments, there are not enough programs designed to improve rider skills and knowledge in on-road settings.

Under the action plan over the next four years, the government has committed to a large-scale trial program that involves, among a number of action points, a focus on practical on-road coaching.