TYRIGRAVA (VG) Motorcyclists make up a large proportion of traffic fatalities. Several in the MC milieu point to more training.
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– It shouldn’t be taboo to refresh your skills, says MC driver Christine Larsen (35).
She meets VG on Wednesday evening, at a MC meeting at Tyrigrava, outside Oslo. Larsen believes many more people should start the spring season by warming up on the track.
– Driving skills must be kept the same, and you must get to know the bike anew for each season, she says.
–Older drivers
This does not surprise Larsen.
– You are not as soft and mobile in your body as when you are young, she says.
Larsen took his MC license last year, and has therefore recently completed the mandatory training before driving. She, and her friend Trond Sundby Lerbakk (26), notice a big difference in the training Larsen received, and the one Lerbakk went through when he took his MC badge 10 years ago.
–– There is much more focus on placement in the road now. Before, you had to look far ahead, and think about the long term. Now there is not as much focus on it, he says.
Lerbakk also believes that older drivers are more prone to accidents.
– Those in their 40s and 50s should show off a little extra. Maybe they are pushing too hard for their own abilities?
Compulsory course
– There are many people who rode bicycles in their 20s, and who can finally afford a bicycle again when they turn 60. They think they are just as good now, but their skills are not where they were, says driving instructor Thomas Gulliksen (54).
He believes that courses should be compulsory to keep cycling skills up to date.
– Safety is the most important thing. I do safety training and I learn something new every time.
–– We have zero vision for the number of deaths in traffic, why it is increasing now, I do not understand.
He has been a driving instructor in MC for 20 years, and closely followed developments in traffic accidents. In the past, the death toll in traffic has decreased each year, in line with the investment in traffic safety. This year, the numbers are a record high, with over 80 traffic deaths so far in 2022.
– Why? I am very surprised by that. I don’t really think anyone has the answer, he says of the high accident figures.
– I thought I was good enough for the turn
Gullaksen himself has experience of how bad things can get if you crash with a motorbike.
– I had quite a lot of speed going into a corner, but I thought I was good enough. I hit the curb, flew into a lamppost and was thrown 25 meters across the road, he says of the accident in 1999.
After the accident, he was away from work for 3 years, before choosing to train to become a driving instructor for motorbikes.
– The big change in driving training took place in 2005. Since then, the training has been very good.
–– A little competition
– They say there are two types of motorbike drivers. Those who have been on the ground, and those who are going to be on the ground, says Geir Dugstad (65).
He shows off a couple of wear marks on his leather clothes, and admits to having fallen off his bike earlier.
– But I’ve been driving for many years, and it hasn’t happened many times, he adds.
–Dugstad is also not surprised that older drivers are overrepresented in the statistics.
– Do you become a little too confident in your own abilities?
– With MC, as with many other things, there is a bit of competition. You don’t want to be slow, he says.
Dugstad is unsure whether new measures will have an effect.
– They talk about lowering the speed limit, but that would be too easy. To become a good driver you have to rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.
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