For the last speaker engagement of our Winter social calendar PECAM were delighted to welcome Pete Doherty, who is the regional manager for the group. Pete is responsible for a wide range of IAM Roadsmart duties including examining candidates for the esteemed Masters programme and those wishing to attain National Observer status. Pete also ensures that the examination standards are maintained, so a very important position to hold. Pete’s background is as a Metropolitan Police Officer and part of the internationally renowned Hendon Driving School, where he was expert in both cars and motorcycles.
There have been some important changes to the highway code this year, and Pete decided to first of all entertain us with the effect and impact on the we perform and teach advanced riding. One interesting point that shows why the changes were made is that the public consultation was responded to by a vastly greater proportion of cyclists than any other user group. From memory it was something like that of the Circa 50million+ licence holders in the UK and 35.9 million on the road, only about 21,000 responded to the consultation and of those more than 16,000 were cyclists. This was a public consultation, and those that ‘turn-up’ are the ones that dictate the policy, this is the basis of democracy, and there is absolutely no point in bemoaning the outcome if you don’t take part.
Pete has a non-nonsense approach to advanced driving and riding, and essentially the if we carry on riding to a high advanced standard there is no reason why the changes should have any impact on the way we operate on the roads. The highway code has effectively codified good riding practice.
Pete than opened the conversation to anything those present wanted to discuss. There was an interesting discussion on Electric Vehicles and the various benefits and concerns of various degrees of autonomous driving. Also, in response to some questions about standards, examiners, and what he is seeing during Masters and National Observer tests, there were no surprises. Our group standards are very high, and when riding ‘Smooth progress’ will win the day!
We again used the hybrid-meeting method where there was a parallel in-person meeting at the Ploughman Pub in Werrington and a Zoom call. Again, for those that cannot attend in person the Zoom call enables them to get involved and enjoy the presentation.
April’s social evening on the 19th is as usual the Annual General Meeting, then in May we start the Summer Social evening rides through to September. We hope to see many of you on the evening rides!