Dates For Your Diary
Next meeting is with Gream Feast, road safety consultant, on 9 Sep at Liddington Village Hall
Planning for Monday club nights is underway with the emphasis being on a particular RoadCraft topic. This is being developed so watch this space!
14 October - we are preparing a talk on Communications - both for cars and bikes, especially when tutoring
Other topics being developed are Hi-Viz - is it worth it especially in dappled sunlight?
SkillShare
7 September 2024 meeting at the Dandy Highwayman Cafe Cherhill. 9.30 am for 10 am start. See main section for more details.
Bike Ride-Outs on the 3rd Saturday of every even numbered month and the 3rd Sunday of every odd numbered Month. Email will be sent out to Bikers and added to the Forum.
Next ride out Sunday 22 Sept Details will be forthcoming via email to all bike members.
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Do you have a topic you would like discussed, or know of an interesting speaker? Please contact speaker at speakers@wiltshireroadar.co.uk |
Congratulations
Paul Warner for qualifying as an Approved Tutor for the car Section.
Congratulations to the following members who have passed their Advanced Tests recently:
Stuart Camp Bike Gold Retest
Please welcome the following to the Group:
Bike
Tonya Harrington
Ewan Haggarty
Natalie Yeates
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Don’t forget that we have a range of clothing available to purchase. We also offer a range of books, such as Roadcraft, Motorcycle Roadcraft and the Highway Code, and these are available at discounted prices.
For more information visit the Merchandise page of our web site |
We are always looking for more articles, ideas and news for the newsletter. Have you been somewhere interesting recently that would make a good story? If you attend any group events then take a camera and send us your pictures!
Please forward all contributions to newsletter@wiltshireroadar.co.uk |
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We have had two motorcycle members knocked off their bikes this month – both thankfully only slightly hurt. Both were “Sorry Mate I did Not See You” (SMIDSY) accidents and it shows even with advanced training we are not immune to the actions of others. I have also had more near misses this month than usual when out cycling – mostly drivers behind me getting impatient and rushing an overtake to get past me (I mostly cycle alone so this is not a group ride scenario). So What? I think people are more impatient in the summer for some reason and I for one will be giving others a wider berth than usual just to try and ensure I have enough time to react to those who have not seen me (or not even looked!). I wish our two members a speedy recovery.
I wish to extend my thanks to all the tutors in the Group. We have had a flood of new members recently which will put more pressure on them to give up their time for the benefit of others. I remain humbled by the commitment of the tutors to keep the Group running smoothly and for their generosity with their time and experience. Thank you.
Regular readers will remember the challenge set by Perry Payne the, chair of the Swindon and Wiltshire road safety partnership, to improve the road safety of younger drivers and riders. We have tried many things in the past but if anyone has an idea please let the committee know. Even better if you have some time to help us develop and deliver a project. I know there is an idea to try and talk at schools and this is a great idea provided we can pitch it correctly. Our image is of people towards the latter stages of their driving or riding career and not a group full of young petrolheads – be great if we could lower our average age. In addition, the lead for Biker Down in the Fire Service told me the highest bike casualties are from the born-again biker community – another area we should target.
Please keep spreading the word about what we do and how much value for money we offer. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising, and we can all play our bit.
Stay safe.
Bob |
SkillShare
As you probably know we hold SkillShare on the first Saturday of the month. We thought we should change the format of this and invite all bike members along.
An email was recently sent out by Mark Sealey:
On the first Saturday of every month (April thru October) the group advertises a free taster session where riders can just show up and receive a free riding assessment. We get an occasional rider interested but not many.
This has developed into an opportunity for tutors to show up and chat and has morphed into a nice social event.
We would like to extend this to all bike members, irrespective of where you are in your advanced journey to come along and socialise; get to know your fellow associates and compare notes; meet other tutors.
Primarily though, it’s about tea/coffee and cake/bacon.
The first Saturday of the month - 09:30 - The Dandy highwayman - Café - on the A4 - Main Rd, Cherhill, Calne SN11 8UU.
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Car Tutor Needed
Car drivers, are you ready for the next step? We have a vacancy for a tutor. If you have a current Gold or Silver certificate, would like to further your skills and spread the word about advanced driving, we’d love to hear from you.
You need to be a good communicator, and willing to spend the time to get your skills and knowledge over to others. Training and support will be provided.
If you are in interested please get in touch with Nick Carrington
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Something from RoSPA
What should be top of the new Government’s in-tray when it comes to road safety? See link from Rospa news and views
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BMA demand action on drink and drug driving
The President, Sir Ian Gilmore of The British Medical Association (BMA) is calling for more action on drink and drug driving to save hundreds of lives just by implementing ‘all necessary policy measures’ to stop drink and drug driving concluding that more needs to be done to implement enforcement and education on the subject.
The BMA has worked with medical professional bodies, alcohol harm and road safety charities and campaign groups and police and emergency services who have jointly produced a coordinated statement on alcohol, drugs and driving.
The statement includes recommendations around:
• Lowering the BAC limit for driving
• Ensuring enforcement and educating the public
• Increasing alcohol and drug treatment service capacity and capabilities and directing those
services
• Implementing other preventative policies such as mandatory labelling of all alcohol products to include health risks and warnings not to drive if drinking.
Also highlighted in the statement is a stressing of the need to situate drink and drug driving harm in the context of the broader harms caused by alcohol and other drugs and associated health inequalities and calls on governments across the UK to recognise that measures must be implemented.
England, Wales, and Northern Ireland currently have the highest legal BAC (blood alcohol content) limit for driving in Europe, at 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. Drink driving caused 260 fatalities in 2021 in Great Britain, the highest it has been since 2009. When it comes to drug driving, the calculations are more difficult due to the lack of clear information and statistics available. However, drug driving collisions in Great Britain have escalated by over 60% between 2014 and 2019, painting an incredibly bleak picture of the current situation.
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Have you been up to anything to do with Riding or Driving lately? If so, then please let us know as we would love to include it here; photos would be great too!
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Driven Ohm Racing - 2024
After a busy month of May on the road in Europe, it was back to normal in June for the race team. Once again the cars were prepared by Darren from 119 Racing.
The third meeting for Hot Hatch was on June 16th. Max was away on holiday in Japan, so there were only three cars out. Dan in car 265, Ben in 887 and Gary in the 119 Racing car.
We had the usual format of qualifying and two races. All three of the cars managed to get near to their personal best times in qualifying. Dan getting P4 in class C. Ben also in P4, Gary in P3 for class E.
The weather was pretty warm, with a fully dry track. Race 1 was quite clean for the Hot Hatches, with all three of the cars finishing in the positions they started. Ben had a few issues with a slipping drive belt, which gave him some intermittent power drops, as the supercharger would lose boost. He scored a best place of P4. Gary was up ahead in 3rd place in class, with Daniel finishing 4th in class C.
Race two started well, with Gary jumping past one of the other Minis after a fast start and was on the rear of the leader when the race was stopped due to an accident. Sadly, Daniel picked up a puncture on the broken glass from the accident and could not take the restart. Gary wasn't quite as lucky on the restart and slotted into third right behind the other two class E Minis ahead of him. As the race unfolded the engine temperature started to climb alarmingly, so he backed off the pace to preserve the engine, managing the gap to the 4th placed car of Ben to score a 6th podium for the year's 6 races so far. Ben's two 4th place finishes give him a step up in the championship for the year.
Gary had a tribute in his helmet for a fellow instructor from Thruxton, who sadly passed away in May.
The next rounds are August 3rd and again August 29th with all 4 of the team cars due to compete.
Gary Franks
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Promotional activities
Successfully supported by Wiltshire RoADAR motorcycle tutors and WABAM Observers. Final confirmed date for the year is:
If you have any ideas for events, then please get in touch with the committee using the committee email address :
Look forward to hearing and discussing your ideas.
Presentation material
A generic set of slides has been created for use if you are asked about Wiltshire RoADAR and have the opportunity to present. This could be at a local club, workplace etc. Please send a mail to committee@wiltshireroadar.co.uk and the slides will be sent over to you.
We also have flyers and business cards so ask for these via the same means.
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Booking a Retest
Please be aware you need to book your 3 yearly retest directly with RoSPA via their website. Sadly we cannot book it for you as it is all done electronically. You may also need to check when your re-test is due if you have not been paying your subscriptions to RoADAR as they will not remind you.
Tutors will be happy to conduct a refresh should you wish one prior to a re test.
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Membership and GDPR
Due to GDPR we are required to remove an individual's details from our Group database when they are no longer required by us. We remove a lapsed member's details if they have not paid a subscription by the 31 Dec following the AGM (3 months after the subscriptions are due). If a member has forgotten to pay their subs and pays after 31 Dec we will require a joining form to be completed so we can replace them on the database.
It all seems a bit strange, but we do not want to get on the wrong side of the Government's Information Commissioner. We understand if members forget or are late with their subscriptions, but please help us to keep our database accurate and compliant.
This is, of course, separate to those of you who maintain a membership with RoADAR HQ.
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Media coordinator - Help us to broaden our reach
To help promote the group we have a variety of online media platforms, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter. To help make the most out of the opportunities that these outlets provide, we could use some help from someone who has experience of using such tools. Drop me a line at secretary@wiltshireroadar.co.uk if you would be interested in helping promote our group.
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Committee minutes
These are available from the Group Secretary if any member wishes to see them. If you are interested in reading the minutes, then please send a mail to the Group Secretary whom will promptly forward them onto you.
Test results
Reminder to let the Membership Secretary and your tutor know when you have taken your Advanced Driving/Riding Test and result. This is so our database is kept up to date; there is no need or pressure at all to have the result published on the website or in this newsletter if you wish to keep your result confidential.
If you have read this far, thanks! If you have any feedback or suggestions about content for your newsletter, then drop us a line at newsletter@wiltshireroadar.co.uk If you can't leave constructive feedback though, then we don't want to hear from you!
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