First new test candidate crashes

One of the first learner riders to take a new motorcycle test crashed and broke his arm in the middle of the examination.

In a chaotic start to the new test regime, a second candidate crashed while a source at the test site was on the phone to MCN telling us about the earlier accident.  

Riding instructor Graham Woodcock blamed both accidents on a ‘swerve manoeuvre’ which candidates must perform at special test centres away from the public highway. 
It requires candidates to reach 31mph (50kmh) measured with a speed detector before making a sudden change of direction.

In pouring rain at the Rotherham test centre on Monday, Adam Simpson, the first candidate to take the new test at the site, skidded and crashed while performing the manoeuvre, suffering a broken forearm.

The 27-year-old from Barnsley was taken by ambulance to Rotherham Hospital.

Woodcock said: “He did all the manoeuvres up to the swerve manoeuvre. Then, as he swerved one way and then the other, he basically high-sided.”

Speaking to MCN on the phone from the test site, Woodcock said: “Did you hear that? Another one has just gone down? It’s chaos.” He said the second crash occurred in similar circumstances to the first. 

Woodcock blamed conditions at the site and the lack of “concessions” in the new test allowing candidates to perform the manoeuvre more slowly in wet weather.

A third candidate at Rotherham on Monday was failed for reaching 49km – 1kmh less than required. Jill Savage, 37, was deemed too slow despite the heavy rain, according to her husband Glyn. “It was chucking down,” he said. 

The Driving Standards Agency said: “Unfortunately accidents do happen on all categories of test and it was precisely for this reason that we opted to carry out these new motorcycle manoeuvres off road.

The areas used for the manoeuvres have been tested thoroughly in both wet and dry conditions and provide a safe environment for the candidate.

“We hope the injured rider makes a full and swift recovery. We would urge all candidates and their instructors to make sure they have had enough training and practice before they take the new, more-challenging test.”