Sunday 13th September
Emergency Services Show

Monday 14th September
7:15pm for 7:45
Meeting: Ian Harris from Thatcham Research will be speaking.

Friday 25th September
10:00am
Williams Grand Prix collection visit

Monday 12th October
7:15pm for 7:45
AGM. This year our Annual General Meeting will include a talk by Tony Wilkes from Severn Freewheelers.

Monthly Ride-Outs
Remember that monthly Bike Ride-Outs take place on the 3rd Saturday of every month. 

Monthly meetings are all held at Liddington Village Hall opposite the church.

Welcome to Jim Gaisford who has recently joined the group as a member of the bike section.

Congratulations to the following members who have all passed their advanced tests recently:

 

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

 

Speakers for Meetings

Do you know of anyone who might be able to come and give a talk to us at one of our monthly meetings? We have speakers booked for our meetings this year but are looking for suggestions for 2016. If you know anyone who might be an interesting speaker, or just have a subject or topic in mind, please contact Monica.

First Aid Course

We are running another First Aid Course on Saturday 3rd October at Liddington Village Hall. Contact Mary Southgate (info@wiltshireroadar.co.uk) if you'd like to attend.

Skillshare

Don't forget that we hold regular Skillshare sessions for motorcyclists on the first Saturday of every month. The next one is on the 1st August. These sessions give all riders the opportunity to have their riding checked by one of our Tutors as well as the chance to have a chat over a cup of coffee. Skillshare is held at The Divine Cafe in Cherhill, near Calne. More information is available at www.wiltshireroadar.co.uk/motorcyclists/skillshare.

Williams F1 Grand Prix Tour

We still have a few places available for the tour of the Williams Grand Prix Collection on Friday 25th September at Grove, Wantage, Oxfordshire. Tickets are £35 plus VAT per person. Contact Monica if you'd like to come along.

The 2015 edition of The Official Highway Code has now been released. We have copies available in stock for purchase at just £2 each - this is cheaper than Amazon! Contact Monica or pick one up at the next meeting if you'd like one.

I recently read about an incident where a driver entered a bus lane in order to let an emergency services vehicle pass. The incident was caught on CCTV cameras and the driver received a penalty charge notice for the offence of entering the bus lane even though the footage clearly showed the vehicle moving back out of the bus lane as soon as the emergency vehicle had passed. I understand that, after an appeal and a lot of publicity, the relevant council eventually decided not to pursue the fine. However it may be worth remembering that you should not enter a bus lane during its hours of operation unless directed to do so by a police officer. Allow the emergency vehicle to use the bus lane if necessary instead.

The Emergency Services Show will take place at Hullavington Airfield on Sunday September 13th. This is always an enjoyable day with lots to do and see. As usual, we hope to have a stand to help promote the group and attract new members but can only do this if we get enough volunteers to help out. If you can lend a hand please contact Mary Southgate (info@wiltshireroadar.co.uk). Thanks!

Dave has been a Police officer for twenty nine years, and is now with the Reading Response Team. He has been a member of RoSPA for 26 years. The GAP is the Group Advisory Panel and comprises six or seven members, liaising between Groups and Head Office. GAP Meetings are chaired by the Chief Examiner, although this role is currently vacant - the job has been advertised and chairmen and secretaries will be advised when an appointment has been made.  There are currently two and a half staff working within the RoADAR department at Head Office. Amy’s role has been split and Gareth Marchant now works as the full time contact.

This was a question and answer session rather than a talk.

Dave says that it is very difficult to get Head Office to understand how the groups are feeling.  They are not prescriptive in how they expect us to do business, rather they leave it up to the individual groups to make their own decisions. There seems to be a vast difference between the support we get from our Head Office compared with that received by other similar motoring groups in the area from their head offices.  We asked if there was anything we could do to get their attention and it was suggested that bombarding them with emails may have some effect, although how much was debatable.

We need to address marketing strategies. A suggestion was made to write something for the local press (Link, Swindon Adver/Star, etc.) or try to get coverage on local radio.
 

It was agreed that more should be done to engage the younger drivers with the idea of safer driving.  Unfortunately RoADAR is not recognised by the insurance companies and therefore there is no discount for an advanced driver.  Were this the case it would be an encouragement for people to get qualifications. Again similar organisations have the advantage over us. We have association with the Under 17 car club, perhaps there could be some connection with the Duke Of Edinburgh schemes?

There may be a case for a RoADAR Forum, or a GAP meeting with two or three representatives from each group, to share ideas and suggestions on how we can raise our profile (these used to take place but there has not been one for several years). Dave will look into this when the new Chief Examiner has been appointed.  Maybe the examiner's manual and training manuals will be re-vamped since they are now very dated.

We asked about Charitable Status and why our group has been rejected when other groups with similar constitutions had been accepted. He could think of no reason why we should not be accepted. Head Office may take steps to help groups but that is unlikely to happen quickly.

Dave mentioned that, in the past, some professional driving instructors were joining RoADAR groups, taking the RoADAR Advanced Diploma test through the group, paying only the group fee, then leaving the group and taking employment on the back of the cheap training rather than paying the full professional fee of around £1000. The Advanced Tutor test has now replaced the group Diploma so this has now been stopped.

 

It is generally thought that RoADAR examining is of a good standard.  The tutoring is variable.  It was asked if we could have a copy of the examiner's manual so that our tutors know what is being looked for on examination.  Standardisation for tutoring for bikes is pretty close but the car tutoring could be sharpened up a little.  Examiners should also test to the same standard and this is being looked into.

Dave asked us what we thought of the new-look “Care on the Road” magazine and we generally agreed that it was a better format but that the content had not changed much and was rather uninteresting.  Various suggestions were made as to how this could be improved.  They would like to receive Group news and photos.

We are using the online booking system for tests very successfully. It is now possible for the information to be passed to the examiner within two hours under the new process. However, some of our members have found that the correct information has not been passed to the examiner.

Dave assured us that we are not alone in our difficulties recruiting new members, every group in the country is suffering and since Head office will not engage with us our only option is to up our game in respect of marketing.

All in all a very interesting, if sobering evening and our thanks to Dave Thompson for coming to talk with us.

Mary Southgate