Original article:
http://www.ofirmx.com/blog/2014-12-28/california-dropping-msf-going-to-lee-parks-total-control/50
As some of you may already know, the state of California just recently
dropped the riders' training program that the Motorcycle Safety
Foundation had been providing for many years and replaced it with a new
program developed and managed by Lee Parks, the author and creator of
the very successful Total Control book and riding clinic. The change
will become effective starting January 1st, 2015.
This switch in programs has raised many questions both from riders and
instructors alike, so a few days ago I had the opportunity to discuss
this with a friend of mine who is involved in the new program. He gladly
agreed to answer some of those questions but, for privacy reasons,
asked me not to divulge his name. Below is a transcript of the
Interview:
Everyone
is making their own conclusions so I would like to hear it from you.
What is the reason behind this change in the California Motorcyclist
Safety Program?
The California Motorcyclist Safety
Program contract was up for bid as required, there was concern for the
health of the program due to the rising accident and death rates in the
state. As a result of these climbing statistics when the CHP put the
contract out for bid they wanted more control over the program and so
the new contract had more requirements to meet. The MSF did not bid on
the new contract so it wasn't a takeover; there was only one bidder for
the contract.
The Existing programs run by Total Control are
amazing and have an almost 20 year proven track record. From the Press
release and the additional information that has been written on many of
the motorcycle forums and from what I know it appears that the Folks at
Total Control have the new Motorcycle Training Course well in hand. They
have taken a proven program run by the State of Idaho and infused it
with the knowledge and experience gained from being riders and from
running the Original Total Control Advanced Riding Clinics for years.
Will the new CMSP program take the Total Control name or are the two programs going to remain separate?
No. California Motorcycle Safety Program (CMSP) and the training course will be called the Motorcycle Training Course. (MTC)
Everybody
knows Total Control is one of the most recognized intermediate and
advanced riding programs available. What can new riders expect from the
new program in comparison to what they got from the more traditional MSF
training courses?
The new program is a Basic Rider
Course for new and beginning riders. So unlike the advanced programs the
course will cover the information needed for new riders.
You are
probably familiar with the Team Oregon Program that started after the
MSF changed its basic rider program to the BRC around 2002. The people
in charge in Oregon at the time were not happy with the new BRC and so
developed their own new rider training program that was in some ways
based on the MSF's old program which was the Motorcycle Rider Course:
Riding and Street Skills program (MRC RSS). Following the introduction
of the new Oregon program, Idaho took what Oregon had developed and made
it their own. That program has evolved through the years and been
modified to be better. From the information that has been provided the
new program here in California will be based on the existing Idaho
program. This new program is more focused on cornering and breaking
which is where most of the motorcycle accidents occur.
The new
curriculum will also give the students much more seat time (miles
ridden) during the class. The average student will ride around thirty
miles per class.
Of course classroom delivery will be different
and more like the current Total Control classes. The program is more
focused on the riding gear and the risks of riding.
A
few days ago I saw a discussion online from a current MSF coach in
California who was uncertain about what is going to happen to him and
his colleague trainers. Do you have anything to say to them?
The
roll out of a new program will require each instructor to go through an
instructor update that will take three to five days. Some may feel this
is a lot to ask of the instructor corp. If the MSF had bid on and won
the new program the New MSF BRC would have been introduced in California
as it is in other states. This change would also have required the
instructor corp to also go through a three day update.
Total
Control is going to do it's best to get them all up to speed as quickly
as they can; I hope that the current instructors keep an open mind and
when looking forward remember why we are in this. I cannot speak for
everyone but I know that I am in this for the benefit of the riders.
I'm
assuming you guys are doing everything you can to involve all the
current coaches with the new program and not leave anyone behind.
We
are giving all the existing Rider Coaches the opportunity to be trained
in the new course. There may be many who do not want to make a change
at this time and will no longer involved. We are expecting everyone who
wants to move forward to be able to do so. If someone cannot meet the
requirements on the first time around they will have the opportunity to
give it a shot again at a later time.
And I understand
motorcycle coaching is really not a high-paying job. It's mostly a
voluntary thing that coaches do for the love of motorcycling.
Correct.
I've been teaching riding for more than fifteen years -twenty if you
count my off-road stuff- and all this time I've been maintaining a full
time job as well. So we may have some instructors out there who may only
teach a couple of classes a year and may not be ready to make another
change -which they would have to even if the MSF had stayed in
California. But at the same time we've also had a lot of enquiries from
people who want to teach the new curriculum who aren't currently
instructors.
For the last few years it's been
discussed by riders and coaches how the MSF has oversimplified their
courses and how their basic course is not really enough to survive
riding in a real world scenario. How do you think this move in
California will affect the MSF curricula?
Personally, I
kind of felt that way when they made the switch to their current Basic
Rider Course and the new switch seems to take the instructor out of the
equation even more.
The Total Control basic curriculum is setup
different than the MSF's basic curriculum; we have different goals and
our ultimate one is to make safe and responsible motorcyclists. We are
going to include more seat time, more cornering, more braking; all those
things that the rider needs.
Do you foresee other States following what California just did and adopting other non-MSF training programs?
I'm
sure all eyes in the country are watching California right now. Over
the years, there have been other states that have become unhappy with
what is going on with MSF. Going all the way back to 2002 when Oregon
and Idaho stood up because they weren't happy and there have been other
states that have been looking into it. Then there were lawsuits with MSF
suing Oregon and things like that which made other states hesitant to
move forward, but I think now -with the new curriculum available- it may
come to pass, that other states will also switch.
Thank
you very much for your time, I really think this is going to answer
some of the main questions around this switch in the motorcycle training
program in California.
You are welcome. I mean, our
goal, of course, is to reduce accidents. I'm a rider, you are a rider,
and the last thing we want to see is more motorcycle fatalities.
Again,
I'm not here to bash the MSF, I think they've done a great work over
the years but like I said, they didn't bid on the contract so it wasn't
like someone stole it away from them or anything. We are all trying to
achieve the same goal which is to avoid fatalities and keep people from
getting hurt.
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