When I went to work in Port Hedland I couldn't quite believe that an L plate rider couldn't ride on their own like we still do (as far as I'm aware) in SA. Seemed a bit odd having another bike following another.
At odds with other states in SA a learner rider can have a fully licensed (more than 12 months) rider as a pillion for instructional purposes only and unless it's changed recently can take a pillion once off of L plate.
One thing about the US is they can use any bike (in most states) to learn on and not limited in size/power like we are so not a good country to base anything on during the learning period.
We have come a long way here in VIC, not sure about other States.
When I started riding on road in the late 60's, I displayed L's (front and rear) for around six years. As with learning to drive, there was no permit, only requirements were to display the L's, be 17 years (or older) for a car, 16 years, 9 months (or older) for a motorcycle and have a non-probationary driver instructor for a car, no such help or support for a motorcycle.
In late 75, there was a proposal to introduce learner permits, so it was just as easy to get my motorcycle licence. This I did by demonstrating to a following Police rider that I could safely ride my Suzuki TS185 in Melbourne CBD traffic (rode around a city block near Russell Street Police HQ) at 9:00am. Some of my mates couldn't demonstrate this basic skill and failed, probably good that they did, they were shocking riders.
In VIC, the RTA introduced the MOST (motorcycle operator skill test), initially for the learners permit and then the licence - this was in the early 80's. Around the same time, engine capacity and power to weight ratio limits were introduced.
Passing the MOST was compulsory, and whilst it wasn't really very difficult (if you had some basic skills), many pre-learners had no idea so the RTA introduced training courses. These were a 6 or 9 hour course with the MOST at the end.
I worked for the RTA (and later VicRoads) in those days in the Engineering Division, but was lucky enough to get involved at the grass-route level of the training & testing program. Over 10 years I must've trained and tested around 200 riders, probably passed around 80% of them. Of the ~20% that failed, some should never, never, never even thought about riding.
At the start of each course, as an introduction and to break-the-ice, we would ask, "Why do you want to ride? Can you drive a manual car? Can you ride a bicycle?" The "worrying" replies would be along the lines of, "I want to get a boyfriend who rides a motorcycle. No! No!". Oh dear!!
Some of the locations the RTA selected for the training were not very suitable. One was the underground car park at Box Hill TAFE, concrete pillars galore. The middle aged women who provided the above replies went head-on into a pillar, required medical attention and was taken away by an ambulance. She returned a couple of months later only to repeat the effort, not as bad as previous, we had a little chat, she didn't return.
Lots of other minor incidents, but none as bad. In the good (?) old days, the 20% that failed, would have certainly failed on the road, the resulting injuries would have been much, much more severe.
Yep, we have come along way.
