The European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM) backed European Training Quality Label (ETQL) Awards programme continues to pick up momentum with two of KTM’s Riders Academy training programmes and The Advanced Motorcycling Course at the Honda Safety Institute (HSI), near Barcelona, achieving accreditation recently.
The awards were granted after a site visit and inspections by safety experts from the German Road Safety Council (DVR), a German NGO active in the field of road safety.
The Academy, which was launched in 2018, provides courses that build on the latest empirical research on rider behaviour and training, as well as the experience of Klaus Schwabe, one of the leading German experts in motorcycle safety.
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| From left to right: Víctor Zaragoza Faig, coordinator of the Honda Safety Institute; Marc Serruya, Branch President at Honda Motor Europe Iberia; Albert Cavero, PR & Motorcycle Safety Promotion Manager at Honda Motor Europe Iberia |
Training sessions are conducted in small groups of no more than six riders per trainer and are open to motorcyclists using any brand of bike. The KTM Riders Academy plans to organise between 40 and 50 training sessions in Austria and Germany, involving about 300 motorcyclists.
Commenting on the ETQL award, Stefan Pierer, President of KTM AG and current President of Brussels based ACEM, said: “I am delighted that the two KTM Riders Academy motorcycle training programmes have received this important recognition at the European level. Training at our Academy aims to improve both the cognitive and the motor skills of the motorcyclist, increasing both safety and the pleasure of riding.”
Antonio Perlot, Secretary General of the European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM), said: “The European Training Quality Label is granted to the best post-license training programmes in Europe. It is one of the main elements of the motorcycle industry’s safety strategy, and we are confident that this initiative will help motorcyclists to easily identify the best training.”
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| From left to right: Christoph Schipper, Managing Director of KTM Austria; Norbert Zaha, Managing Director of KTM Germany; Stefan Pierer, CEO of KTM AG and President of ACEM; Klaus Schwabe, motorcycle training expert (KTM Rider Academy); Christoph Doppler, motorcycle training expert (KTM Rider Academy) |
The EMTQL is a voluntary certification scheme that recognises the best post-license training programmes delivered in Europe. Launched by ACEM in 2015, the scheme helps motorcyclists to clearly and easily identify high quality post-license training programmes. The label is open to a wide range of organisations based in Europe, including training schools, motorcycle manufacturers and public bodies.
To date, a total of 27 post-license motorcycle training programmes have been certified in Spain, France, the Netherlands, Austria and Germany.
The HSI was created in 2009 and has 20,000 square meters of tracks and facilities, designed exclusively to train motorcycle users - it is the largest facility of its type in Europe. More than 20,000 motorcyclists have been trained at the HSI since it opened in 2009. In 2017 alone, about 3,000 people were trained by Honda at this facility.
