Cycle News

IN THE WIND P22 MSF AT ODDS WITH CHP M SF (the Motorcycle Safety Foundation) and its Board of Trustees recently announced they will not issue a bid for the Cali- fornia Highway Patrol's Califor- nia Motorcyclist Safety Program (CMSP), and will therefore no lon- ger administer the rider training programs from 2015 to 2017. The IFP (Invitation for Bid) for the contract would allow the CHP to mandate changes to the train- ing curriculum, changes that must be carried out within 30 days. The MSF considers this an unreason- able proposal that threatens to violate its standards and compro- mise the integrity of the program. In a rather pointed statement, the MSF explains its standpoint on the matter. "In evaluating the new IFB from multiple perspectives, the MSF has concluded that it cannot ad- minister the CMSP as proposed and remain true to its rigorous standards and strategies for serv- ing the riders. Therefore, it is with regret and disappointment that we have chosen not to submit a bid in response to the new Invita- tion as proposed." The MSF prides itself on its very stringent standards and care- fully crafted curricula derived from years of field-testing and multiple levels of review. In adherence to these standards, the foundation feels that any change to this cur- riculum should therefore require just as much research and feed- back before being im- plemented. The current proposed IFB from the CHP flies in the face of this standard, however. "The CHP has man- dated the right to mod- ify any element of the curricula," the MSF's statement explains. "Upon request for a change, the contractor would have only 30 days to implement any such modification. No formal review process or pilot-testing pro- cedures are referenced. Such a change would violate the MSF's curriculum design standards and result in a loss of integrity of its in- tellectual property." The MSF clearly has a strong opposition to this particular man- date from the CHP, and plans to vehemently defend its stance on the importance of thoroughly reviewing and field-testing any changes to the curriculum before they come into effect. "Thirty days would not be nearly enough time for the MSF or any responsible bidder to test, evaluate and implement system- wide changes. Implementation of even a minor curriculum change should involve extensive research and field-testing, and would likely involve revising, reprinting and distributing instructor materials, training site administration proto- cols and student text books," the MSF statement read. "Further, CHP has indicated it would not defend the contractor or its sub- contractors against liability for any such changes." The MSF's decision will mark the first time the organization has not administered the California program since 2004. The CMSP was originally created under a pilot program from 1980 through 1983, when the MSF and the California Office of Traffic Safety signed a contract to coordinate rider education in the state. The MSF maintains that this is not a bureaucratic disagreement, or unwillingness to cooperate with the California CHP. "The MSF is flexible and nimble, and we can ac- commodate flexibility for jurisdic- tions, but this flexibility has always been about administrative matters, not the potential for wholesale changes that affect the founda- tion—developed over 40 years—of the Rider Education and Training System. In the end, we must be consistent with our mission. "Perhaps in the future there will be other opportunities for MSF and CHP to work together on traf- fic safety in a mutually beneficial manner." Jean Turner The MSF says it will no longer administer the rider training programs from 2015 to 2017.

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