Schon’s Reflective Model

During this week’s lesson we discussed about Schon’s reflective model. The lecturer explained that it is divided in two.

• Reflection in action.

• Thinking on your own two feet.

• Reflection on action.

• Self-evaluation.

He recounted to us an example of a situation in which he had to reflect in action. We determined that it is to adapt to a situation, whilst sitting back and thinking on what you have done and talking to others that maybe have had experience in the subject where they can suggest improvements, is reflection on action.

We were then assigned to describe a recent crisis that we have experienced and to describe how we have handled it, then reflect on what we have done and what could have done better.

My last crisis was a motorbike accident. I’ve been driving bikes for 7 years now; I had my first accident a couple of weeks after I got my license and never had any other until this year, in which I had four accidents in a row.

Before starting to describe the event, note that this all happened in less than 30 seconds.

I was driving along a road full of traffic. All the cars were at a halt so I was driving on the right lane passing beside the cars (lane splitting/ filtering). An intersection was approaching and while driving, as I always do, I checked all the cars’ indicators to see if someone is turning right, in which case I would stop, let them pass, and continue.

There were no indicators lit so I continued to drive slowly. I also noticed that there was a lot of panic and hassle among car drivers as to whom is going to pass first. I was extra cautious and still checking for indicators but maintaining my previous speed. As soon as I was almost 3m away from the cross road a car signals right and turns right after. I hit the brakes hard because I knew I was already too close; the bike skid from front and rear and my left foot touched the ground with the bike slamming on my big toe. With my foot stuck and the bike slowing down sliding on the ground, I was tossed forward. While rolling on the ground I kept an eye on other cars to avoid someone driving on me to try and react if it was the case.

I stopped hitting the rear left tyre of the car with my ribs and still hearing the bike sliding behind me. Luckily it came to a halt right and did not hit me. I quickly got out from under the car in case they decided to reverse or something, you never know, then went to pick up the bike. A guy came to help me to pull the bike up and that moment I realised how bad the bike slammed my toe. Still I had to get the bike out of the road to not create traffic. The handle bar was twisted and the seat was scratched but overall the bike was in great condition. To cut a long story short I was accompanied to a clinic where they bandaged my toe and gave me instructions to rest and elevate it as much as possible while applying ice.

This event happened on 3rd August 2016 and my toe still hurts to this day.

During these years I gained a lot of experience but sometimes I assume that people always drive as they should, and that was where I made my first mistake. According to ‘The Highway Code’ of the United Kingdom 1999 which we currently use here in Malta, on page 51, regulation 199, and please note it is in bold, states that:

“199. Before changing direction either to the left or right, you must invariably signal your intention to turn well in advance and make sure that it is safe to do so by looking in your mirror. Make sure that your direction indicator gives the signal intended and that it is cancelled immediately after use.” (Traffic Control Board Section of the Ministry for Transport and Communications in collaboration with the Malta Police Force, 1999)

You must signal your intention well in advance, not signaling at the second you are turning, and looking in your mirror! Putting that aside every hit that I take, either my fault or not, I am always the one paying consequences, therefore I should not assume anymore and always slow down almost to a halt when approaching a turn or crossroad.

Luckily I am very flexible and always manage to get out of crashes without breaking any bones, so it is good practice to keep fit. You can never get distracted, always focused and sharp to quickly react and adapt to situations. Talking to other bikers and sharing experiences is very useful since you will learn from there mishaps and avoid accidents in case of a same scenario.

For general information there is no documentation or regulation in Malta that prohibits lane splitting/ filtering (Biker, 2016).

It is legal in the United Kingdom and our regulations are almost identical to theirs with the only difference that it does not get updated (solent-advanced-motorcyclists, 2016).

Said that hope you can learn from my experience and for those driving cars please pay an extra attention for the small sized vehicles sharing the road with you.

References

Biker, M., 2016. For those that say lane splitting/filtering is illegal in Malta. [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gabCTPCesWI [Accessed 13 October 2016].

solent-advanced-motorcyclists, 2016. Riding Tips - Filtering. [Online] Available at: http://www.solent-advanced-motorcyclists.co.uk/riding-tips-mainmenu-46/157-riding-tips-filtering.html [Accessed 13 October 2016].

Traffic Control Board Section of the Ministry for Transport and Communications in collaboration with the Malta Police Force, D. o. L. a. T. a. t. R. D., 1999. TM Portal - Obtaining your driving licence. [Online] Available at: http://www.transport.gov.mt/admin/uploads/media-library/files/Highway%20Code%20EN.pdf_20130927083609.pdf [Accessed 13 October 2016].