IPSGA

I was riding pillion on a motorbike. It was a light, sporty middleweight, painted black. I didn't know the rider. He was following another bike, quite similar (perhaps even identical - I couldn't tell from where I was sat!). That bike was being ridden solo, again by someone I didn't know.

We were going through a residential area, at considerable (but legal) speed. I was extremely nervous though. For one, he was all over the place. At one point, he was riding on a cycling track instead of the road. I saw the end of the cycling track coming up. Between the cycling track and the road was a grassy area, lined with trees on the right. I was scared we were going to crash, but didn't move for fear of unsettling the bike.

We didn't crash - he expertly turned the bike at the right moment to use a driveway that cut across the grass, and an adjoining area which was basically mud from where the grass had been ripped off, presumably from whoever used that driveway, while turning on to the road. We continued at the same speed on the road, which gently curved to the right while going slightly downhill.

Slightly ahead, as the road straightened out, we passed a boy who had stopped his cycle on the footpath to talk to another boy who was standing on a pedestrian island. Again, I was very nervous as the rider didn't slow down at all. 

A few seconds later, the rider we were following pulled into a petrol station and we followed him in. We stopped and before I even dismounted the bike I told him that was unacceptably dangerous riding. He was surprised and asked me to explain. I broke down both the situations and told him both were extremely dangerous, besides riding on the cycle track being downright illegal. 

He asked me how I would evaluate each situation and what I would do differently. 

I mentioned the "IPSGA" framework used by the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorcyclists) and broke down each of the alphabet in the acronym:

I = information. What information is available to assess the safety of the situation and what hazards may present themselves 

P = position. how do I position the bike within the legally available space on the road to minimise risk 

S = speed. what speed is appropriate for the situation approaching

G = gear. which gear should the motorbike be in to maximise flexibility for the situation 

A = acceleration. at what stage is it safe to accelerate and how much acceleration is appropriate 

And that's when I woke up.