What is SA, TEM, BM?
Classic SA Loss
Over the years of riding motorcycles and flying airplanes I’ve noticed there are strong parallels between the modes of transportation. Both require constant focus and a high level of Situational Awareness (SA) to enjoy success. Time in the saddle causes fatigue. Fatigue causes SA to erode away to some level of performance less than 100%. Murphy’s Law comes into play when your SA is low. Problem is, there is not much time to make a correction before things get to an unrecoverable state.
Situational Awareness is one of those things that develops over time and is backed by solid training and practice. Techniques to rapidly improve SA have been developed to help pilots operate safely in every environment. We at Countersteer believe these same techniques and approach to risk management can be incorporated in motorcycle training, boosting your overall awareness. Our goal is to provide you, the motorcyclist, with same set of tools pilots use to manage risk and achieve the highest level of SA you can.
One of the principals we use as pilots is that of Threat and Error Management (TEM). This concept was developed by Professor Robert L. Helmreich Ph.D. and David M. Musson, M.D. of the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas in Austin. As pilots, this tool gives us an ability to define what threats are out there, recognize them, and take action to avoid an undesirable aircraft state. Makes sense that a motorcyclist would want to have the same tools available, because undesired vehicle states more often than not result in an injury or worse.
We train for one reason. We seek to change our current behavior to make us better at what we do. No matter what it is we do. Every one who’s ever sought to get better, and gain experience has had to undergo what’s known as Behavior Modification (BM). Everything you do, if taken in the correct context, results in BM. In aviation, we de-brief an event or sequence of events with a crew or instruction for the purpose of gaining SA and BM. Motorcyclists can benefit from this approach as well.
Ultimately we want you to have the tools to increase SA and apply TEM through BM!