I too have read Roadcraft and found the current IAM book to be, as you said, biased towards those new to the advanced way of thinking. Not a bad thing but there is so much more in Roadcraft that it's worth reading as well.
You've done a good thing posting your experience for others to read. Hopefully it'll help them see what they can get out of the course. :driving1:
I've passed the IAM test and I'm looking to become an observer so if you'd like a second opinion on anything post it up and you can have mine for nothing.
IAM Advanced Driving Course
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Django
Topic author
Re: IAM Advanced Driving Course
I had thought of doing the course for years, but the details were always a mystery. I think that's partly why I started the thread - to demystify it for others.firstmk1 wrote:You've done a good thing posting your experience for others to read. Hopefully it'll help them see what they can get out of the course. :driving1:
I found out you'd passed when I saw a post from you in another thread. I'll certainly post stuff for comment - quite happy to post my faults and errors to improve learning. First observed drive is the next biggie. In the meantime, my start and stop drills are improving, but my commentary has lapsed back to silent/mumble style. Getting better at sticking to speed limits (the trick seems to be to get into a lower gear such that you get better flexibility from the throttle).firstmk1 wrote:I've passed the IAM test and I'm looking to become an observer so if you'd like a second opinion on anything post it up and you can have mine for nothing.
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firstmk1
Topic author
IAM Advanced Driving Course
I found that if you drive to the speed limit for about a week you get a feel for the correct speed and it becomes second nature. Not that I/you/anyone does anything more than the posted limit. 
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Django
Topic author
Re: IAM Advanced Driving Course
That's what I noticed coming home from work this evening - I seem to be monitoring the speedo less, but found that the indicated speed was better when I did glance down to see what I was doing.firstmk1 wrote:I found that if you drive to the speed limit for about a week you get a feel for the correct speed and it becomes second nature.
Of course not.firstmk1 wrote:Not that I/you/anyone does anything more than the posted limit.
Like the man at the course said, one is expected to drive up to the speed limit when conditions allow. There's a thing - what's the deal with the fact that most speedos read a bit higher than you're actually travelling? Are you expected to stick to the number on the speedo? Even if I creep over 1 or 2mph, I know that I'm still within the limit, having checked the speedo against a GPS (eg, 37.2 at an indicated 40).
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firstmk1
Topic author
IAM Advanced Driving Course
The examiners (mine anyway) take the view that you have to use the info available ie you must assume your speedo is correct as you have nothing else to go off. You won't fail for being a needles width over but 3-4mph over constantly will see you fail without question.
During the test you'll find it easy to stick to the correct speed as you'll have a traffic cop sat beside you. :angrymod:
During the test you'll find it easy to stick to the correct speed as you'll have a traffic cop sat beside you. :angrymod:
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Django
Topic author
Re: IAM Advanced Driving Course
That's a fair argument.firstmk1 wrote:The examiners (mine anyway) take the view that you have to use the info available ie you must assume your speedo is correct as you have nothing else to go off.
Okay, not draconian, then.firstmk1 wrote:You won't fail for being a needles width over but 3-4mph over constantly will see you fail without question.
Yes, I can see how that might smarten one's driving up a tad...firstmk1 wrote:During the test you'll find it easy to stick to the correct speed as you'll have a traffic cop sat beside you. :angrymod:
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Django
Topic author
IAM Advanced Driving Course
Day 3 - First observed drive
Today was my first drive with my IAM observer, Harry. After arranging a date and time earlier in the week, we met at a supermarket carpark in a local town.
First thing was some introductory chit-chat which included some comments about what to expect during the actual test. In particular, he mentioned that the police who do the examination can be quite abrupt, verbally. Harry said to not let this concern me, as it has more to do with being a cop than any reflection on the IAM associate taking the test (something to do with radio procedure, perhaps?). If anything, the police fully support what the IAM does and would like to see more folks do the advanced test. We also went over start and stop drills and the system of car control - his point with these was to develop memory aids to make them easier to do and to get right.
For example, he suggested seeing the start drill as a little dance: the first two things you do are check the handbrake is on, and then check the doors are shut. So, if you emphasise your movements a little, one leads to the other: pull the handbrake with your left hand, twisting your body to the right as you do - your shoulder touches the door, so you check the door next, and so on. Not sure that I'd go with this one - I'll have a think about it, and maybe come up with something suits me more.
The memory aid for the system was a written abbreviation: "In - PSG - Acc", which means...
In - Information - take in, and give, information
P - Position - position your car on the road
S - Speed - adjust your speed to suit the hazard (usually by braking)
G - Gear - select the appropriate gear
Acc - Acceleration - accelerate to an appropriate speed once clear of the hazard
Note the layout is in three sections: "In - PSG - Acc". In general, 'In' is what you do before the hazard, 'PSG' is what you do to negotiate the hazard, and 'Acc' is what happens after the hazard. This isn't hard and fast ('In' happens all the time), but fits most situations. A 'hazard' can be almost anything - something that causes, or could cause, you to change the speed and/or attitude of the car from their present state, like a bend in the road, a parked car, or a pedestrian with an unleashed dog.
We then moved on to the drive. Harry asked me if I knew the area, which I do, and he told me the basic route we were going to take, just about all of which I could visualise. He said he would still remind me of turnings as they approached ("take a left at the next set of lights", kinda thing), since this is what happens in the test. And off we went...
I didn't do the commentary right away. I kinda felt I wanted to just drive as I normally do, and then see what he thought. I dare say I wanted to get settled as well, considering I'd never done a spoken commentary when there is someone else in the car. The drive lasted about 10 miles, and was mostly town driving with a couple of miles of countryside A road.
On stopping at the end of the drive, Harry told me that I didn't do too badly. Two things he picked up on were not enough use of mirrors (although he noted that he wasn't sure because I was wearing sunglasses), and what he called "row-boating" - small steering movements without doing the push-pull thing, but just keeping the hands static on the rim of the wheel. I'm talking about maybe 2" of movement at the circumference of the wheel. I was a bit surprised at being expected to use the push-pull technique for what I felt were pretty small movements (like when dodging bumps on the road, or changing position slightly to give parked cars a wider berth).
He then said that we were going to take the same route in reverse to return to the supermarket car park we started in. He recommended that I do the commentary as a way of making what I was seeing and doing (and why) clearer. He also said that this time, he would remark on my driving as we went. I took this and his comments about mirrors and sunglasses on board, and started doing the commentary almost right away. There was no nervousness or anything. In fact, it all felt quite natural, although there were times when I didn't manage to say everything that I wanted to. Harry called out "row-boating!" a couple of times when he caught me doing that again, and also pointed out other things that I hadn't spotted or didn't mention - a fair emphasis on working out where the road was going long before I got to a particular bit (like pointing out where street lights were going beyond a rise to work out that there was a bend beyond). Again, I was guilty of not making enough use of my mirrors - and also of not saying *which* mirror I was checking when I did - there's a nearside and an offside mirror as well as the cabin's rear view mirror, and different mirrors are used to check for different things. Generally, I scored quite well on observation of stuff like road signs and possible roadside hazards (parked cars, junctions, bus stops, etc - places where things can leap out in front of you). Other things to think about were not using the indicators too much - don't indicate when there is nobody to indicate to, and you don't neccessarily have to indicate to tell other traffic what you're doing - sometimes your position on the road is sufficient (eg, passing parked cars on the left when there is oncoming traffic - moving towards the crown of the road fairly early can be enough to tell other drivers that you intend to continue on your way and pass the parked cars).
One other thing that was picked up on was speed limits - I generally did very well, and only slipped over two or three times. My comments in an earlier post about keeping to a lower gear really do apply, and Harry made the same point - 3rd for 30, 4th for 40, etc. At one point, I came out of a built up area into the couple of miles of countryside A road - I crept up to an indicated 35, and then realised that I couldn't remember seeing a change in the speed limit. Sure enough, 100 yards down the road, there were the national limit signs. I noted that I had crept over and corrected it, and Harry only commented after I had done this - he was pleased that I had spotted it and dealt with it. He also knew exactly why it had happened: when the scenery changes from built up area to country A road, we tend to think that the A road is a national limit, because nearly all of them are. In other words, I responded to the wrong input - I looked at the *type* of road and made an assumption about the speed limit.
We got back to the car park and... that was it. He took a bunch of notes while I was driving, and said he'd get them written up and emailed to me. The whole session lasted about an hour and a half, of which 45-50 minutes was actual driving. The weather was variable - bright and sunny one minute, fairly heavy rain the next. Traffic was fairly light. We agreed a date and time for the next drive (this Wednesday) and said our goodbyes.
Some other things that were pointed out were being aware of new hazards and avoiding becoming fixated on hazards that already exist. For instance, if you have an example of that cretinous mobile liability known as 'the tailgater' behind you, you wouldn't neccessarily note this constantly in your commentary - you know he's there and you keep an eye on him, but you keep scanning for (and mentioning ) new hazards.
Another thing Harry said was to develop my scanning skills - the basic idea behind this is to be looking ahead for potential hazards long before they arrive. It's done by developing a way of observing what's happening in the far distance, and then work gradually closer to yourself. That way, you can see potential hazards before time and be better prepared to deal with them when they arrive - and by thus being better able to deal with what become current hazards, we are better able to scan the ahead for the next. This is different from the more common way of driving - a sort of automotive short-sightedness, where you only react to the current hazard when you get close to it.
Here's a challenge for those that are following this thread, and may be thinking of taking the course: Drive for one week without breaking any speed limit at all. Reckon you can do it?
Today was my first drive with my IAM observer, Harry. After arranging a date and time earlier in the week, we met at a supermarket carpark in a local town.
First thing was some introductory chit-chat which included some comments about what to expect during the actual test. In particular, he mentioned that the police who do the examination can be quite abrupt, verbally. Harry said to not let this concern me, as it has more to do with being a cop than any reflection on the IAM associate taking the test (something to do with radio procedure, perhaps?). If anything, the police fully support what the IAM does and would like to see more folks do the advanced test. We also went over start and stop drills and the system of car control - his point with these was to develop memory aids to make them easier to do and to get right.
For example, he suggested seeing the start drill as a little dance: the first two things you do are check the handbrake is on, and then check the doors are shut. So, if you emphasise your movements a little, one leads to the other: pull the handbrake with your left hand, twisting your body to the right as you do - your shoulder touches the door, so you check the door next, and so on. Not sure that I'd go with this one - I'll have a think about it, and maybe come up with something suits me more.
The memory aid for the system was a written abbreviation: "In - PSG - Acc", which means...
In - Information - take in, and give, information
P - Position - position your car on the road
S - Speed - adjust your speed to suit the hazard (usually by braking)
G - Gear - select the appropriate gear
Acc - Acceleration - accelerate to an appropriate speed once clear of the hazard
Note the layout is in three sections: "In - PSG - Acc". In general, 'In' is what you do before the hazard, 'PSG' is what you do to negotiate the hazard, and 'Acc' is what happens after the hazard. This isn't hard and fast ('In' happens all the time), but fits most situations. A 'hazard' can be almost anything - something that causes, or could cause, you to change the speed and/or attitude of the car from their present state, like a bend in the road, a parked car, or a pedestrian with an unleashed dog.
We then moved on to the drive. Harry asked me if I knew the area, which I do, and he told me the basic route we were going to take, just about all of which I could visualise. He said he would still remind me of turnings as they approached ("take a left at the next set of lights", kinda thing), since this is what happens in the test. And off we went...
I didn't do the commentary right away. I kinda felt I wanted to just drive as I normally do, and then see what he thought. I dare say I wanted to get settled as well, considering I'd never done a spoken commentary when there is someone else in the car. The drive lasted about 10 miles, and was mostly town driving with a couple of miles of countryside A road.
On stopping at the end of the drive, Harry told me that I didn't do too badly. Two things he picked up on were not enough use of mirrors (although he noted that he wasn't sure because I was wearing sunglasses), and what he called "row-boating" - small steering movements without doing the push-pull thing, but just keeping the hands static on the rim of the wheel. I'm talking about maybe 2" of movement at the circumference of the wheel. I was a bit surprised at being expected to use the push-pull technique for what I felt were pretty small movements (like when dodging bumps on the road, or changing position slightly to give parked cars a wider berth).
He then said that we were going to take the same route in reverse to return to the supermarket car park we started in. He recommended that I do the commentary as a way of making what I was seeing and doing (and why) clearer. He also said that this time, he would remark on my driving as we went. I took this and his comments about mirrors and sunglasses on board, and started doing the commentary almost right away. There was no nervousness or anything. In fact, it all felt quite natural, although there were times when I didn't manage to say everything that I wanted to. Harry called out "row-boating!" a couple of times when he caught me doing that again, and also pointed out other things that I hadn't spotted or didn't mention - a fair emphasis on working out where the road was going long before I got to a particular bit (like pointing out where street lights were going beyond a rise to work out that there was a bend beyond). Again, I was guilty of not making enough use of my mirrors - and also of not saying *which* mirror I was checking when I did - there's a nearside and an offside mirror as well as the cabin's rear view mirror, and different mirrors are used to check for different things. Generally, I scored quite well on observation of stuff like road signs and possible roadside hazards (parked cars, junctions, bus stops, etc - places where things can leap out in front of you). Other things to think about were not using the indicators too much - don't indicate when there is nobody to indicate to, and you don't neccessarily have to indicate to tell other traffic what you're doing - sometimes your position on the road is sufficient (eg, passing parked cars on the left when there is oncoming traffic - moving towards the crown of the road fairly early can be enough to tell other drivers that you intend to continue on your way and pass the parked cars).
One other thing that was picked up on was speed limits - I generally did very well, and only slipped over two or three times. My comments in an earlier post about keeping to a lower gear really do apply, and Harry made the same point - 3rd for 30, 4th for 40, etc. At one point, I came out of a built up area into the couple of miles of countryside A road - I crept up to an indicated 35, and then realised that I couldn't remember seeing a change in the speed limit. Sure enough, 100 yards down the road, there were the national limit signs. I noted that I had crept over and corrected it, and Harry only commented after I had done this - he was pleased that I had spotted it and dealt with it. He also knew exactly why it had happened: when the scenery changes from built up area to country A road, we tend to think that the A road is a national limit, because nearly all of them are. In other words, I responded to the wrong input - I looked at the *type* of road and made an assumption about the speed limit.
We got back to the car park and... that was it. He took a bunch of notes while I was driving, and said he'd get them written up and emailed to me. The whole session lasted about an hour and a half, of which 45-50 minutes was actual driving. The weather was variable - bright and sunny one minute, fairly heavy rain the next. Traffic was fairly light. We agreed a date and time for the next drive (this Wednesday) and said our goodbyes.
Some other things that were pointed out were being aware of new hazards and avoiding becoming fixated on hazards that already exist. For instance, if you have an example of that cretinous mobile liability known as 'the tailgater' behind you, you wouldn't neccessarily note this constantly in your commentary - you know he's there and you keep an eye on him, but you keep scanning for (and mentioning ) new hazards.
Another thing Harry said was to develop my scanning skills - the basic idea behind this is to be looking ahead for potential hazards long before they arrive. It's done by developing a way of observing what's happening in the far distance, and then work gradually closer to yourself. That way, you can see potential hazards before time and be better prepared to deal with them when they arrive - and by thus being better able to deal with what become current hazards, we are better able to scan the ahead for the next. This is different from the more common way of driving - a sort of automotive short-sightedness, where you only react to the current hazard when you get close to it.
Here's a challenge for those that are following this thread, and may be thinking of taking the course: Drive for one week without breaking any speed limit at all. Reckon you can do it?
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Django
Topic author
IAM Advanced Driving Course
Day 4 - Observed drive #2
Met Harry this evening at the same supermarket car park for my second observed drive. Unfortunately, he was unable to email me his comments from the previous drive (computer problems), but he did bring some written notes for me to take away. I was also unable to do my bit and go for a practice drive or two since the last one (understandable, given that there were only two days between).
This session took a similar format to the last one, other than he didn't tell me the route beforehand. The format thus far has been: 15-20 minutes of talk (this time reviewing the previous drive and advising me of things to concentrate on improving), followed by 20 minutes or so of driving, a stop for 5 minutes or so, another 20+ minute drive, and finishing with closing comments for 10-15 minutes.
This time, he asked me to do the start drill in a more formal manner. I didn't do too badly, but it certainly wasn't slick or smooth. I struggled to remember bits (haven't sorted out my memory aid yet), and completely forgot to do a moving brake test. He expected it to be flakey, so no pressure. I plan to get this off pat in time for the next drive.
The drive itself went quite well. Harry picked up on observation - he says I need to 'snowplough' less. This means observing the stuff that's nearby first, and working forwards of the car to take note of stuff further into the distance. Wrong way round - should be noting stuff that's furthest away and working back to the car - and right behind the car by using the mirrors. I mentioned this in my previous post, but haven't quite got the knack yet - I do observe stuff in the distance, but I suspect I'm still very busy dealing with the nearby stuff, which means I have less time available to see what's in the distance *now*. (The trick is to better observe what's in the distance, such that it's easier to deal with when you get close - making it easier to deal with what's then in the distance.) He also encouraged me to do more scanning - look around more, and spend less time looking at things. The more time you spend looking at a potential hazard, the less time you're spending looking at *other* potential hazards.
He seems to have softened (or clarified) his position on row-boating a little. There's a limit to how small a movement you make of the wheel where it's justified in doing the push-pull style of steering, and it's better to just keep both hands on the rim without the wheel passing through one or the other. It's partly a function of steering wheel diameter (smaller wheels can provide more steering change for a given amount of hand movement). Since the MR2 has quite sharp steering and a smallish wheel, I get the feeling that the amount of deviation on the road was partly why he felt I was row-boating. There were probably some steering inputs which were too large and should have been push-pull, but, as I said last time, some were pretty small. As a guideline, he said that I should avoid allowing either hand to get to the 12 o'clock position on the wheel. I can do that - I think I'd be happy to avoid 11 / 1 o'clock and push-pull if I felt the wheel needed to turn that much.
This time, instead of just taking notes, he filled in the form that came in my welcome pack. This is a new introduction. It lists the stuff that has to be covered and allows the observer to rate the associate 1 to 10 for each thing, and on each observed drive. It's a way of recording progress and aiding identification of areas of driving that need attention. Here are my first set of ratings...
The bits that have no mark either weren't covered, or weren't enough of a feature to be able to establish a mark (eg, we both forgot about the moving brak test, there was no overtaking, we only did about two miles of motorway in very light traffic). Most of the 4s and 5s were marked as middling to keep them uppermost in my mind - my keeping to the speed limits was better than the mark implies (in fact, I thought it was worse than he did!), and his comments about clutch/gears and braking were a bit better than the marks suggest as well. The rest of the middling remarks seemed about right - steering still needs to improve, I tended to slow down on faster roads sometimes, and I still need to make more use of my mirrors (have improved a little, though). I got zero for 'highway code' because I didn't mention anything to do with it during my commentary. In particular, the tester expects you to be aware of stopping distances (in terms of road speed and distance), which is one of the hardest things to remember. I am aware of them, but tend to use timings - 2 seconds minium gap, and usually 3 seconds. Need to try and think numbers.
Observation is improving, but I feel I have some way to go yet. I'm pleased with the commentary score - I find I can yack away without difficulty, although I do lapse into short periods of silence now and then. And maximum scores for car sympathy and general laid-backness of attitude are very pleasing.
The car sympathy score is worth taking note of. There were two places where I used acceleration through the revs (rather than through the gears). First was when joining a 50mph dual carriageway, I judged that I had room to get out in front of a car that was coming up the road, I moved off in 1st and got into 2nd as I left the short slip road, then kept the foot down until I got to 50mph before changing into 4th or 5th. Similar situation joining the motorway - car ahead on the slip road was a little cautious, so I held back at 40 in 3rd to build up some distance so's I would have some space for when I started my acceleration to match the motorway traffic. Kept the foot down in 3rd until 70mph and then into 5th. He specifically remarked positively both times. I stated in my commentary that I was holding back from the slow car to give myself room - "This car's a bit slow, so I'm going to hold back at 40 to build up some distance between me and it to get room to accelerate up to motorway speed without it being in the way". Anyway, not red-lining, but a non-slouch approach to accelerating in lower gears up to 5K revs is seen as a good thing - it's not all about driving as if there's an egg between your foot and throttle pedal.
Next drive is in a week and a half. Main things I'll be addressing are getting the cockpit drills off pat and getting in some dedicated practice drives - I've found that, even though I think about what I'm doing more in my daily commute, it still isn't the same as a dedicated drive.
Met Harry this evening at the same supermarket car park for my second observed drive. Unfortunately, he was unable to email me his comments from the previous drive (computer problems), but he did bring some written notes for me to take away. I was also unable to do my bit and go for a practice drive or two since the last one (understandable, given that there were only two days between).
This session took a similar format to the last one, other than he didn't tell me the route beforehand. The format thus far has been: 15-20 minutes of talk (this time reviewing the previous drive and advising me of things to concentrate on improving), followed by 20 minutes or so of driving, a stop for 5 minutes or so, another 20+ minute drive, and finishing with closing comments for 10-15 minutes.
This time, he asked me to do the start drill in a more formal manner. I didn't do too badly, but it certainly wasn't slick or smooth. I struggled to remember bits (haven't sorted out my memory aid yet), and completely forgot to do a moving brake test. He expected it to be flakey, so no pressure. I plan to get this off pat in time for the next drive.
The drive itself went quite well. Harry picked up on observation - he says I need to 'snowplough' less. This means observing the stuff that's nearby first, and working forwards of the car to take note of stuff further into the distance. Wrong way round - should be noting stuff that's furthest away and working back to the car - and right behind the car by using the mirrors. I mentioned this in my previous post, but haven't quite got the knack yet - I do observe stuff in the distance, but I suspect I'm still very busy dealing with the nearby stuff, which means I have less time available to see what's in the distance *now*. (The trick is to better observe what's in the distance, such that it's easier to deal with when you get close - making it easier to deal with what's then in the distance.) He also encouraged me to do more scanning - look around more, and spend less time looking at things. The more time you spend looking at a potential hazard, the less time you're spending looking at *other* potential hazards.
He seems to have softened (or clarified) his position on row-boating a little. There's a limit to how small a movement you make of the wheel where it's justified in doing the push-pull style of steering, and it's better to just keep both hands on the rim without the wheel passing through one or the other. It's partly a function of steering wheel diameter (smaller wheels can provide more steering change for a given amount of hand movement). Since the MR2 has quite sharp steering and a smallish wheel, I get the feeling that the amount of deviation on the road was partly why he felt I was row-boating. There were probably some steering inputs which were too large and should have been push-pull, but, as I said last time, some were pretty small. As a guideline, he said that I should avoid allowing either hand to get to the 12 o'clock position on the wheel. I can do that - I think I'd be happy to avoid 11 / 1 o'clock and push-pull if I felt the wheel needed to turn that much.
This time, instead of just taking notes, he filled in the form that came in my welcome pack. This is a new introduction. It lists the stuff that has to be covered and allows the observer to rate the associate 1 to 10 for each thing, and on each observed drive. It's a way of recording progress and aiding identification of areas of driving that need attention. Here are my first set of ratings...
Code: Select all
Cockpit drill: 1
Moving brake test: -
Hazard procedure: -
Clutch and gears: 4
Positioning: 5
Braking: 5
Observation: 6
Car sympathy: 10
Overtaking: -
Manoeuvering: -
Speed limits: 4
Steering: 5
Restraint/consideration: 10
Maintaining progress: 5
Signal/horn/lights: -
Mirrors: 4
Motorway: -
Commentary: 8
Highway code: 0
Observation is improving, but I feel I have some way to go yet. I'm pleased with the commentary score - I find I can yack away without difficulty, although I do lapse into short periods of silence now and then. And maximum scores for car sympathy and general laid-backness of attitude are very pleasing.
The car sympathy score is worth taking note of. There were two places where I used acceleration through the revs (rather than through the gears). First was when joining a 50mph dual carriageway, I judged that I had room to get out in front of a car that was coming up the road, I moved off in 1st and got into 2nd as I left the short slip road, then kept the foot down until I got to 50mph before changing into 4th or 5th. Similar situation joining the motorway - car ahead on the slip road was a little cautious, so I held back at 40 in 3rd to build up some distance so's I would have some space for when I started my acceleration to match the motorway traffic. Kept the foot down in 3rd until 70mph and then into 5th. He specifically remarked positively both times. I stated in my commentary that I was holding back from the slow car to give myself room - "This car's a bit slow, so I'm going to hold back at 40 to build up some distance between me and it to get room to accelerate up to motorway speed without it being in the way". Anyway, not red-lining, but a non-slouch approach to accelerating in lower gears up to 5K revs is seen as a good thing - it's not all about driving as if there's an egg between your foot and throttle pedal.
Next drive is in a week and a half. Main things I'll be addressing are getting the cockpit drills off pat and getting in some dedicated practice drives - I've found that, even though I think about what I'm doing more in my daily commute, it still isn't the same as a dedicated drive.
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sw20
Topic author
Re: IAM Advanced Driving Course
Great read Django! I have plans to start IAM during the next few months after college wraps up. I bought myself "How to be..." the other day and I plan to read that and Roadcraft fully before applying. I passed my test a year ago but only found out about IAM recently, it doesnt seem to have the same exposure here in ireland as in the UK.
I have two questions:
1) what is the cost of the course you are doing? I know the Irish cost but your course seems alot more detailed.
2) Is there any examples of commentated driving on the net that are good to see how it is done? I mean obviously it is speaking what you are seeing, but i would like to see sombody doing it.
Cheers.
I have two questions:
1) what is the cost of the course you are doing? I know the Irish cost but your course seems alot more detailed.
2) Is there any examples of commentated driving on the net that are good to see how it is done? I mean obviously it is speaking what you are seeing, but i would like to see sombody doing it.
Cheers.
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Debs
Topic author
Re: IAM Advanced Driving Course
http://www.iam.org.uk/
I think you get a discount if you are a member of MR2OC, they have a banner on the site
I think you get a discount if you are a member of MR2OC, they have a banner on the site
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Django
Topic author
Re: IAM Advanced Driving Course
The standard cost is 85 quid. OC membership gets you a 10 quid discount, and being under 26 (or something) also gets you a 10 quid discount. Satisfy both criteria and get both discounts.sw20 wrote:1) what is the cost of the course you are doing? I know the Irish cost but your course seems alot more detailed.
I think the detail comes as part of the observed drives - the observer gears their advice towards what they think needs improving, and I'm just describing my own experiences in detail. There are subject areas to be covered, but nothing as formal as going through a series of lessons or topics, so the specifics might be different for others.
I dare say, but I haven't lookjed for any. At the first meeting, we saw a few minutes of video featuring a cop who had won some police driver of the year award - top police driver. At the second, were taken out for a short demonstration drive featuring the commentary. About all you can grasp is the style in which it's done, and get an idea of what's being observed and done - there are always little bits where you think, "Oh, that's something I don't do".sw20 wrote: 2) Is there any examples of commentated driving on the net that are good to see how it is done? I mean obviously it is speaking what you are seeing, but i would like to see sombody doing it.
It's generally a bunch of fairly non-stop yak about what you're seeing, what you're doing, and why you're doing it. It also entails something that Harry brought up, which I didn't mention: 'linking' - drawing Homesian inferences, like keeping an eye out for the bin lorry when the wheelie bins are out along a street, or a series of empty bus stops are a sign that there could be a bus disgorging sleepy passengers further along, and a large amount of horse crap in Regent Street is indicative of a good show on at the theatre. A lot of it is about observation and building a picture of the situation ahead such that you're far less surprised when you arrive at said situation. Less talk about the actual act of driving than you might think.
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sw20
Topic author
IAM Advanced Driving Course
WOW!!! Here in ireland the course costs €285!!! Even with currency conversion that works out at about £110 sterling more, WTF!? Im a student and the semester is just finishing so it will be a few months before i have the spare cash to spend on it. Cant get over the price difference....
Oooh and i bet if i was to ask about an under 26/mr2oc discount they would laugh at me...
Oooh and i bet if i was to ask about an under 26/mr2oc discount they would laugh at me...
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Django
Topic author
IAM Advanced Driving Course
It's got to be worth an ask.
I also think it would be most interesting if you were to get a few insurance quotes from companies/brokers that offer a discount for IAM members. Even as a member of TOFC, I'm looking at something like 30 quid a year less on the MR2 premium (about 10% cheaper). How much are you paying for insurance at present?
I also think it would be most interesting if you were to get a few insurance quotes from companies/brokers that offer a discount for IAM members. Even as a member of TOFC, I'm looking at something like 30 quid a year less on the MR2 premium (about 10% cheaper). How much are you paying for insurance at present?
