Thinking of IAM

[Rowley010]

Hi,
I'm new here and new to advanced driving so just looking for some info really as when searching the internet there doesn't seem to be huge amount of information available in any great detail on the courses.

I'm interested in doing the IAM course for me and my partner. The obviously means paying around £300 ish for the 2 of us.

Just wondering really what will actually learn from this and get out of it? I've seen on one of the course summaries that "it will enhance your handling skills". What does this and means and what skills will we learn?

Just interested in any info from people who have done the course.

Thanks

Richard

[fengpo]

Hi Richard,

Advanced driving is a system of car control information, position, speed, gear and acceleration. The course depending on observer will help you become smoother when driving. The main thing it will improve is your hazard perception through commentary. Putting into words when you can see. What you're going to do. It's a lot easier than it sounds plus it'll help you to look as far into the distance as you can see then back into the foreground. With a constant 360 degree field of vision.

Personally I gained more out of attending an ADUK day organised by the guys on here. I gained a IAM First on my test, the test for me was the best part. Being examined by a serving or ex class 1 traffic police officer.

Also have a look at Chris Gilbert Ultimate Driving Craft, there are clips on youtube. Explains all the questions you have about advanced driving.

All the best with what you decide to do,

Conor

[martine]

Hi Rowley and welcome.

I expect you've seen this: http://www.iam.org.uk/drivers/motorists-courses/advanced-driving/motorists-skill-for-life

A big part of developing your driving is to really hone those observation and anticipation skills...good drivers are very aware of what it around the vehicle and what is likely to develop which greatly helps with planning your approach to each hazard. There are a few 'mechanical' skills which you may well find useful - particularly steering and use of gears. Good drivers are usually very smooth - even when making good progress - this is great for safety, passenger comfort, mechanical sympathy (wear on the car) and fuel consumption.

Don't get the idea that the IAM or ROSPA expect you to drive slowly as a way of improving safety. After some coaching, you may find you are indeed slower in some situations but you may equally find you are faster in others - all due to you reading the road better.

Whereabouts do you live? If an ADUK member is anywhere near, it may be an idea to meet-up and see what advanced driving is all about.

[akirk]

Hi Richard,

welcome - I would support what others have said - this forum has some great drivers / very knowledgeable people on it so you are in a good place here...

the first question is:
- what do you want to get out of advanced driving / what does it mean to you?

for some people it is about car handling - e.g. the skill to manage skids / understand the dynamics of the car and optimise them - often skill sets seen as useful for racing...

for others it is about safety and minimising risk - though some may take that too far and they might crawl along the motorway at 20mph believing that they are safeer that way!

I think that for me it is about intelligent driving:
- understanding risk
- maximising skills
- maximising awareness and observation
- making deliberate choices

all together allowing me to choose my risk level according to:
- my tiredness
- the car I am driving
- the situation I am in (e.g. rush hour London v. sunny day on an empty motorway)
- etc.

at a simplistic level if I had an arbitary risk level of xxx (whatever that might be - my comfort level!) when driving a local A road at 40mph, advanced driving puts me in a place where I can choose:
- to up that to 50mph / 60mph and keep it at that risk level
- stay at that speed and lower the risk level

i.e. you can take one factor in the driving equation and improve it (the driver) - giving a better overall scenario...

I enjoy the satisfaction of being able to predict other driver's behaviour and anticipate it (whether it is giving them space to move out on a motorway before they think of it themselves, or perhaps backing off behind another car as you anticipate that they are about to enter difficulties)

I like the feeling of making good progress - but smoothly and safely

I like the feeling of handling a car well and knowing that it is balanced through corners etc.

lots of good reasons for learning more - and a course like the IAM is a great starting point - but anything you do is only that - there is a lifetime of learning ahead of you if you want to grasp it - I did the IAM course 17 years ago and then the High Performace Course earlier this year - which blew me away with the awareness of what it is possible to learn - lots of growing ahead for me!

So I think you need to answer that initial question and then we can advise you on where to start... as others have said, mention where you are and I am sure someone will meet up if you wish to chat / go for a drive...

I am in the Cotswolds nr. Swindon if that helps!

Alasdair

[chrisl]

I took the Rospa route last year but I believe the focus is similar. I'm in no way an expert and still learning to implement everything I've learned but hope this is helpful.

The biggest focus is on observation. You will find yourself noticing much more going on around you, and still your observer will be pointing out more that you haven't seen yet. However else you drive your vehicle you cannot avoid or plan for what you haven't seen and you can expect this to be the single biggest change.

However there were significant practical handling points too. Here's a few:

ensuring one's seat is in the most helpful place to reach the controls
steering wheel grip 10-2 or 9-3
keeping both hands on the wheel
push/pull steering
cornering using limit points and at a speed where the whole corner can be taken under power
grip of the gear lever to ensure correct selection against the centring mechanism
staged braking, starting gently, firming up and then easing off gently (latter being most difficult to remember)

However, these are not handling tips in the sense of wringing the best performance from the vehicle or achieving the greatest cornering speeds.

For example, typically one enters a corner much more slowly than before, and therefore even more within the capabilities of the vehicle, but can often exit it rather more rapidly. The essence of the change being that one is travelling more slowly where visibility is reducing (able to stop within the distance you can see to be clear) but the car is then set up in the correct gear and is stable in the corner to accelerate sooner and more rapidly as vision out of the corner improves.

[petes]

Having done both at different times, my advice with the benefit of hindsight would be to get in contact with a regular driving instructor, and ask him/her to provide you with a series of lessons, geared up towards an advanced level of driving.

Instructors often provide this to other trainees instructors to help them through their DSA part two test, so it shouldn't be a problem.

The only downside of my suggestion is that you don't undergo a test a receive a formal certificate and membership to particular body at the end, so I suppose it depends upon how important this aspect is to you.

[petes]

DVSA Part II is the same as the standard test, with the only changes being motorway (if they can find one), doing all the manoeuvres and having a more stringent pass regime.

That's a fair point. My suggestion would perhaps work well for someone wishing to just sharpen up their driving, to counteract any bad habits that creep in since passing the basic test, rather than develop a new driving style based on IPSGA, etc...

[martine]

DVSA Part II is the same as the standard test, with the only changes being motorway (if they can find one), doing all the manoeuvres and having a more stringent pass regime.

That's a fair point. My suggestion would perhaps work well for someone wishing to just sharpen up their driving, to counteract any bad habits that creep in since passing the basic test, rather than develop a new driving style based on IPSGA, etc...

Quite agree with Stressed Dave - the ADI Part 2 test is not what I would call advanced.

If you don't fancy an IAM 'Skill for Life' course (or ROSPA) - then another option would be the IAM's 'Drive Check' assessment - 1 hour instant feedback on your driving with an IAM examiner - no pass/fail. It's £39.
http://www.iam.org.uk/drivers/motorists-courses/driving-assessment

[Rowley010]

Hi Richard,

welcome - I would support what others have said - this forum has some great drivers / very knowledgeable people on it so you are in a good place here...

the first question is:
- what do you want to get out of advanced driving / what does it mean to you?

for some people it is about car handling - e.g. the skill to manage skids / understand the dynamics of the car and optimise them - often skill sets seen as useful for racing...

for others it is about safety and minimising risk - though some may take that too far and they might crawl along the motorway at 20mph believing that they are safeer that way!

I think that for me it is about intelligent driving:
- understanding risk
- maximising skills
- maximising awareness and observation
- making deliberate choices

all together allowing me to choose my risk level according to:
- my tiredness
- the car I am driving
- the situation I am in (e.g. rush hour London v. sunny day on an empty motorway)
- etc.

at a simplistic level if I had an arbitary risk level of xxx (whatever that might be - my comfort level!) when driving a local A road at 40mph, advanced driving puts me in a place where I can choose:
- to up that to 50mph / 60mph and keep it at that risk level
- stay at that speed and lower the risk level

i.e. you can take one factor in the driving equation and improve it (the driver) - giving a better overall scenario...

I enjoy the satisfaction of being able to predict other driver's behaviour and anticipate it (whether it is giving them space to move out on a motorway before they think of it themselves, or perhaps backing off behind another car as you anticipate that they are about to enter difficulties)

I like the feeling of making good progress - but smoothly and safely

I like the feeling of handling a car well and knowing that it is balanced through corners etc.

lots of good reasons for learning more - and a course like the IAM is a great starting point - but anything you do is only that - there is a lifetime of learning ahead of you if you want to grasp it - I did the IAM course 17 years ago and then the High Performace Course earlier this year - which blew me away with the awareness of what it is possible to learn - lots of growing ahead for me!

So I think you need to answer that initial question and then we can advise you on where to start... as others have said, mention where you are and I am sure someone will meet up if you wish to chat / go for a drive...

I am in the Cotswolds nr. Swindon if that helps!

Alasdair

Wow thanks for all the replies!

In response to this post what does advance driving mean to me from someone who is new to it. When I think of advanced driving I think of 2 things which I guess you could have a whole lot of sub heading underneath. Firstly a more advanced level of car control which to me means smoothness is gear changes, breaking and cornering, giving the ability to drive faster when it is safe to do so. The other part is a very high level of hazard perception.

Just had a look at the chris Gilbert videos on YouTube. Is that the kind of thing that IAM do with you as well? He seems to take smoother lines through corners etc.

[akirk]

Wow thanks for all the replies!

In response to this post what does advance driving mean to me from someone who is new to it. When I think of advanced driving I think of 2 things which I guess you could have a whole lot of sub heading underneath. Firstly a more advanced level of car control which to me means smoothness is gear changes, breaking and cornering, giving the ability to drive faster when it is safe to do so. The other part is a very high level of hazard perception.

Just had a look at the chris Gilbert videos on YouTube. Is that the kind of thing that IAM do with you as well? He seems to take smoother lines through corners etc.

You need to start the process by understanding that IAM / RoSPA is not the final answer...
They are simply a doorway you step through which begins a process of lifelong learning...

They are a very good starting point and they will begin the process of shifting attitude away from the driving test mantra of physically driving a car from A to B - to a frame of mind that is more advanced...

However they are simply a starting point, so don't expect the level of detail / learning that you might see discussed on here, or in those videos...

Once you have that under your belt and some practice, (and in parallel it is worth also doing some driving days organised by this forum) then it is worth looking at IAM Master / RoSPA Gold - both of which will push you up a notch... Having done those, you might then wish to do something like the High Performance Course (high performance driving, not cars) which will take you to yet a further level - and so on...

I think that if you expect IAM / RoSPA to be the full deal you will be disappointed - but it is a very good starting point, and until you start to learn you simply don't realise how much there is to learn - however the process is a lot of fun, so worth beginning - and folks on here will no doubt help advise the next step after each stage...

You will also find that there are niggles along the way - for example IAM / RoSPA can often be criticised for having a specific way of (for example - steering) - don't worry about that, be open minded - accept it and see it as a tool you are learning and over time you will learn others, as you progress you will be more discerning about which tool to use and when

Alasdair

[Rowley010]

Thanks. I was also going ask about the HPC. What is difference between IAM/rospa and HPC? What kind of thing do you learn there that's different? These are all things that I'm interested in for the future.

[martine]

I'll let someone else reply to your query about IAM/ROSPA and HPC but you might also find this more general info useful:

http://www.advanced-driving.co.uk/about/

http://www.advanced-driving.co.uk/faq/

Note: some of the detail is a little out of date e.g. costs

[Garrison]

Be aware that IAM is essentially a self-studied course. I cannot speak for RoSPA.

There are coaches in local groups who will assist you along the way but if you are not pro-active or you need to be "spoon-fed" in a classroom environment, then IAM is not for you.

I don't want to be harsh before you have even got started but there are a lot of misconceptions from the new joiners to our group.

Which part of the country are you? It may be helpful if those in your local group can flag someone you can speak with to help you decide.

[Rowley010]

Thanks. I live in Lancashire.

My mum did the IAM test years and years ago which is how I found about it initially. She unfortunately let it slip and didn't continue keeping it up and now rarely drives at all. She did thoroughly recommend doing it to me though. She told me that she went out with an ex police driver when doing some of the training and one thing that stuck with her was how smooth the drive was generally, but in particularly she said you COULD NOT notice a gear change they were all that smooth. Will doing the IAM teach me to change gear and drive smooth like this? This is something, among other things that I would really like to get out of it if I go ahead and do it.

[akirk]

The High Performance Course (HPC) is explained here:
http://www.high-performance-course.com/

Essentially the IAM / RoSPA course I see as an introduction to advanced driving - a great starting point, but the beginning of a journey... Think of it as primary school where you are introduced to the idea of education / learning - but it is still at a fairly simple / manageable level...

The HPC course is more like secondary school - a bit more grown up, opens your eyes to the future potential of learning and is itself the beginning of a more serious / detailed journey

but like schooling - best start at the beginning - for the HPC, as it says on their website:

The Course is structured in two parts, the first being a half-day assessment and the second being a two day coaching and assessment session.

The half day assessment is to check that you are at the right level to make the 2 day course worth your while... there is little point doing the course if the basics are not in place - the IAM / RoSPA course is a good basis for getting a driver to the right place to do the HPC course...

as has been mentioned several times above - if you say where you are based I am sure that someone who has experience of the various different options would be happy to meet / have a chat... it isn't always easy to describe it all online...

Alasdair