ADUK Archive

My brother is going to be starting driving lessons in the next month or so, and of course I'm keen for him to join the IAM afterwards and learn advanced driving techniqes.

I'll probably be giving him general driving tips and advise whilst he's doing the L test, but how long after passing is a good time to start on advanced driving (with a proper observer)?

I passed my IAM 11 months after my DSA but don't feel I did it was too soon. Then again, cars and driving have always been something I've been interested in. I wouldn't recommend going straight from DSA to AD though. Give the kid a few thousand miles so driving becomes natural, and leaves free processing capacity to work on improving particular aspects of it.

In a word: immediately.

Treat it as part of a continuous learning process from DSA to AD.

In the good old days we used to have a reactionary old guard who would tell you that you had to wait four or five years... in order to gain sufficient experience to cope with the AD test.

This advice was nonsense - tell your brother to do the AD test immediately, before he has a chance to have his first accident!

My ex knew about a lot of 'advanced' stuff from biking long before learning to drive.

Her car instructor didn't like it when she started using 'lines' for bends

hir wrote:In a word: immediately.

What he said.

Gumby wrote:My brother is going to be starting driving lessons in the next month or so, and of course I'm keen for him to join the IAM afterwards and learn advanced driving techniqes.

I'll probably be giving him general driving tips and advise whilst he's doing the L test, but how long after passing is a good time to start on advanced driving (with a proper observer)?

What do you mean by a proper observer ? - if you can give tips and advice then you should be able to pass on what is needed for the AD - yes

ROG wrote:What do you mean by a proper observer ? - if you can give tips and advice then you should be able to pass on what is needed for the AD - yes

On the other hand, I'm not sure how receptive my brother would have been to my advice (or even would be now! ), so having someone independent might be better for ongoing good family relationships.

Take a step back, what do you actually want to achieve - particularly fo a new driver?

Thanks for the replies everyone.

hir wrote:In a word: immediately.

Treat it as part of a continuous learning process from DSA to AD.

In the good old days we used to have a reactionary old guard who would tell you that you had to wait four or five years... in order to gain sufficient experience to cope with the AD test.

This advice was nonsense - tell your brother to do the AD test immediately, before he has a chance to have his first accident!

This was my first thought, perhaps give him time to get used to the basic principles of driving a car before moving onto more complex ideas and techniques, which was why I asked.

I should point out that my brother is actually older than me (27), but due to circumstances never had the opportunity to learn when he was 17.

What I meant by proper observer was someone who is a qualfied observer to IAM standards (I'm not....yet, although Swatchways keeps telling me I should ) and me being his younger brother may not necessarily pay attention to what I'm teaching him. Also someone who has time dedicated to teaching.

Being the only AD qualfied driver in the family, I've got a lot of respect from everyone on all matters driving so that's why I will be proposing this to him after he passes DSA.

Knowing what I know now having becoming an AD, I want to pass this onto as many people as I can and have them learn the same things, especially someone in my own family.

Gumby wrote:(I'm not....yet, although Swatchways keeps telling me I should )

This is true - as you know I think you'd make a very good observer.

Gumby wrote:Being the only AD qualfied driver in the family, I've got a lot of respect from everyone on all matters driving so that's why I will be proposing this to him after he passes DSA.

Crikey - I think mine write me off even more on all matters driving being the only ADer. Although, my sister is joining the ranks!

O/T - you doing the meeting this week?

swatchways wrote:

Gumby wrote:(I'm not....yet, although Swatchways keeps telling me I should )

This is true - as you know I think you'd make a very good observer.

Gumby wrote:Being the only AD qualfied driver in the family, I've got a lot of respect from everyone on all matters driving so that's why I will be proposing this to him after he passes DSA.

Crikey - I think mine write me off even more on all matters driving being the only ADer. Although, my sister is joining the ranks!

O/T - you doing the meeting this week?

cheers!

Yes I will be there, I take it you are going too?

Gumby wrote:Yes I will be there, I take it you are going too?

Yep, I'm getting chauffered too I believe - think the 4's back on the road.

I passed my test around 7 weeks after my 17th, and passed my IAM around 8 weeks before my 18th.

Its never too early in my opinion

I would also agree that to continue learning is the best thing to do. I don't think to have a break before training for the next stepping stone is the right approach as I do believe that we should be committed to self improvement all the time. I very much regret having a period away from training for 25 years. Despite a great deal of time and effort over the last 4 years I am nowhere near the level I was at and I think I never will be now. If only I had not had that break I might be a half decent driver now. So don't make the mistake I did, keep on training and learning is my advice.

jcochrane wrote:I would also agree that to continue learning is the best thing to do. I don't think to have a break before training for the next stepping stone is the right approach as I do believe that we should be committed to self improvement all the time. I very much regret having a period away from training for 25 years. Despite a great deal of time and effort over the last 4 years I am nowhere near the level I was at and I think I never will be now. If only I had not had that break I might be a half decent driver now. So don't make the mistake I did, keep on training and learning is my advice.

hey you ain't that bad