Why is Advanced Driving So Uncool?

[martine]

...As Mr Clarkson is prone to knocking the IAM, has the IAM thrown down the gauntlet and challenged him to a drive-off? Take any IAM member at random (who has passed the IAM test) and they should be able to outperform Clarky-boy in normal road driving.

I believe JC took and passed the IAM test some years ago. His public comments about the IAM are more to do with a certain image and comedy. I do like JC and Top Gear but I don't think we'll ever get them to endorse Advanced Driving.

[Ralge]

Much as i used to look forward to the next series of TG, equating track driving skills and maximum speed drills in some way with AD skills on normal roads is what immature laddo does before killing girlfriend in a smash.

Does AD have to make itself more attractive somehow with validation from the escapism-overdosed Buffoon - he who suggests (for comedic effect, of course) that drivers can do plenty of things in perfect safety whilst driving - button-sewing, map-reading, texting - (and that strikers should be shot) ...

Why invite him to the party? In any case, you'd never get a word in edgeways, such us his love of his own voice.

[Silk]

Much as i used to look forward to the next series of TG, equating track driving skills and maximum speed drills in some way with AD skills on normal roads is what immature laddo does before killing girlfriend in a smash.

I couldn't agree more. Nothing more to add.

Does AD have to make itself more attractive somehow with validation from the escapism-overdosed Buffoon - he who suggests (for comedic effect, of course) that drivers can do plenty of things in perfect safety whilst driving - button-sewing, map-reading, texting - (and that strikers should be shot) ...

Why invite him to the party? In any case, you'd never get a word in edgeways, such us his love of his own voice.

Perhaps Advanced Driving will never be cool, unless Roadcraft adds a chapter on driving sideways.

[Silk]

...As Mr Clarkson is prone to knocking the IAM, has the IAM thrown down the gauntlet and challenged him to a drive-off? Take any IAM member at random (who has passed the IAM test) and they should be able to outperform Clarky-boy in normal road driving.

I believe JC took and passed the IAM test some years ago. His public comments about the IAM are more to do with a certain image and comedy. I do like JC and Top Gear but I don't think we'll ever get them to endorse Advanced Driving.

It's not whether or not he endorses Advanced Driving, it's the ignorant language he uses, such as "shuffling" that I find most offensive. The analogy is using the "P" word to identify someone from Pakistan. The offence only occurs when you use the word to ignorantly describe someone from India!

Is it really too much to ask for him to get his facts right?

If it was any other subject, it probably wouldn't matter. But road safety is too serious an issue. Encouraging dangerous driving on the road is no laughing matter.

[TripleS]

I have two further thoughts.

One I think TripleS will agree with is that advanced driving is needed by some of us because without the discipline we would be quite dangerous, whereas the vast majority of drivers seem to manage safely enough without it.

Yes, I do agree with that.

My interest in driving really started round about 1955 at the age of 15, when I started reading books about advanced road driving; for example, books by James S Blair and S C H 'Sammy' Davies. In those days I didn't have so much focus on advanced driving, but the ambition to be a good driver was certainly there a couple of years before my first driving lesson.

I think that was what kept me fairly trouble-free in the early years, the years in which new young drivers are most at risk.

[Gareth]

I understand that some say to be advanced, driving has to be boring.

I presume they mean that the appearance is boring but underneath they might be working quite hard to provide an uneventful ride for their passengers. This is certainly a laudable aim in some circumstances, such as when one is transporting infirm or ill people.

I wonder if those who hold this view would also say that brisk acceleration, cornering lean and firm braking all should be excluded or, at least, minimised. I've fairly certain that the majority of IAM and RoADAR examiners wouldn't say so; collectively they appear to prefer a measure of flair and sparkle, which is pretty much precluded by drives that feel boring.

Could this approach & mindset be helping to make advanced driving unattractive in general? I'd suggest that older members of the IAM and RoADAR are more likely to proffer such a view, which could be why it is generally unattractive to younger drivers.

Long ago I realised many people like the feeling of accelerative forces. Indeed you often see it when they drive, as they purposefully yank at the steering wheel because they like the feeling of induced cornering forces, they accelerate and brake harshly for the same reason. Some like this to such an extreme they pay good money to go on rides that give them these sensations, writ large.

If some, here and elsewhere, proclaim that such feelings should be removed or reduced when driving, is it any wonder that advanced driving is uncool?

The alternative, as I see it, is to demonstrate how cornering forces, accelerating and braking, may be used to our benefit, how applying them skilfully, with smoothness, provides positive gains but that the forces themselves are nothing to be scared of or avoided, except in specific circumstances.

[Silk]

I understand that some say to be advanced, driving has to be boring.

I really depends on what you consider to be boring. Smooth, uneventful driving doesn't have to be boring. On the other hand it's possible to find endless twisty B roads boring.

I think there are at least as many who think AD *has* to be all about progress and thinking differently means being less able or not interested in improvement. Of course, a good Advanced Driver should be able to get a move on when conditions allow, but it's not always necessary to look for every opportunity to get ahead at the expense of finesse in other areas.