I ordered this for £12 off Amazon earlier in the week, it arrived today. I've had a quick flick through it and it looks like a very high quality book and in my opinion will probably make me a better driver; opening my eyes up to hazards etc that I may not have taken in to account before.

I'm not a policeman and don't intend on becoming one either, but read and heard from others that the "Roadcraft" series of books are very useful (perhaps more useful in some respects than the highway code) and in my mind, if it prevents me from having an accident in the future, it's £12 well spent...

At £12 it really is a bargain and as you say, it is very good at explaining what advanced driving is and the techniques used. I struggled with a few of the concepts which I found didn't lend themselves well to print, eg limit point analysis, commentary and bend positioning, where I found a video or a demonstration in a car was much more helpful.

The accompanying (and slightly outdated ) Roadcraft DVD takes some of the concepts further and provides examples. Can also highly recommend Mark Kendrick's Driving Mastery Series and Chris Gilbert's Ultimate Driving Craft DVD.

An extract from the latter is here.... never fails to impress me

Chris

I ordered it a few days ago now amazon's free postage offer is on £5 or more.

there is also a roadcraft dvd too which you might find helpful as it explains and shows some of the techniques which a 1000 words cannot explain, i certainly found it useful.

Also found this clip useful, from the same DVD Chris mentioned earlier:

YouTube - Advanced Driving - Chris Gilbert Ultimate Driving Craft DVD

"Anyone can drive fast, it's recognising when you should drive slow." - a particular favourite of mine during that one

Steve

That video posted by Wardy looks like he's going so slow, but at the point where he mentions that he is going 50mph you realise that he is in fact making relatively good progress. I find that concept of speed is particularly difficult in a video, probably because of the lack of peripheral vision?

I think you're right on the speed thing not translating well to video and it may also be the fact there are no other cars around to show relative progress.

This has a bit more traffic but unfortunately no commentary.

Chris

YouTube - Advanced Driving - Chris Gilbert Ultimate Driving Craft DVD

The Wantage to Newbury Road, know it very well, feel he does over exaggerate the slowness in places as on my advance training we did use this road.

If in search of driving enlightment - pop over to SS FORUMS and search for COAST -article written by a resident Hendon Graduate(that's a friendly cop who was trained at Hendon -the Police Driving Academy ) - who's only too willing to pass on driving tips etc -he lurks in Durham -home of the real cop -not PC gATSO -I've found that one sermon from him is worth more than severqal books on driving skills .

Far from being a site dedicated to getting rid of cameras (as popular propaganda would suggest) it's a site DEDICATED to road afety ,and the education of motorists of all levles .So pop along -ask a question -and be educated .

You may even think that £60 a year is a bargain ( not essential to join-they'll give out advice for free) ),for the advice given

An extract from the latter is here.... never fails to impress me

Fantastic clip - my instructor taught me to give a commentary (albeit not that intense) when I was learning to drive, and it's amazing how much it focuses your attention.

Incidentally - when he's running along the outside lane of the dual carriageway and says 'that Volvo is a bit slow', isn't it a hearse?

Incidentally - when he's running along the outside lane of the dual carriageway and says 'that Volvo is a bit slow', isn't it a hearse?

Looked like an old 240 Estate to me. The link to hearse therefore isn't that far off, but I don't think that it's primary purpose

Steve

Yeah I think Steve's right - an old Volvo estate with a roof rack, although it's hard to be sure from the video.

Chris

Yep, a nice 'Good Life' Volvo, with appropriate roof-rack :P

N.B. This is a screenshot, not a link to the video itself!

Well spotted

At least the driver could make a few quid on the side if he wanted to

Thank-you, I was testing my observational skills

Thank-you, I was testing my observational skills

Although marks off for not observing it's actually a single carriageway road :P;)

Chris

Ummm, it certainly looks like a dual carriageway to me. There's clearly two lanes on the other side, you can see the markings in my screenshot. The line markings on his side of the road are obscured by the centre dash-box and the daft website copyright text....

Steve

Ummm, it certainly looks like a dual carriageway to me. There's clearly two lanes on the other side, you can see the markings in my screenshot. The line markings on his side of the road are obscured by the centre dash-box and the daft website copyright text....

Steve

Doesn't a true dual carriageway need a central reservation?

Doesn't a true dual carriageway need a central reservation?

Yup - refers to the number of "carriageways" rather than the number of lanes so you'd need a physical divider, rather than just paint, to separate the two. I suspect this distinction isn't very widely known about which is why our local Safety Camera Partnership vans like positioning themselves in laybys on crawler lane stretches.

Chris

Yup - refers to the number of "carriageways" rather than the number of lanes so you'd need a physical divider, rather than just paint, to separate the two. I suspect this distinction isn't very widely known about which is why our local Safety Camera Partnership vans like positioning themselves in laybys on crawler lane stretches.

Chris

I honestly don't think that a human policeman would stop a driver doing 70mph to pass a queue of lorries in a crawler lane - conditions permitting. (in fact I'd call that appropriate use of speed if the road was straight, visibility good etc.)

Mr Safety Camera Partnership van, however...

Doesn't a true dual carriageway need a central reservation?

Ah OK, we're into that technical area then are we?

I have sometimes pondered this one. By definition, I suppose the road in question above is indeed a single carriageway, as it has no interruption to the road surface between the edges of the highway boundary. It's just that it happens to have four lanes....

Definition: "A dual carriageway is a road or highway in which the two directions of traffic are separated by a central barrier or strip of land, known as a central reservation or median."

Steve

Ah OK, we're into that technical area then are we?

Didn't mean to be overtly pedantic but given the way NSL is enforced and the term was used, I thought I would mention it. Might save someone some points in the future

As it happens, I got Roadcraft early last year to have a read through with the intention of doing some advanced driving. My driving is shocking so I didn't take it any further. Interesting and probably valuable book though.

Has it been recently updated? Does it make my old edition obsolete?

I don't know if it's been updated but the pictures and diagrams in this version are a darn sight better than the version my dad bought 15 years or so ago

I don't know if it's been updated but the pictures and diagrams in this version are a darn sight better than the version my dad bought 15 years or so ago

New one: https://www.tsoshop.co.uk/bookstore.asp?FO=1159966&ProductID=9780117021686&Action=Book

Previous one: TSO Online Bookshop - Roadcraft - The Essential Police Driver's Handbook

I have the previous one as that was current in March 2007

My driving is shocking so I didn't take it any further.

Isn't the whole point of driver training that you take something you're not happy with and work towards improving it until you are happy with it?

Has it been recently updated? Does it make my old edition obsolete?

There was a revision in the last year (dark blue cover I think), but they all cover pretty much the same material. I think the newer one may explain a couple of the concepts a bit more clearly than the yellow one, but not enough to justify buying it as a replacement, imho.

Chris