I've seen suggestions that adjusting the stereo or heating controls whilst moving can be "Driving Without Due Care or Attention" within the meaning of the Act(s)!! :eek: I think the basic argument is that you can't move your arm freely to steer "properly", or can't steer properly one-handed.

How does this apply to certain disabled drivers then? Surely they have to be able to steer one handed? Although the car may be modified in order to accommodate their disability they still can only steer using one hand?

Not disagreeing, as such, just intrigued.

I think when a disabled driver takes their test, the suitability of the adaptation is taken into consideration along with their own driving skills. That said, I can't find any government information on legal requirements for adaptation, although they undoubtedly exist.

So they're, in effect, 'qualified to drive one handed' whereas everyone else isn't?

Weird.

What Nick says is plausible; I honestly don't know for sure.

IAM/RoSPA are currently struggling to attract young(er) people to their organisations and have so far failed to pinpoint why. I have my own thoughts on why this is, but I'm wondering if people could post things which would stop them joining an organisation to improve their driving.... I wanted it to be free-form so I've not added a poll, but here are a few questions.

- is it the word "advanced"?

- do you think the standard is unobtainable?

- is it the "wheel shuffler", leather string back driving glove image?

- cost?

- time?

- nothing wrong with my current driving!

- all road based and no track?

- very poor marketing/advertising of the benefits?

Chris

Might be something to do with the fact that you contact them on their difficult enough to navigate websites and they don't bother getting back to you

Bit later than the original post but my input anyway...

1 - is it the word "advanced"?

2 - do you think the standard is unobtainable?

3 - is it the "wheel shuffler", leather string back driving glove image?

4 - cost?

5 - time?

6 - nothing wrong with my current driving!

7 - all road based and no track?

8 - very poor marketing/advertising of the benefits?

1. No

2. No

3. Maybe - Kind of goes with some of the comments on age in here

4. Yes

5. Yes - i am generally very busy with work, and unsure of how long the process to obtain it would take

6. No - i'm not a professional, so every little helps

7. No - Road based training will transpose over to track use IMO, and generally we all do more driving on a road than track...

8. Yes - I'm not sure of many of the benefits the scheme offers, if i know any!

I've been asked by a few people about cost and time so I'll try and cover that. The advanced driving test costs in the region of £60 and consists of you driving around in the company of a retired/serving police traffic officer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. For an exam, it's relatively informal and it's more akin to a drive with a friend who is happy to chat, etc than a DSA driving test where you sit in silence and have instructions barked at you.

To get to test standard, it's recommended you join either your local IAM/RoSPA group. Both teach the same syllabus from Roadcraft (the Police Driver's Handbook) but there are subtle differences in the courses. The IAM rebrands Roadcraft as some in house book, but essentially it's the same thing. IAM is currently £85 to join and their Skills for Life pack includes membership of the local group, a copy of their version of Roadcraft, as many observed drives as it takes to get to test standard and the test itself. RoSPA (also called RoADAR) costs around £20-25 but this is just for the group membership and observed drives and you'll have to buy the book and pay for the test separately.

Once you've signed up to your group, you'll be invited to a classroom based course where you should get a demo drive by one of the senior observers or examiners and also be talked through the contents of Roadcraft. You'll then be assigned your observer who will sit alongside you and coach you to test standard. The average is 6 1-2 hour drives to get to test standard and they'll also be a mock test conducted by one of the senior observers to make sure you're ready for the test.

The main difference between the RoSPA exam and the IAM exam is that RoSPA is graded Bronze, Silver and Gold whereas IAM is simply a pass/fail.

Benefits of doing the course is a tough one. Hopefully you'll learn a few skills and techniques which will make you a safer, more economical and faster driver and Adrian Flux also offer a 25% discount to anyone who holds the qualification, which, in my case, has paid for the course and exam.

There are also a few DVDs about which compliment the courses nicely. Chris Gilbert's (Commentary Driving,advanced driving course,Chris Gilbert, advanced driving cd dvd, Police Driving School Hendon,DSA ADI,driving DVD, Hazard Perception,high performance driving,driver training) is excellent and is good for teaching you how to build up what you're looking at/for and how to deal with things. And if you want to take things a bit further, Mark Kendrick's mastery series is very good (Bespoke Driver Training) and shows a few more of the more advanced techniques.

Chris

I've been looking on the IAM Website today after looking at this...

Currently on the price issue - the IAM cost is reduced to £65 for the "Skills for Life" package IF you are under 25 years of age...

I'm a little more interested now TBH...

I was considering an advanced driving test/course but think i'll put the money towards adding the minibus category to my licence.

I didn't join the RoSPA or IAM as I may have heard of them but didnt actually bother googling and never heard about that much to really find out more.

There are some arrogant/silly drivers out there.

I saw 2/3 last night

1 - A BMW M5 I saw him in my mirror in the distance and in front of me was a slower moving car. I moved into the left hand lane just before a crossroads and this Beemer speeding up the hill braked hard, then accelerated and braked hard to stop at a red light.

2 - An Astra behind me on a stretch of road further up started flashing his lights at me. I was doing 30 and passing a parked car whilst he clung to my rear bumper. Plus he seemed to be racing a Passat estate.

3 - A Focus driver didnt know you could drive in the Bus Lane after a certain time and wanted to turn left from the right hand lane.

There are some arrogant/silly drivers out there.

You forgot the judgmental ones

Chris

Ok, would you say that a driver who couldn't keep up with me (at quick but legal speeds) in free-flowing traffic, but took off down a shadow island in the face of oncoming traffic to get ahead when I caught a tail behind a truck can be described as anything other than arrogant, idiotic, and possibly dangerous?

I've been asked by a few people about cost and time so I'll try and cover that. The advanced driving test costs in the region of £60 and consists of you driving around in the company of a retired/serving police traffic officer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. For an exam, it's relatively informal and it's more akin to a drive with a friend who is happy to chat, etc than a DSA driving test where you sit in silence and have instructions barked at you.

Driving test at RoSPA is £51 for cars, £54 for bikes. With IAM it's included in the skills for life package. One important thing to bear in mind is that RoSPA require that you are retested every 3 years to retain your "qualification". To those of us who are keen to improve, that's a bonus. To those with cost in mind, it might be a deterrent.

To get to test standard, it's recommended you join either your local IAM/RoSPA group. Both teach the same syllabus from Roadcraft (the Police Driver's Handbook) but there are subtle differences in the courses. The IAM rebrands Roadcraft as some in house book, but essentially it's the same thing. IAM is currently £85 to join and their Skills for Life pack includes membership of the local group, a copy of their version of Roadcraft, as many observed drives as it takes to get to test standard and the test itself. RoSPA (also called RoADAR) costs around £20-25 but this is just for the group membership and observed drives and you'll have to buy the book and pay for the test separately.

Once you've signed up to your group, you'll be invited to a classroom based course where you should get a demo drive by one of the senior observers or examiners and also be talked through the contents of Roadcraft. You'll then be assigned your observer who will sit alongside you and coach you to test standard. The average is 6 1-2 hour drives to get to test standard and they'll also be a mock test conducted by one of the senior observers to make sure you're ready for the test.

RoADAR = Rospa Advanced Drivers And Riders

Not all groups do classroom courses. Mine certainly doesn't. Neither do we have mock tests.

The IAM book is called "How to become an Advanced Driver". It is slightly more readable than Roadcraft, although as Chris says, is basically a potted version of it.

I believe the phrase is "dumbed down".

HTH

Would people suggest choosing one over the other?

ie Would, say, doing IAM and passing make doing a RoSPA course redundant? Are they just going over the same syllabus (if it's all from the same source) or are there benefits from both groups tuition that would make doing both an advantage?

I would suggest there is no point in doing both, although I have seen people doing IAM and then "progressing" to RoSPA. I would argue it's more effective to just go straight there, if you see it as a goal, and aren't just a badge collector

IAM:

Pros:

• One time payment for life
  
• Book included in the price
  
• Bigger organisation with more branches and observers
  
• No retests
  

Cons:

• Only one grade of pass
  
• No retests
  

RoSPA:

Pros:

• Cheaper test fee (but you have to buy your own books)
  
• Retests every 3 years (your membership subs include this)
  
• 3 grades of pass - more incentive to improve
  

Cons:

• Smaller, less organised, correspondence can take a while
  
• Less branches and observers
  
• Retests every 3 years
  

There you go. You'll see I've put re-tests under both headings, since, as I suggested above, that may act as an incentive, or a deterrent in some cases. Some people will compare an IAM pass with a RoSPA Silver grade. Most people agree RoSPA Gold is the best you can get at this level. There's also the DIAmond tests (Driving Instructors Association/Home) - less well known than the other two.