IAM Driving Assessment

missile

Gloomendoom wrote: »

20 years driving does not necessarily make you a better driver. 20 minutes instruction may.

Fixed it for you.

Many idiots undervalue the benefits of education.

Fixed it for you :rotfl:

missile

mutley74 wrote: »

certainly learning from it and building up my awareness. I have done defensive driving courses before, but this is a more thorough understanding and practice of driving skills.

Good for you :beer:

Arfa__

dannyrst wrote: »

But the truth of the matter is you can't be 100% certain that nobody is using your lack of indication as a sign that you aren't turning.

But any sensible onlooker will of course only view a flashing indicator to confirm just one thing: the indicator bulb is functional. A lot can be portrayed through usage, timing, duration and omission of use. There's more to ones use of indicators than just jabbing them on parrot fashion prior to every move. The key thing here is not to lay down some hard and fast rule for each circumstance, but rather to encourage a more thoughtful and considered approach.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

I became conscious that my driving wasn't really up to scratch. On a long journey there would usually be something where afterwards I would think that there was an unnecessary incident. Mainly it was an overly aggressive determination to hold my own, a bit of driving too close on the motorway (to stop those thousands of motorists who would undertake if you weren't driving up the backside of the car in front to demonstrate you were trying, that sort of thing) and being surprised that something was around that I hadn't seen.

Assessment drive went quite well, assessor relaxed and we got chatty. Mainly what came out was slowing things down, approaching junctions more slowly to allow you to look and continue through a give way without stopping, faster overall, slowing gear changes down to be smoother, completing braking soon enough before a corner to also then change gear and drive through the corner more effectively, good lane choice.

Main difference in my driving is being confident about sticking to the speed limit rather than feeling I wasn't doing my bit to help traffic flow (you find that on a motorway, 80% of people are driving at 70 or less, as opposed to playing road warrior where you are convinced only incompetents drive at 70) planning ahead.

So the underlying benefit is self-confidence, discovering that driving properly doesn't get in anyone's way, that most people don't react badly to someone driving at the speed limit, and the joy of the smug feeling of beating aggressive motorists through busy road systems by careful observation. Not giving a jot about speed cameras or police cars is another benefit.

Oh, and the signalling thing does work. Being brought up with that guilt trip of needing to signal correctly, I make sure that I signal if there is anyone to see it who might be affected, it really is good for encouraging observation, and basically, if you think it is OK to drive and miss seeing things so you must signal regardless, then you are saying that your observation isn't good enough and you are depending on your indicators to get other people to avoid you - just hope you don't meet yourself coming the other way.

The speed limit thing - drove from Abingdon to Solihull the other night - A34, M40, 70mph the whole way, 1 hour 10 minutes for a roughly 80 mile journey. Drive at 80mph it will still be over an hour - will my life be improved by that extra 10 minutes - and would you achieve a steady 80mph, or would you meet other people (like me!) legitimately travelling at 70mph passing slower traffic? Put another way, if 10 minutes a day is so important to you, then you really must have problems with stress in your life and the chances are that the 10 minutes you gain today will be lost at the end of your days. I'll drive at 70 in the right lane if I'm passing a lorry or slow car and the car behind will just have to wait patiently regardless of how quickly they approach in my rear view mirror - the only reaction you get is them booting it past you when you clear as they demonstrate how badly you've held them up. Speed limiters and cruise control are a great help to moderating your driving.

missile

I'll drive at 70 in the right lane if I'm passing a lorry or slow car and the car behind will just have to wait patiently regardless of how quickly they approach in my rear view mirror - the only reaction you get is them booting it past you when you clear as they demonstrate how badly you've held them up

An IAM observer would not approve your smug attitude.