Thinking of getting some more training
Discussion
Have been thinking about doing this for some time now,
living in Farnborough so looking for a group local to me, not sure if i want to do ROSPA or IAM is there many differences?
Getting the new car on the weekend so lessons will be a good thing to start as new habits in a new car easier to pick up and retrain than well i have always done it like that from current car.
What does it all entail will it be a initial review of my driving then a few revisits? not worried about the qualifications at the start more the general improvements that i should hope to see with re thinking about how i drive a car.
cheers all
living in Farnborough so looking for a group local to me, not sure if i want to do ROSPA or IAM is there many differences?
Getting the new car on the weekend so lessons will be a good thing to start as new habits in a new car easier to pick up and retrain than well i have always done it like that from current car.
What does it all entail will it be a initial review of my driving then a few revisits? not worried about the qualifications at the start more the general improvements that i should hope to see with re thinking about how i drive a car.
cheers all
If you live in Farnborough you have plenty of choice. With the IAM you'll have the Camberley, Guildford and Basingstoke Groups all within easy reach. I'm an Observer with the Basingstoke Group.
You can join the IAM on-line at www.iam.org.uk it costs £85. For that you get Membership if the IAM central body, membership of your local Group and a crack at the Advanced Test. Your training is provided F.O.C. by the volunteer Observers (trainers) belonging to the local Group.
Should you fail the test you can try again and just pay for that. Should you take longer than a year to pass you will need to pay the Group's local annual membership fee.
Damn good value IMO.
You can join the IAM on-line at www.iam.org.uk it costs £85. For that you get Membership if the IAM central body, membership of your local Group and a crack at the Advanced Test. Your training is provided F.O.C. by the volunteer Observers (trainers) belonging to the local Group.
Should you fail the test you can try again and just pay for that. Should you take longer than a year to pass you will need to pay the Group's local annual membership fee.
Damn good value IMO.
Code Monkey said:
What does it all entail will it be a initial review of my driving then a few revisits? not worried about the qualifications at the start more the general improvements that i should hope to see with re thinking about how i drive a car.
I can only speak for the IAM, like Don I'm an observer. We tend to run a fairly "structured" course for the first four sessions, followed by general drives leading up to a mock test on the 8th session. If you pass the mock then you will be put forward for the actual exam. If not, you will have more general drives to keep the practice up and get you to the required standard.
The first four sessions cover:
System of car control
Steering & Gears
Progress, corners and bends
Motorways and commentary.
As Don has said, it's an absolute bargain at £85, and as the training is actually FOC you can take as much time as you need to get where you want to be.
Goliath, how do you structure your sessions? Do you explain it to the "observed" driver? I was also wondering how you maintain continuity between sessions with different observers? Do you have a system.
The reason for asking is that the group I have been to seems to do it in a quite unstructured way (as it appears to me) and there is no continuity between sessions and observers.
Thanks
Graham
The reason for asking is that the group I have been to seems to do it in a quite unstructured way (as it appears to me) and there is no continuity between sessions and observers.
Thanks
Graham
Each associate is issued with a handbook, which details what is covered in which sessions, as well as which pages of PYADT (or whatever it's called now) they should be reading beforehand. In the back of the handbook is a spreadsheet where we as observers can put a check next to anything that needs more attention, and we also comment, sign and date each drive so the next observer can look at it and see what needs work and what session the associate is up to.
The general schedule is as follows:
Joining session - a talk about what will be covered during the sessions, what's expected of the associates etc followed by a 45 min demo drive from one of the observers.
sessions 1-4 - detailed in my previous post, but they are concentrating on getting the "basics" right.
session 5 - a 45 min demo drive by the observer followed by the associate taking the same route and "stringing" the previous four sessions together.
session 6-7 : Full observed drives incorporating town, a road, b road, motorway etc to practice and improve all aspects of advanced driving.
Session 8 - mock advanced test. If passed, the associate will be put forward for the actual test.
session 9-11 : Full observed drives
Session 12 - mock test (if required)
And so on. (most people never need to go this far.)
I assumed most groups did something similar, but your post suggests otherwise unfortunately.
The general schedule is as follows:
Joining session - a talk about what will be covered during the sessions, what's expected of the associates etc followed by a 45 min demo drive from one of the observers.
sessions 1-4 - detailed in my previous post, but they are concentrating on getting the "basics" right.
session 5 - a 45 min demo drive by the observer followed by the associate taking the same route and "stringing" the previous four sessions together.
session 6-7 : Full observed drives incorporating town, a road, b road, motorway etc to practice and improve all aspects of advanced driving.
Session 8 - mock advanced test. If passed, the associate will be put forward for the actual test.
session 9-11 : Full observed drives
Session 12 - mock test (if required)
And so on. (most people never need to go this far.)
I assumed most groups did something similar, but your post suggests otherwise unfortunately.
goliath said:
I assumed most groups did something similar, but your post suggests otherwise unfortunately.
John,
Certainly not in my group.
What we have is a form, where the Observer marks out of 10 the various aspects and requirements, and this same form is used each week, so you and Observer can easily track what needs working on, what is improving, etc.
Certainly nothing as formally documented as what you have.
K
Shows what assumptions make out of people. The program we use seems to work very well in that it gives associates a structured "build-up" to the full standard required for the advanced test and is not too daunting for those just starting out. It's interesting to hear your experiences, maybe the Bolton group is in a minority in the way it does things.
I think it's quite interesting how you do, and would be beneficial to the associate.
This would allow them to specifically focused on one aspect each week, and practice practice practice until they get it right - as opposed to having to work on 2, 3, 4, maybe more aspects, so less focus/time given to a specific activity.
That said - it would require the time for someone to write all that - get it reviewed, revised, re-reviewed and approved by committee - and I'm not sure anyone would have the time to do that to start with - however well intentioned they were.
Unless of course it could be lifted from the Observers handbook, other groups (like your own), etc, etc .....
K
This would allow them to specifically focused on one aspect each week, and practice practice practice until they get it right - as opposed to having to work on 2, 3, 4, maybe more aspects, so less focus/time given to a specific activity.
That said - it would require the time for someone to write all that - get it reviewed, revised, re-reviewed and approved by committee - and I'm not sure anyone would have the time to do that to start with - however well intentioned they were.
Unless of course it could be lifted from the Observers handbook, other groups (like your own), etc, etc .....
K
The Associate Manual we use is only a sheet of A4 for each session - basically bullet points under the following three headings (with some examples):
Before This Session:
You must have read pafes xx to yy of PYADT
Understand the System
etc
During This Session We Will Cover:
Pull/Push Method of steering
Observation Links
Scanning - Distance, Bonnet, Mirror, Speed
etc
Before Your Next Session:
Practice what you've done etc
Read pages xx to yy of PYADT
etc
The rest of the manual is just the "score" sheet, a map to the meeting place, guidance on a cockpit drill etc. It's probably 12 pages at the most (I guess manual is a bit of an overstatement ;-) ) - I doubt it would take very long to put something together. Getting a change through the committee is by far the bigger challenge.
John
>> Edited by goliath on Thursday 13th April 18:48
Before This Session:
You must have read pafes xx to yy of PYADT
Understand the System
etc
During This Session We Will Cover:
Pull/Push Method of steering
Observation Links
Scanning - Distance, Bonnet, Mirror, Speed
etc
Before Your Next Session:
Practice what you've done etc
Read pages xx to yy of PYADT
etc
The rest of the manual is just the "score" sheet, a map to the meeting place, guidance on a cockpit drill etc. It's probably 12 pages at the most (I guess manual is a bit of an overstatement ;-) ) - I doubt it would take very long to put something together. Getting a change through the committee is by far the bigger challenge.
John
>> Edited by goliath on Thursday 13th April 18:48
goliath said:
Each associate is issued with a handbook, which details what is covered in which sessions, as well as which pages of PYADT (or whatever it's called now) they should be reading beforehand. In the back of the handbook is a spreadsheet where we as observers can put a check next to anything that needs more attention, and we also comment, sign and date each drive so the next observer can look at it and see what needs work and what session the associate is up to.
The general schedule is as follows:
Joining session - a talk about what will be covered during the sessions, what's expected of the associates etc followed by a 45 min demo drive from one of the observers.
sessions 1-4 - detailed in my previous post, but they are concentrating on getting the "basics" right.
session 5 - a 45 min demo drive by the observer followed by the associate taking the same route and "stringing" the previous four sessions together.
session 6-7 : Full observed drives incorporating town, a road, b road, motorway etc to practice and improve all aspects of advanced driving.
Session 8 - mock advanced test. If passed, the associate will be put forward for the actual test.
session 9-11 : Full observed drives
Session 12 - mock test (if required)
And so on. (most people never need to go this far.)
I assumed most groups did something similar, but your post suggests otherwise unfortunately.
And herein lies the rub.
The above is a perfect example of why the IAM could do with a re-think. Firstly, can I just say I am all for the IAM. I'm in it. so are me mates, and if more drivers did it we would have less accidents.
However, there is too much difference between groups. A 'lady friend' of mine (no names, no pack dril - wink wink, don't tell the missus) is currently undergoing observation. There is a single sheet, but the Observer doesn't really use it. She asked when 'the limit point' would be covered, but was told, "no need, you already corner correctly, so just keep on doing what you are doing". She had to ask to do a motorway drive, and the Observer said "yes, I suppose we could do one". There has been no formal discussion of any part of the system, and the drives consist of her driving along, with few if any comments from the Observer. At NO point has she been taught, talked through, or had suggested, any part of the System.
The first drive with the Observer consisted of her driving along, then the Observer volunteered to do a 1/2 hour drive as an example. This seemed like a good idea, but the Observer drove without saying anything. So my 'friend' didn't know what to look for, or whether it was good or bad.
She is georgeous, but sad with no mates, so she reads a lot. Because of this, she knew what she should be doing by studying the Advanced Manual, which is a good job because she was never told what to do.
Reading Goliath's notes above, I only wish they were all like this. Too much bad planning and organisation is passed off under the banner "they are volunteers".
However, I would still recomend it to anyone, 'cos everyone can benefit from it. It's just that some groups are clearly hard work. Pick and choose wisely, and ask in advance exactly what you will be getting.
jazzyjeff said:
She is georgeous, but sad with no mates,
...phone number!!???
Yeah right, like I'm going to share.
I jest you not, she is a drop dead beauty, stays in a lot, genuinely likes cooking for me, doesn't mind if you pop out with the lads, is intelligent to a scary degree, likes driving, understands cars.
Then to cap it all off, she digs me. What a wise woman.
P.S. I asked monkey boy (code monkey, whatever) today if he had decided to do the training. However, having read the above, I no longer care!
Big Fat F'er said:
She is georgeous, but sad with no mates,
...phone number!!???
Yeah right, like I'm going to share.
I jest you not, she is a drop dead beauty, stays in a lot, genuinely likes cooking for me, doesn't mind if you pop out with the lads, is intelligent to a scary degree, likes driving, understands cars.
Then to cap it all off, she digs me. What a wise woman.
P.S. I asked monkey boy (code monkey, whatever) today if he had decided to do the training. However, having read the above, I no longer care!
Gawd, where did you find her? Are there any more?
Gassing Station | Advanced Driving | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff