question regarding courses soon after passing

[Kev316]

So today i had my driving test, passed with one minor for hesitation at a roundabout :$. I want to take a driving course now to help build confidence and get me some more experience, im most likely going to do pass plus but im not sure about these advanced driving courses since im still pretty young and have no experience (im 17)
Hopefully i should be driving within a few weeks with a car.
Any advice??

[onboard]

Hi,

If I was you I would try to do the Pass Plus in a day and if possible in your own car but if you are noy going to have a car within 6 to 8 weeks I would suggest doing it with the instructor's car.

Then once you have your own car I suggest you go initially for the IAM Course and then once you have that consider going for RoSPA.

If you want any other advice, just ask.

Cheers

[Engineer1]

+1 for Pass Plus, extra lessons covering the bits the driving test ignores, so Motorways, Night etc. can even get you a discount on your insurance which is useful for that first year with no NCB.

[MikePCG]

I wouldn't be in too much of a hurry to do some advanced driving courses yet. Certainly Pass Plus is a good idea.

If you want to be a good driver, it's more important to carry on doing all those things your driving instructor taught you and not to get into bad habits. Once you have been driving for a year or so, you may then want to consider some driving courses to re-enforce/assess your driving ability. Too many people learn to drive (whether that be passing the test or advanced) and get into/fall back into bad habits which then become automatic behaviour.

However I think it's great you want to improve your driving ability (hope that's for the right reasons though). Good luck.

[BertBert]

My local IAM group said they preferred new drivers to have got a good 6 months driving experience in before they started on the IAM stuff. That was to allow some of the new stuff learned to become second nature before layering more on.

I understood that, but really wanted them to coach my daughter to help the process of solidifying the initial learning. My local group couldn't do that. But it might be worth going to your local IAM group to see if they can help in that way before embarking on the next stage.

Of course there are some good chaps and chapesses on here. If there's anyone near you, the might help out with some early stage coaching. What that entails I guess depends on where you are at. If you have a great sense of car control having driven cars on the farm from the age of 6, you will be in a better place than if you have 2 months experience of driving.

The problem most people have isn't that what they learn to pass the test is bad, just that they never move on and actually degrade from that point with bad habits.

Bert

[james_gt3rs]

Kev316 said:

Any advice??

Buy Roadcraft, then read it (especially the observation chapter).

Good luck!

[davepoth]

I'd recommend pass plus, but at the very least do a motorway lesson. It's quite a bit different to driving on a dual carriageway, so it's good to learn the ins and outs of it.

[ScoobyChris]

I'd suggest doing the PassPlus to build a bit of confidence and then visiting your local RoSPA/IAM groups to see what they can offer. I personally wouldn't bother doing both RoSPA and IAM as the material they teach is identical and if your aim is to drive to the RoSPA Gold standard in the future, just go straight to RoSPA

Chris

[Starfighter]

+1 for pass plus

IAM refusals are down to the local group. In that situation I would contact the Chief Observer for the group and ask for an assessment drive from them and see what they think. I would have been happy to do this when I did the job many moons ago. IAM is about building skills not time limits.

As stated previously IAM and RoADA is the same basic tool box and same basic assessment level. (cue flame war!). With either group make sure that you are happy with your observer and get swapped if not.

[Vaux]

Starfighter said:

IAM refusals are down to the local group. In that situation I would contact the Chief Observer for the group and ask for an assessment drive from them and see what they think. I would have been happy to do this when I did the job many moons ago. IAM is about building skills not time limits.

How can a Group refuse?
There used to be a rule that a new driver couldn't take the IAM test within three months of passing the DSA test, but that didn't stop the Associate learning during that time. Not sure if that rule still exists.

[BertBert]

My local group didn't refuse. They strongly expressed the opinion that it was not a good idea. When I explained that at 17 when my daughter has passed her test, she had been driving for nearly 4 years, they relented, but not graciously. Then as people are tired of hearing me say we both gave it up as a bad job pretty quickly.

Bert

[Kev316]

Thanks for the advice everyone, yeah i will be doing pass plus hopefully within two weeks. I might wait a bit before i go onto another course since i probably need some normal driving experience.

[SVS]

Hi Keval,

Brilliant that you're interested in becoming a more confident and skillful driver! I started IAM with under a year's driving experience (and very little confidence!). It took me more lessons to get to pass standard, but it was a great thing to do. Taking IAM lessons whilst I built up my experience helped me avoid the usual new driver accidents. More recently, I gave a new driver some advanced coaching, so have experience on the other side now.

I disagree with those who suggested waiting. I recommend starting advanced training early on. The IAM recommends three months driving experience first, if you want a rule of thumb.

• Pass Plus varies considerably in its value, depending on your instructor. I strongly recommend searching out a Pass Plus instructor with an additional IAM, RoSPA, DIAmond or police advanced qualification themselves. (Many people have had poor experiences of Pass Plus from driving instructors no additional advanced qualification.)
• You can always start IAM or RoSPA training to learn good habits and new skills early, taking as many months as you like to develop your driving.
• If you can learn from reading, then the IAM book is helpful: www.amazon.co.uk/How-Be-Better-Driver-Essential/dp...
• If you prefer a more in-depth book, then try Roadcraft: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0117021687/ref=s9_sima...
• The Roadcraft DVD can be extremely useful for many people: www.amazon.co.uk/Roadcraft-Police-Drivers-Advanced...

IAM and RoSPA groups frequently have members who are also Approved Driving Instructors. You could contact your local IAM or RoSPA group and ask if there is an ADI member you could contact about taking you out for a drive.

Hope this helps a bit!

Have fun and enjoy developing your driving

Edited by SVS on Saturday 17th October 22:19

[tenohfive]

I read roadcraft (and was later instructed in it) 18 months after I'd passed my driving test. Personally I felt a bit overwhelmed by it all even at that point.

[Kev316]

tenohfive said:

I read roadcraft (and was later instructed in it) 18 months after I'd passed my driving test. Personally I felt a bit overwhelmed by it all even at that point.

Hm, yeah i was hoping to buy it soon..what is overwhelming about it just out of interest, i don't know anything about cars compared to people on this forum tbh so i don't want to waste money if i don't understand any of it :$

[Starfighter]

Vaux said:

Starfighter said:

IAM refusals are down to the local group. In that situation I would contact the Chief Observer for the group and ask for an assessment drive from them and see what they think. I would have been happy to do this when I did the job many moons ago. IAM is about building skills not time limits.

How can a Group refuse?
There used to be a rule that a new driver couldn't take the IAM test within three months of passing the DSA test, but that didn't stop the Associate learning during that time. Not sure if that rule still exists.

It is down to the policy of the individual local group. I pushed to take anyone when I was a Chief Observer as my view that people's skills and attitudes vary and are not basded on some arbitary age or time limit. I did know of some groups that wanted 6/12 months or atleast 18 years old. The 18 limit may be away around the legislation for dealing with young people.

I personally started IAM training the day I passed my test aged 17 - there were certain benefits to having my Dad as an observer - but the group was OK with this.

[Starfighter]

Kev316 said:

tenohfive said:

I read roadcraft (and was later instructed in it) 18 months after I'd passed my driving test. Personally I felt a bit overwhelmed by it all even at that point.

Hm, yeah i was hoping to buy it soon..what is overwhelming about it just out of interest, i don't know anything about cars compared to people on this forum tbh so i don't want to waste money if i don't understand any of it :$

Kev,

Don't worry about not knowing too much about cars etc. You need a basic understanding or mechanics at most and your observer will take you through any technicalities that you don't get. Ask your local group for a younger observer.


Jeff

[SVS]

Hi again Kev,

tenohfive said:

I read roadcraft (and was later instructed in it) 18 months after I'd passed my driving test. Personally I felt a bit overwhelmed by it all even at that point.

The Roadcraft book is very comprehensive, for those who like detail. Alternatively, the IAM book is simpler and much easier to grasp ...
www.amazon.co.uk/How-Be-Better-Driver-Essential/dp...

If you decide to so IAM, then you get the book for free as part of the course. In any case, there are some helpful DVDs too, e.g. Ultimate Driving Craft and the Roadcraft DVD, which are easy to watch.

• www.amazon.co.uk/ULTIMATE-DRIVING-CRAFT-Met-Police...
• www.amazon.co.uk/Roadcraft-Police-Drivers-Advanced...

The Ultimate Driving Craft DVD comes in sections, so you can watch one chapter about a specific skill and then practice it yourself. This makes it easily digestible. Although starting to look its age, the Roadcraft DVD is easier viewing still, because it's done in the form of a documentary (albeit an educational one!) and well filmed.

Cheers

Edited by SVS on Monday 19th October 23:06