Do you display an IAM sticker?

[Benbay001]

• waits for the "Im not even a member of the IAM" replies**

Got my test pass certificate in the post just a few days ago after passing a couple of weeks back. In the envelope was the IAM sticker, so naturally i put it in the rear window of the car, dispite having read many who dont display one due to what the IAM has come to symbolise.
Back to the original question, IAM members, do you display the IAM badge!?
Ta.

[Neil.D]

No,

I didnt do it so I could display a badge.

[SVS]

I do now.

I never used to, for all the reasons others have mentioned. Then I started spotting the odd vehicle parked nearby that had a badge on; I thought it was nice to see other members around. So now I do the same and have a sticker.

However, I'd prefer a "stealth sticker" that only other members would recognise! Though the IAM tax disc holders are fairly discrete. Probably only other IAMers would spot one.

[Benbay001]

Hmm, nice to know that everyone so far displays one, contrary to what other threads would have you believe.

[Vaux]

Benbay001 said:

..... dispite having read many who dont display one due to what the IAM has come to symbolise.

Could you expand on this bit please?

[Benbay001]

Vaux said:

Could you expand on this bit please?

Sure, i can explain through my own experiences too. Went to my first group meet the other day, which i greatly enjoyed as it was a talk on cars previously owned by the speaker. Anyway.. coffee and tea break mid way through. Lady approaches me and practically shoves a form down my throat trying to get me to find friends who want to join the IAM. All my body language would have been reading that i surely didnt want this, as i was deadly uncomfortable.
For me, it is (therefore) the commercial aspect of the IAM, for others (from what i have read) it is that they no longer promote the interests of the motorist.
But.. obviously this is only what i have read from a number of forum posts.

[Stefluc]

If the IAM was run a little bit like the ADUK forum particulary the organisation side for AD days then I think it would be a lot better and more people would enjoy it,but the thing that I think is more obvious to me is that no one seems to enjoy the actual driving side or at least they dont appear to promote that side.
They seem to push the fact that they will sit in your passenger seat and observe your drive and that seems to be the sum total,you don't become a better driver by just sitting in the passenger seat you have to get out there and practise what you preach,and i think it is more easier to do this with some of the contacts that the IAM have provided over the years,after all you can arrange to borrow a car from a local dealer and set up Insurance for it with the IAM and a car full can go off for a day having a jolly good drive and still observe each others performance.
Stefluc

[Vaux]

Benbay001 said:

Vaux said:

Could you expand on this bit please?

Sure, i can explain through my own experiences too. Went to my first group meet the other day, which i greatly enjoyed as it was a talk on cars previously owned by the speaker. Anyway.. coffee and tea break mid way through. Lady approaches me and practically shoves a form down my throat trying to get me to find friends who want to join the IAM. All my body language would have been reading that i surely didnt want this, as i was deadly uncomfortable.
For me, it is (therefore) the commercial aspect of the IAM, for others (from what i have read) it is that they no longer promote the interests of the motorist.
But.. obviously this is only what i have read from a number of forum posts.

Thanks for replying.
Unfortunate experience - some of the committee people can be intimidating - especially the women.
I don't agree with the interpretation that she was concerned with the commercial aspect though. Local Groups are relatively independent and can be quite "anti" the commercial side. The committee are all volunteers.
I think the interest in picking on you will be purely based on your age - you are in the age range of drivers that the IAM would like to have. And you will have friends, and it will be easier for you to get them interested in the IAM than some old farts handing out pamphlets.

I hope you can put in a good word to your friends though!

Also, I don't know how comfortable you would be with this idea, but I'd have a word with the Chairman, or someone you do feel happy to talk to and explain that that woman's interpersonal skills need working on!

[Mastodon2]

She might have gone about it the wrong way - I certainly would not pass on pamphlets to my friends as it's not the right approach for young men, but I think anyone would agree that more young people, both men and women, learning advanced driving is a good thing.

I have not done IAM training yet, but I'm hoping to do some later in the year.

[Benbay001]

Vaux said:

Thanks for replying.
Unfortunate experience - some of the committee people can be intimidating - especially the women.
I don't agree with the interpretation that she was concerned with the commercial aspect though. Local Groups are relatively independent and can be quite "anti" the commercial side. The committee are all volunteers.
I think the interest in picking on you will be purely based on your age - you are in the age range of drivers that the IAM would like to have. And you will have friends, and it will be easier for you to get them interested in the IAM than some old farts handing out pamphlets.

I hope you can put in a good word to your friends though!

Also, I don't know how comfortable you would be with this idea, but I'd have a word with the Chairman, or someone you do feel happy to talk to and explain that that woman's interpersonal skills need working on!

Haha Most of what you said i hadnt considered. I have a friend who is interested. I wont approach the chairman, that would just be an even more uncomfortable conversation.
Food for thought, thanks though.

[SVS]

Stefluc said:

If the IAM was run a little bit like the ADUK forum particulary the organisation side for AD days then I think it would be a lot better and more people would enjoy it,but the thing that I think is more obvious to me is that no one seems to enjoy the actual driving side or at least they dont appear to promote that side ...

... except in the IAM motorbike groups IAM bikers are a different species to the car lot. My bike group has a packed events calendar of ride-outs for both new and 'progressive' riders, track days, dirt biking, etc.

Which IAM membership numbers are static? Car drivers. Which IAM membership numbers have been growing massively in recent years? Motorcyclists

[Y282]

handed it in with my gun. now i can get things done my way.

[Lets Torque]

My dad has had his IAM sticker on MOST cars he has had. Although now its on the Toyota my mum drives. When I come to do my IAM test (around 17/18) i will put the sticker on the back window.

Here's one experience though...one day my dad was on the motorway and got pulled for speeding, when the police came they saw the sticker and just gave him a warning and the police just said that bieng a member of IAM he should known better.

Thats maybe not always the case but thats my dads experience.

[Synchromesh]

Lets Torque said:

Here's one experience though...one day my dad was on the motorway and got pulled for speeding, when the police came they saw the sticker and just gave him a warning and the police just said that bieng a member of IAM he should known better.

This is another reason I don't display mine. Similar reason to why I removed my 'evo' sticker and don't have a PH sticker.

[Lets Torque]

Synchromesh said:

Lets Torque said:

Here's one experience though...one day my dad was on the motorway and got pulled for speeding, when the police came they saw the sticker and just gave him a warning and the police just said that bieng a member of IAM he should known better.

This is another reason I don't display mine. Similar reason to why I removed my 'evo' sticker and don't have a PH sticker.

Why? they said that he should have known better but given the circumstances (clear motorway , nice weather) they said it was alright and the police said that being a IAM member he was a better driver than most. Surely thats a compliment...saying that your a good driver.

I can see the EVO sticker and to some extent the PH sticker but not the IAM sticker.

[craig7584]

I have mine on show, the additional presure it puts on you to drive well is a good thing IMO. Plus it seems to make your actions carry some weight, not only with police officers but other road users.

[mgmrw2003]

I'm 23, heading for 24 and display mine on the SAAB, I drive it one day a week currently and the OH (22) drives it 2days a week, rest of time it sits on the drive... SO, we tend to always look like we've borrowed grandad's car.

I did have one on the 100% JDM influenced 200SX I owned, was amusing to see baffled faces at times.

BUT as someone else has stated, I did mine to confirm that I was infact a good driver (passed normal test after 6lessons, first time, 3minors. Theory and hazard 1st time) and passed IAM after 7sessions and test 1st time... driven around 30k miles a year on average since passing at 17, so now around 210,000 miles without accident, and only picking up points for 1x offence which was fine only, but being young they made an example of me. AND then 3years later getting the obligatory motorway speeding for just over 80mph.


The bitter irony for myself came when the normal insurers do not recognise IAM, and IAM insurance will not touch under 25s..... Seems a bit pointless the IAM under 25 offers they have on etc

anyway, rant over

[gdaybruce]

When I passed my IAM test I was running a Subaru Impreza Turbo and I fitted a grille badge, partly because I thought it helped to offset the chavvy image to which Imprezas were becoming prone. Perhaps I also thought that it would help both the IAM's image and my own to show that IAM membership and fast cars can co-exist!

These days my main car is an employer funded diesel Vauxhall and I have a sticker above the tax disc. My MX5 makes do with a Pistonheads sticker on the boot.

[mgmrw2003]

[quote=gdaybruce]When I passed my IAM test I was running a Subaru Impreza Turbo and I fitted a grille badge, partly because I thought it helped to offset the chavvy image to which Imprezas were becoming prone. Perhaps I also thought that it would help both the IAM's image and my own to show that IAM membership and fast cars can co-exist!

this was my thought about the 200SX...... The SAAB I'm having to do the opposite, i.e. take steps to make it look like it's owned by someone in their 20s not an OAP

[S. Gonzales Esq.]

mgmrw2003 said:

...IAM insurance will not touch under 25s...

No longer the case - the IAM Surety scheme is now available to younger drivers too.