RoSPA Advanced Driver Training

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Charles Morgan

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For the last few months I have been learning the RoSPA taught Advanced Driving course, which is based on Roadcraft, the Police driving manual (with tiny differences). After an induction day with the local Thames Valley group, I was assigned a local tutor, a volunteer, and we would go out about once a week to work on all the aspects of Roadcraft, including commentary driving.

The reason behind it was a cumulative awareness that I was having too many incidents where I felt my safety in the car was being compromised. Taking the view that while I felt most were the result of others bad driving, I was at equal fault for not anticipating the dangers, so decided that I had to improve the safety of my driving.

Apart from the commentary driving (where you describe what you observe as hazards to you as you drive) the use of road position, smooth braking and acceleration, far and near observation and pull push steering, all were about refining and improving how you drive. Plus of course, refreshing the memory about the Highway Code, which I admit I last read before my driving test 35 years ago.

I found my tutor, Olly, excellent, a fair critic of what I was doing wrong and a great help in building on what I was doing right. Finally, after two postponements as I was ill, I had my test yesterday. It was taken by a retired tactical pursuit traffic police officer, and he set me a course and observed my skills over nearly an hour and a half. Apart from slightly going over the speed limit on two occasions, which I quickly corrected, and a degree of nerves at the start, he stated I'd passed with a gold, the highest standard possible at this stage.

Apart from improving my driving, it has really revitalised my enthusiasm behind the wheel. Nothing will make sitting in a jam more pleasant, but many a tedious drive has been improved by a commentary and implementing the system of driving well. I heartily recommend it, it requires a modest financial commitment (about £50 to join the local Roadar group and the same to sit the test) but a greater time and effort requirement.
 
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I might even give it a go after recovering from my Prostate op! My wife is a nervous passenger and says I drive too quickly ( even though I have never had an accident in 50 yrs )
Sounds like a good refresher and should get rid of any bad habits I am sure to have acquired.
 
Well done , and good on getting a Gold , which by no means everyone does .

From my own experience, Rospa are a bit more open minded and less pedantic than IAM , although it has been a number of years ( decades ) since I did it .

So long ago , in fact , that they were called The League of Safe Drivers when I first did it , resat and retained my Gold ( class one back then ) three times , before dropping out due to work and bringing up a young family ate Ito my free time .

I keep meaning to get back into it ... one day .

Even though all I’ve done in recent years has been periodic driving assessments through work , it is something that never leaves you and is beneficial in both safety and caring for your car .
 
Well don, Charles and thanks for your personal insight. I'm fortunate to have attained a similar standard out of job-required necessity but it made a positive impact on my driving away from work and I've always felt the basics of Roadcraft, which strike me as being common sense and not difficult to understand or implement, should be taught to all drivers as they learn.
 
Well done Charles. After over 50 years of driving, during which time I attended a skid control course and a one day session at the police driving school in Hendon, I took a 1.5 hour IAM assessment to evaluate my current abilities. I was pleased to be told that I didn’t need any further honing of my road skills. My car handling knowledge may have been helped a little by the time I’d previously spent at Thruxton and Silverstone in single seaters and supercars, but far more likely to have been my week-long course and qualification as an ambulance driver some 40 years ago that set me up for better road use. I would thoroughly recommend advanced driving courses to everyone, those little extras you learn could save a life one day.
 
My wife has always been a nervous passenger, she trusts my driving but not the 'idiots' all around me.
So, like others on this forum, I submitted myself to an hours driving assessment by an IAM examiner(who happened to be an ex royal protection sqad policeman).
I was a bit nervous at first, but needn't have worried as we had lots in common - rally driving to name but one - and he soon put me at ease.
On returning home, when parking outside my house, I inadvertantly put my front wheel on the kerb. "HA, got you" he said, "I hate giving anyone a clean sheet" and knocked me one point.
End result was 'Excellent' on my report sheet. I was quite pleased with my performance, but my wife still worries about the other road users, as do I.
 
I was quite pleased with my performance, but my wife still worries about the other road users, as do I.

Half way through this process my tutor was rear-ended while out in his Porsche. He had been stationary in traffic on the A404 when he was hit by a learner driver who couldn't stop in time. As he said, you can do everything possible, but someone somewhere might still get you!
 
Well done Charles a great achievement indeed. I did the IAM test 2 years ago and passed with a F1RST the highest grade. I subsequently did the RoSPA last year and managed a gold grade too. I feel doing these advanced courses really sharpened up my driving and would recommend it to everyone who is considering doing so, incidentally having done both I feel the RoSPA one is a higher grade.
I now teach others as a National observer for the IAM and it is very rewarding seeing others improve their driving skills
 
Many thanks for the good wishes , am having op on Thursday am next. I can think of better ways to spend the morning but as I was my decision to have the Prostate removed ( even though I seem to have caught the cancer early ) I will not be complaining.
Guys get your self to the doctors for a PSA test , there are no symptoms for prostate cancer, the odds are that even with an enlarged prostate you are cancer free but better to check.
Right back to the pelvic floor exercises, urged on by my wife who tells me they are normal exercise for most women!
 
I emailed our local group back in January asking about joining up, I still haven't got around to actually sending them the form. I think I'm a pretty good driver but am not naive that as I get older I forget things, become complacent, have slower reactions and also the world changes. I was originally considering just doing a couple of hours of driving lessons every couple of years - but I think RoSPA is a better idea.
One thing that puts me off is the strict speed limits though. I'm a 10%er, I don't really speed, but I don't watch the speedo either - which is the whole reason there's generally some slack given around the limit, so that you can be doing anywhere from 27-33 (for example) and be safely aware of what's going on - I don't want to be restricted to exactly the limit in all situations.
 
My only advice is to go on with an open mind, not create barriers and learn the system. It is about being in full control of your vehicle, so you will be expected to know what speed you are doing and expected to correct speeding, or indeed, driving more slowly than the situation and the limits allow. I went over the limit twice in my test, but corrected it. It is a system designed by the police, for the police, and so speed limits are important for the learning and testing.
 
Indeed. I already have a copy of Roadcraft which I've been reading, and I planned to just speak to my volunteer about things like speeding to get his/her professional viewpoint on the strictness and reasoning behind it etc.
 
Many thanks for the good wishes , am having op on Thursday am next. I can think of better ways to spend the morning but as I was my decision to have the Prostate removed ( even though I seem to have caught the cancer early ) I will not be complaining.
Guys get your self to the doctors for a PSA test , there are no symptoms for prostate cancer, the odds are that even with an enlarged prostate you are cancer free but better to check.
Right back to the pelvic floor exercises, urged on by my wife who tells me they are normal exercise for most women!
May I add my good wishes for the op.

I had the PSA test done a few weeks ago, along with many others as part of a full health assessment at a BMI hospital. At around £500 it seems a lot at first, but we (reluctantly) accept that and more on our cars, which are really far less important than us. Thankfully I got the all clear.

(The assessment included an hour with a doctor, who in my case was an attractive young lady. When she was checking me for testicular lumps, I had to concentrate on thoughts about paint drying to avoid anything getting in the way. Kneeling on the examination table with my legs spread whilst she checked my prostate was also an exercise in concentration. As I got dressed afterwards, I couldn’t help myself saying that many MPs and others probably pay a fortune for the same experience!)
 
Had to take an Advanced Motorist test every two-years as company policy for my role, so have ten pass certificates somewhere. Now I'm retired, not planning on taking it again... :)
 
Any training that you do, post DSA, is beneficial. I’m new to the forum but not to driving. I would always push people into looking at either ROSPA or IAM. Perceived ability and actual ability is often an area that requires some exploration. Good effort on the Gold
 

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