institute of advanced motorists
 

Are there any on here,did it help your insurance quotes and what does the test consist of?

I never bothered with it but I think it used to be considered for insurance quotes. I think you go on a drive with the examiner and he assesses your general ability and you are expected to demonstrate your ability to drive safely at speeds up to the national limit.

Les

Yep did it, passed it, didn't see much by way of change to my insurance premium.

Format basically consists of a number of assessed drives, which prepare you you for the test. Test was an hour long drive, part of which required a commentary on your observations while driving. Main thing is to make progress on the journey, be decisive in your actions on the road and make observations around hazards and potential hazards.

Yep did it, passed it, didn't see much by way of change to my insurance premium.

Format basically consists of a number of assessed drives, which prepare you you for the test. Test was an hour long drive, part of which required a commentary on hazard perception while driving. Main thing in my experience was to make progress on the drive, be decisive in your actions on the road justifying them in the commentary and make observations around hazards and potential hazards.

IAM- one test for life

Rospa - far harder & annual retests to confirm standards


Mart

Looked into doing it, but decided against it as our local area members where nothing short of WI members.... All very strange if you as me

What or who are Rospa ?

I passed it a long, long time ago when I was 20. It has never had an effect on any insurance.

It was quite fun at the time, including going for a drive with a couple of Police drivers.

Steve

Done it on both bike and car, even did some 'instructing' in a car but it did nowt for insurance. Worth doing to be able to drive better though. By that I mean, not get into dodgy situations in the first place as a lot of emphasis is on 'reading the road' etc.

Dave

Rumpey or Serious Pumpey Association!

Les ;)

http://www.roadar.org/


Mart:)

ROSPA all the way. IAM is a bit toy town now compared. If you want some basic instruction and a fairly easy test then IAM still has its place, but ROSPA is for the serious driver who wants to fine tune their skills over a long time. It does involve a lot of work though.

This sounds more fun. :lol:

My start point was reading the police advance drivers hand book

Link to the latest version

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roadcraft-dr...1272899&sr=8-1

Sounds like a self licking lollipop to me - constant revenue stream from those submitting themselves to the test, but the standards are unlikely to change in their rigour.

Do persons who drive for a living need to take these tests or are they optional tests to improve your employability?

I have not seen the book, did not know it was available to the public. Have seen the odd extract though and it all seemed good stuff full of common sense.

Les

My great aunt was an advanced driver ( still is infact , 96 ) .
I seem to remember us being met off the ferry on the i.o.w. , hillman hunter i believe .

She may well have been in the w.i. , she certianly was in the coastguard

I did it at 19 (now 26). I've had 10 or 15% off my insurance here and there, but mostly more recently. I think it's crazy that insurers don't take it into account more, especially for young drivers who have demonstrated that they want to drive well. When I looked at it, the IAM's insurance partner didn't even quote on under 21/25s (I forget which) and definitely didn't do mods. That's something they need to work on imo, young kids who are bothering to improve their skills and declare their mods need encouraging.

There are good and bad folk in the IAM, but my experience was mostly that they encouraged fast progress safely without too much obsessing about hands at 10 to 2 on the wheel etc. One thing they really promote is observation - in the test the examiner can ask you at any point what the last sign you passed was. I found it pretty tough to get into the habit of conciously registering every warning sign.

I'm not active in my local group but keep up my member subs and read the mag which isn't too bad (though some of the numptie member questions, and occasional stupid answers, are annoying!) They do the occasional track or skidpan day which I plan to get involved with at some stage.

Passed when I was 20 cough cough 25 years ago
Best thing I ever did as I was getting into performance cars then
Went on to become an observer for the group and then training office and demo driver
I even did a live demo drive with a reporter I broadcasting
Great stuff and does make you a better driver
It's old school stuff from roadcraft that police were taught to the system I also went on to Rospa and got a gold 1st class pass , one of the first in Cumbria
Great fun and you learn a lot
Only had 2 insurance claims in 800000 miles and both other partys faults
Recommended highly

My Parents made me do it when I came home with my first "performance car".

A Mk 2 cavalier SRI. Oh yeah. You like it like that don't you?

Did feck all for insurance but definitely worth it. Like some one else said, it teaches you to read the road better and not get into trouble in the first place.