Advanced drivers/instructors
 

Hi guys,

are there any advanced drivers /instructors or even better police traffic officers with advanced qualifications on here? Could you pm me or reply on here as I'd like some information from you please :thumb:

Thanks in advance

Tom

I have advanced driving and hgv if that's any good

Been an IAM member for 15 years, did a cop course a while back.

I'm basically looking at getting myself some highly recognised driving qualifications and just want pointing in the right direction as to which courses are best.

What did the police driving course entail and how long did it take? is it a certified qualification?

Cheers

The cop course was actually part of a temp driving job I did for the Police. Just a days intensive training but I learned a lot above and beyond the IAM stuff) and got something on my driving record. Sadly it's not available to non cops but I think you can now do similar stuff on a course. Would need googling!

The qualifications depend on what you want to do. RoSPA suits some more then IAM then there are the High Performance courses too.

Look up ihcd driving courses mate. Thats what we use in the ambulance sector. Soon to be reconisged on our driving license

I've tried googling various courses but there is so much variation in courses and what they give it's difficult to see which one is best suited to my needs

Is this course open to civilians? Is it similar to blue light driver training?

Have you done the VW Camper performance course? ;)

I guess this will only get me work in the NHS/ambulance service should I be looking for it?

if that's the case then wouldn't I also need the supporting qualifications to get myself into an emergency medical role?

IAM first thing for you
Do the course pass the test and become and observer

ROSPA test when I did it there was gold silver and bronze
When I was a special constabull I did a police driving session which was good too

As a non-plod, agree with IAM then RoSPA route, not sure what other routes are open to you to be honest.

TBH there kind of is no such thing as recognised driver qualifications in the UK, its all a bit muddy - at the moment - there are changes coming up soon though.

The 2 main ones that are mostly recognised are IAM and ROSPA. But they are not vocational. Cadence Master Drivers Course and HPC Gold are both very well known courses, but again not vocational.

Any of the vocational courses are going to be expensive. The BLU courses tend to start at about £2k.

As for the police courses, although most larger forces re-sell their own courses they will only accept candidates from a company or the govt / mil. Also cost is high, very high.

What exactly do you want the training for?

As already said - I did IAM then RoSPA - they are both cheap membership then free training from a local group. I've done lots of other track based skills courses, but next for me will be HPC - just got to save up first....

I'm considering a career change, I'm currently a courier driver but fancy driving in a different more skilled role if that makes sense? I haven't decided exactly what I want to do but it can never hurt to advance my driving ability and most courses help with the price of insurance costs. I am considering looking into private security so these courses will hopefully go a long way towards any job applications :thumb:

What are the membership costs like for the IAM and RoSPA courses? I've looked into CAT driver training but it seems very expensive as a starting point

I can't remember exactly something like £20 for the membership, then free instruction from the local group, then £50 or so for the test itself - it's probably on their respective web sites.

Getaway driver?

RoSPA is £48 for the test plus local club fees

IAM look like they now charge for "Skills For Life" to cover first year and test - £139