Inst. of Adv Motorists

[07DefenderSeb]

I have been thinking of taking my test with the Institute of Advanced Motorists, and have checked out their website for how to go about it.

Have any Mud-Clubbers joined IAM lately? How did you find the process, and what real effect has it had on your insurance?

Ta,

SB

[Bush Tucker Man]

I started the tuition a few years ago, having been told on my intial assesment that I'd only take perhaps 5 'lessons' to get up to scratch.

Sadly due to shift patterns at the time, I couldn't guarantee my instructor that I would be free, so it all lapsed.

Might consider starting again & surprising the assessor by turning up in the 110 :lol:

I wonder what he/she would make of the ability to drive practically 'everywhere' (on the road) in 4th/5th?

[Lostboy]

I did the test.

Now my real driving test I passed first time - first advanced test ahem turned right in the path of an on-coming car. Just in case the examiner didn't notice (hard considering he was almost scraping himself off the windscreen when I jammed the brakes on) I went and did it again ten minutes later.  :oops:

Needless to say, my name does not grace the membership list of the Institute of Advanced Motorists.

[Lord Shagg-Pyle]

Join the Emergency Services and do it for free. A bit drastic, I know, but hey, thanks to the ability of the Human Race to make a complete a*se of itself, you'll never be out of a job!

[rollazuki]

got free IAM training when a bought a Daewoo(ok, ok) a few years back.

The training was vary...erm.....anal, and to be honest, didnt make me feel more confident in some areas. It felt very alien, and despite me gettin the course for free, I quit and didnt come back.

I guess its not for everyone, some may like and approve of it, I didnt.

You would spend a better day doing a skid control day or similar in my opinion.(now theres an informative and fun experience) :lol:

[gords]

I've not done the car training but I have done it on a motorbike.

I found it immensely helpful and using the techniques taught most definitely saved me from numerous accident situations!

One of these days, I'll do the car test ...

[Daz800]

I passed my motorcycle i.a.m test 2 years ago. What i did fine was at times it felt like nothing was going right but when you start to put all the "system" together i found that i was riding a lot better as i was reading the road instead of just driving it. if you know what i mean.

I am now going through the training so i can teach other motorcyclists.

Daz

[07DefenderSeb]

I can imagine that it can be a little 'rigid', but just like in the normal driving test, who actually feeds the wheel when turning, after they've got their licence?

What affect has it had on insurance? Might the reduction for the bikers be an indication of what it would be for the drivers?

[Daz800]

I get 15% with my insurance company just for my i.a.m

I would not do the i.a.m just for the discount on insurance as some lads in our groupe get on average of 10%.

My test was taken with a grade one  police traffic officer (who give up his time freeley). We had a chat before the test and he pointed out what he expected of the test and any traffic laws that were broken then i would fail , but he also said use you discrestion?..

I went out to enjoy myself ..pass or fail as it was the experance that i was after... i did enjoy my ride, all one hour of it and when he told me i had passed i was overjoyed.

In our groupe we have had a small number who have failed mainly on what some folk would say petty items like not putting your foot down at a stop sign or for not making progress in traffic if it was safe to doso.

Daz

[RichardRRC]

I passed my car test at the end of '00 with the Wakefield group of the IAM.
There were (I think) 10 classroom based "lessons" on an evening at the local police training college.
I was already a relatively safe driver, but it gave me a bit more of a flowing driving style, being in the right gear "before" it was actually required and planning ahead etc
The insurance hasn't changed at all for me :roll:  It seemed at the time that to benefit from any discounts you had to use there insurers, and to this day the wife can still get her car insurance cheaper than mine :!:
In general I think it's a good thing to do, but it can be a bit painfull when instructor and student driving styles clash :) I didn't particually like my driving being "judged", but I stuck with it and passed first time.
I'm still a IAM member but I don't have much to do with them on a "day to day" basis
PS. I didn't like the feed the wheel technique, mine was more of a racing driver grip :D "ten to two" and don't change your grip even going round corners :lol: My instructor wasn't impressed, but I haven't changed  :lol: espeicially in the Cobra :D

[gords]

In our groupe we have had a small number who have failed mainly on what some folk would say petty items like not putting your foot down at a stop sign or for not making progress in traffic if it was safe to doso.

Umm, it's my understanding that you are supposed to "stop" at a stop sign - the safest option is to therefore put your foot down

"Making progress" certainly seemed to be key while I was training - and I enjoyed that part of the training rides :D

I seem to remember my test was about 2 hours!

[Daz800]

Umm, it's my understanding that you are supposed to "stop" at a stop sign - the safest option is to therefore put your foot down

ok...
yes you have put your foot down when you stop....(but i know some one who did not once). You can on a motorcycle keep rolling (if its safe to do) and as long as you put your foot (touched the road)down its classed as a stop.

Daz

[Bush Tucker Man]

I passed my car test at the end of '00 with the Wakefield group of the IAM.
There were (I think) 10 classroom based "lessons" on an evening at the local police training college.

I was initially asssesed with Wakefield, but ended up with a Rothwell based examiner (Leeds group)

[Tony F]

I'm training for the bike test at present. It will reduce my premium with BMW insurance (through Devitts) from £320 to £260 a year, that's almost 20%. Seeing as I have had a break from bikes on the road for a few years and therefore no NCB, it's worth doing it for the discount alone.

I have to say it is making me a better rider already and even if some of the ideas do seem a little anal at times, they usually turn out to have good logic behind them.

And even with 28 years of biking under my belt, i'm still tending to learn something new every time I go out on an observed ride. :D

[muddymart]

well my experience was quite different to those above, i passed my test in 1990 (17) first time, i was employed by royal mail parcels at the time,however when they went it alone as parcelforce, all our depot had to pass the IAM test to cut down on accidents,improve fuel consumption etc.(this did not improve leaving parcels on doorsteps and in bins!! but it did improve the knock and run method) there was no written test but just one full day of driving, narrating every move you did,(there was 2 of us driving half a day each)when the day ended we was informed that we had passed or not, i did at 21.

It really didnt make any difference to insurance quotes for as long as i can remember, but i thought it would have done as i was under 25.
Can i say i no longer work for parcelforce.

[Range Rover Blues]

I can't remeber what I was insuring but the agent asked me if I was an advanced driver, apparently being an instructor doesn't count :shock: , but when they asked me which one it was, IAM, RoSPA, I just said DSA ADI, and apparently I qualified for a discount :?

I do find them very anal about some things but what peeves me more is that they change their minds, having been adamant that balck is balck and any other opinion is wrong, 2 years later black is now white, white is light grey and bulgaria is a breed of camel.

Of yeah, they talk some tosh at times too.

Anyway, for a laugh I decided to enrol for driving examiner selection, well I had the test on Friday.  It didn't help that I had to drive the examiner's car which I hated but I was bricking it all the way through.  Needless to say I didn't deserve to pass, based on my performance but had I taken the LSE I think I'd have driven better.

I got marked down for not overtaking a lorry going up a long narrow hill, (bear in mind he'd asked me to take the next right).  Well I'm used to something that performs a little more 'sprightly' when I want to go past.