Institute of Advance Motoring

In June 2018 I was snapped in my car doing 32 in a 30 mile limit. As part of a nudge initiative by the Government, I was given the option of attending a speed awareness course rather than be fined or have points added to my licence. For someone who lives in London, there is very little opportunity to go at any speed over 15 miles an hour, and this incident was out in the shires: however I did appreciate that the speed limits across much of London were reducing down to 20 mph. 

I attended the speed awareness course and the mixture of people revealed to me the fact that some people will not consider what they did was wrong. It was much more than that: taking responsibility for your actions inside a potentially deadly machine is very important. The speed awareness presentation, by professional drivers and ex police officers, hammered it home to me that the world of the road had changed dramatically since I had taken my driving test in the mid-80\’s.

So that very same evening I enlisted on an advanced driving course. Six months later and five guided drives with a charming volunteer from the IAM under my belt, I took my test and passed. The test was quite a frightening experience however: the examiner used to be Head of the Police Driving School at Hendon!

That experience has given me the impetus and means to survive on the roads around Europe and beyond. More importantly I now enjoy driving far more than I ever did. I enjoy being safe whilst driving and have a true sense of what it is to have complete cognition on the road.