OF ADVANCED MOTORISTS
Scottish Charity SC023512 IAM Group 6168
It is possible to raise your driving standard to a much higher level than that required for the ordinary driving test - to an "advanced" level. Advanced driving takes the basic skills learnt for the ordinary test and refines them. Perhaps more importantly, advanced driving covers skills hardly touched upon in basic training, such as cornering, overtaking and motorway driving.
Advanced training develops your ability to concentrate on your driving while behind the wheel, to observe accurately what is going on around you and to anticipate what is going to happen next. This gives you time to deal with any hazard in a systematic way so that you keep out of trouble however badly others drive. Advanced training will also improve your skill in controlling the car so that it is always precisely in the right position on the road, at the right speed and in the right gear, and you feel comfortable making brisk progress where circumstances permit. The hallmarks of an advanced drive are that it is safe, legal – no exceeding the speed limit because you missed a sign or were travelling faster than you thought -, smooth, and makes the most of opportunities to make good progress.
Advanced driving is about driving ordinary cars on ordinary roads but doing it supremely well. It is not about stunt driving, off-road driving or racing. Top racing drivers have excellent car control and do not have to cope with pedestrians, cyclists, animals and cars coming the other way. They nevertheless have frequent crashes, because they take risks to win. Advanced driving techniques enable you to enjoy driving and to make good progress without taking risks.