Observed Drives

As an Associate Member you will have an Observer assigned to you from our Group to assist in preparing for the IAM test. Observed drives are FREE and conducted in your own vehicle. The Observer will use his or her own vehicle to give demonstration drives.

Observed runs will be arranged between you and your observer to suit your mutual convenience, but will generally be in daylight, as will the test. The frequency is normally weekly but can be longer. We would not recommend a gap of more than a fortnight except in special cases (holidays, courses, etc.).

It is difficult to say how many observed drives a particular individual would require, as it depends very much on experience, preparation and ability to learn. We would usually expect the minimum number of observed drives to be six.

Preparation

The recommended reading to help prepare for the test is:

	Course Logbook Including course notes The book is supplied as part of the Advanced Driver Course package and provides you with the information you will need.
	The Highway Code The book every road user is supposed to know! There are very few changes from the 2007 edition, mostly concerning the devolution of the Highways Agency and the change in speed limit for HGVs on single carriageways in England and Wales from 40 to 50mph (Scotland is unchanged). There is a 2016 edition which reverts to the standard front cover.
	Roadcraft The essential Police Driver’s Handbook on which the Advanced Driving Test is based. A video on DVD is also available to complement the book.

The books and video are usually available from the Group Shop at monthly meetings.

For a bit of fun try some of our quizzes.

Frequently asked questions (and answers) ..