After too many decades of having my driver’s licence, I decided it was time to see how many bad habits I had picked up over the years.

I thought the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) had folded or something as I had not heard a sound of them for over a decade.

But no – they are still alive and kicking and are trying to get more visibility when it comes to road safety. Like many of us, they too are confused as to why the media seek comments from certain authors of certain books when it comes to road safety articles, rather than an organisation that has been dedicated to this since 1956.

Anyway – by the time you read this, I will be about to start my first ‘test’. This involves  me driving with an IAM Observer. She will watch me the entire time (freaky enough by itself!) and then give me feedback on where to improve.

I’ll use that feedback to improve in the areas I am weak on, and then have another session with the Observer.

Once I have hit the point where they are happy with my driving skills, I can then be tested properly by an IAM Examiner. If I pass, I then can join the IAM and if I wanted to, go on to qualify as an Observer to help others improve their driving.

You may be wondering what the Roadcraft book cover is about. This is the IAM bible. It is used by the New Zealand Police force as well as many other police forces around the world, as the guide for safer driving. Anyone can buy this book (I got mine from Book Depository).

My only problem is my copy arrived last night, and that gave me little time to study up. So today is going to be a wing-it-and-see session, and then I can study the Roadcraft book before my next session.

Stay tuned – on Tuesday I’ll give you an update on how today went. My main goal today is to not embarrass myself too much.

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Fred Alvrez
How on earth to start this? I've been car/bike/truck crazy since I was a teen. Like John, I had the obligatory Countach poster on the wall. I guess I'm more officially into classic and muscle cars than anything else - I currently have a '65 Sunbeam Tiger that left the factory the same day as I left the hospital as a newborn with my mother. How could I not buy that car? In 2016 my wife and I drove across the USA in a brand-new Dodge Challenger, and then shipped it home. You can read more on www.usa2nz.co.nz. We did this again in 2019 in a 1990 Chev Corvette - you can read about that trip on DriveLife. I'm a driving instructor and an Observer for the Institute of Advanced Motorists - trying to do my bit to make our roads safer.

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