‘Observe, anticipate and plan’: IAM RoadSmart urges NI motorists to think more about their driving

Thankfully, just like when I was a fresh-faced 17-year-old learner, I managed to hold it together and get a positive outcome.

This time I didn’t need to worry about answering questions on the Highway Code – although she did throw in some road sign trivia just for fun – or whether or not I might clip the kerb while reversing around a corner. This time it was about trying to hide all the bad habits I’ve picked up over the years. It was about thinking about the things we should all be doing every time we get behind the wheel – getting the basics right.

I needn’t have worried. My assessor, Angela Bell, IAM RoadSmart’s regional groups coordinator for Northern Ireland, put me at ease before we set off, assuring me that it wouldn’t be as intense as the driving test.

Angela, who five years ago passed her Masters test – the top qualification a civilian driver can attain – is a member of North Down Advanced Motorists, which meets in Groomsport, and a qualified driving assessor.

She had been driving for seven years when she decided to take her advanced test and join IAM in 1996.

“I had an interest in driving and it was a personal challenge for myself,” she said.

“I also thought it would be fun and interesting to meet some other new people of a similar mindset.”

Angela explained that there are currently seven local IAM RoadSmart groups in Northern Ireland with a total membership of around 1,000 people.

As well as her group in North Down there are others in Belfast, Lisburn, Ballymena, Limavady, Mid Ulster and Enniskillen.

With group meetings involving talks, trips out, autotests and other events and activities, she said being a member of a volunteer group is “quite a sociable thing as well as about learning.”

Angela, who works as a civil servant, explained that IAM RoadSmart offers a wide range of courses and assessments for drivers and motorcyclists.

Encouraging people to find out more about what the charity has to offer, she said: “People can do the courses as a one-off to get a taste for it, but obviously our hope is that they will be interested enough to think more about their driving, and whether that means they come to us or just develop their own skills is entirely up to them.

“We are just very interested in encouraging people to think a bit more about their driving because the tendency is people pass their test when they are 17 and never sit another test and are never assessed again.”

Throughout our 20-minute journey around north Belfast Angela offered advice and encouraged me to talk aloud about my observations of the road ahead and any hazards I could see.

And despite my concerns about what I might do wrong, I only got told off twice – for being a little too heavy with my right foot in a 30mph zone and not applying my handbrake as often as I should.

Much to my relief, her overall verdict was “really good – not very much to pick up there at all.”

Admittedly I was quite pleased with myself, but not totally convinced that she wasn’t just being polite, as my wife often derides my “terrible” driving.

Stressing that being a good driver is “an ongoing process” that everyone – including advanced motorists – need to keep working at, Angela said: “We want to learn as much as we can ourselves. I always say it is an ongoing process. Every time you are out driving you see something new, something you haven’t seen before.”

Urging the Province’s drivers to keep brushing up their skills behind the wheel, her top tips for road users are: always “observe, anticipate and plan” and use “the correct and appropriate speed.”

“It is a matter of getting experience on the road and learning what to look for,” she added.

According to IAM RoadSmart, many of those who complete its Advanced Driver course benefit from not only being a more confident and safer driver, but also reduced insurance premiums – something we could all do with.

• About IAM RoadSmart...

IAM RoadSmart – formerly the Institute of Advanced Motorists – is a charity set up in 1956 with the aim of improving the standard of driving on UK roads.

It has more than 85,000 members across around 190 volunteer groups throughout the UK, Ireland and one in Turkey.

The charity prepares drivers for their advanced test, which is run by IAM through a network of retired emergency services drivers.

IAM RoadSmart offers a range of courses for drivers and motorcyclists, including a Younger Driver Assessment, a Mature Driver Review, Advanced Driver/Rider courses and specialist courses for commercial drivers.

One of the major benefits of having completed an advanced driver course is the possibility of cheaper vehicle insurance, with some companies offering sizeable discounts for advanced drivers/riders.

For more information log on to www.iamroadsmart.com