Jun 17, 2020, 12:09 PM by Stuart Earle

During the past few weeks I have noticed that as I take my daily walk it appears to me that the traffic is moving at a greater speed than usual. I believe my view is supported by many people and indeed the police have advised that despite the low volume of traffic due to “lockdown” the speed limits have not been suspended.

This led me on to think about how we will adapt to getting back into our cars and on to the roads once we are again able to do so. For our skills to be maintained we need to regularly practise them.  It is healthy if from time to time there is also an opportunity to demonstrate these skills to others; this will then give us the opportunity to enhance areas of our skills that the “coach” considers would be beneficial. I guess that if you are a chef then the customers will give you feedback [excuse the pun]. If they don’t like your food they will not return. If you are an author then the sales figures for your books will indicate if you have an audience which approves of your product. If you are a brewer then the sales of your beer will indicate your skills are appreciated.

With driving a formal test such as the Advanced Driving Test will give an opportunity to demonstrate your skills. After some time it may be that you will again wish to formally demonstrate your skills by taking the test on a more regular basis to become a Fellow. If you are interested in developing your skills further then it is likely you will progress to the Masters test.

Within the group Observers have regular coaching sessions with Brian who is our Training Co-ordinator. These sessions are always enjoyable and positive learning experiences Also as Observers we have our skills tested by an external Examiner every 5 years.

A couple of years ago I travelled to Lancashire to spend half a day with a trainer there. John Gregory {aka Reg Local.com} He has written two books about driving, as produced 20+ videos, runs training days on a 1:1 , and is a former police advanced instructor. My purpose was to gain some experience in a different area of the country with some hills. I also wanted to have my skills assessed and an opportunity to be coached by somebody who is not familiar with me or my driving. Although his style of coaching was relaxed and he had a good sense of humour I found the experience valuable and felt that I had been challenged and that my skills had been consolidated.

Earlier this year I was able to spend most of the day with a colleague in Hertfordshire who had agreed to coach me with the Masters in mind. I thoroughly enjoyed the day and learnt some new techniques. This gentleman is a member of the High Performance Club so had some different skills which he shared.

Although we are not using our cars very much at the moment it can be useful to spend this time looking at some of the videos on You Tube about advanced driving. The session I had a couple of years ago was with Reg Local [reg local.com]. This chap has well over 20 videos on his You Tube site. Some of them have a three camera view which is helpful especially when he is demonstrating some techniques. Some of the videos are more entertaining and some are useful learning aids.

One of the other well known advanced driving trainers is Chris Gilbert. He was a trainer at Hendon Police Driving School, taught some members of the Royal family and his real claim to fame he was the speaker at one of our AGMs a few years ago. He has some videos on You Tube.

I also quite like the “Ward ADT” site. This guy is another ex traffic policeman now offering advanced driver training. I recognised quite a lot of the roads from when I lived in Essex and also the day driving out of Hertfordshire earlier this year. There are four videos on his site.

Obviously watching these are not the same as getting out driving but I find are useful in perhaps consolidating some of our knowledge and watching  skills as practised by experts.

Once we resume driving again I think that it is a good thing that we take the opportunity to drive with each other within the group and encourage Associates to take the opportunity to have a drive with a different mentor.