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Well its my mock test. I know there is a few things i need to make sure i dont bodge on, having done the SAFED course late last year i have that drummed into my brain too (keeping to the same low gear as long as poss etc.) so i know i need to use the left mirror a bit more, change through gears a bit more (they like you to drive 30 limits in 3rd) and to give a good commentry which i usually go blank on after five minutes.

Ive been told by a couple of other IAM advance drivers ive got it all there just drive naturally and i be ok and after seeing how some other IAM drivers drive on drive outs i know im much better so the mock test tomorrow will give me an idea if im ready for the big thing, god im nervous..

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Little Jo

The best advice if you want to pass your advanced test is to incoporate the techniques into your normal driving as much as possible. Let's face it, unless you do, you won't reap the benefits of being an advanced driver.

At 90 minutes, the advanced test is long enough to test you fully under a wide range of road conditions. The examiner will watch what you are doing and will home in on any inconsistency. Finesse in the use of the controls is only part of the test - without the observations skills and use of the system, you will find it hard to be in the right gear, in the right position etc.

It's not a test, it's a demonstration of your normal driving. I've done the advanced test with the IAM, I've also reached gold standard with the RoSPA Advanced Drivers' Association. The skills have avoided many potential accident situations.

So my top tips would be:

Look well ahead and use all the clues the road has to offer eg. a group of street lamps on an otherwise unlit road is a good indicator that there's a roundabout or a dangerous junction ahead. Fresh horse muck a valuable clue to there being people on horseback ahead, using reflections/shadows to good advantage. The more white paint there is, the greater the hazard ahead. Don't put your car on a stretch of road until your eyes and brain have been there first. I heard once a story of the great racing driver Fangio to was competing in a Grand Prix. As he approached the grandstand, he saw only the backs of people's heads instead of their faces and slowed down. In doing so, he avoided a massive pile-up of cars. In a normal situation he would have had that sea of faces fixated on him.

Know your car and how to balance the throttle and the steering for smooth, safe cornering. Getting your speed/gear in good time means that you will actually corner slightly faster than if you brake late on the approach.

Adopt a chaffeur-style of driving - imagine the examiner is holding a glass of champagne - that will encourage the smoothest of driving.

Good luck!

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Jo

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many thanks, will bare them in mind (even through most is what ive already been taught lol) one other thing is plenty of sleep, swmbo has already shouted down telling me i need a good nights sleep so looks like its off to bed. many thanks!!

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smstext

well the first part, country roads and towns i got a pass with 2 minor faults worth considering. the second part motorways and dual carraigeways he found a couple of things which were hearsay, but said overall i should pass, just need to practice push pull and keeping to speed limits which is hard when faced with overtaking on a dual carraige way with vehicles in front doing 69 and cars coming up lane 2 at 80+

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ncarring

Good luck with the real test. As Little Jo mentioned, you have to believe in advanced driving to do it well. If you were doing 69, perhaps you didn't need to overtake....

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Nick

North Wiltshire RoADAR

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my observer has taught me to get and sit to 70 if i have to follow at 69 im going too slow :-o this is another reason ive been confused abit on what to do as another observer at work tells me that like you that would be fine, so im always having two different ideas of things. i also had another run in with my observer when i checked my blind spot (over shoulder) on motorway, he felt i dont need to do this, yet the observer at work told me what i have done was correct.

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ncarring

Blind spot checks are like signals. You can potentially have too many of them for ultimate efficiency, but they harm nobody if you use them all the time. I still do them, even when I'm 99.9999999% sure there's nothing there. There's always the possibility of a fast bike who wasn't there a second or two ago.

Re overtaking, talk to the examiner beforehand and ask what his or her view is of exceeding the limit in order to complete an overtake. You can't overtake safely with a 1mph differential. You really need 10 or more to get it over with reasonably smartly. That would take you to nearly 80mph, and the examiner may consider that too much.

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Nick

North Wiltshire RoADAR

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good point. he guy at work said i need to mention ive done safed training recently and that we are encouraged at work to use our safed training. he says it will show im thinking about my gears, being economical but making progress.

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ScoobyChris

Not sure I'd mention SAFED tbh as you're being examined according to the IAM syllabus and your use of gears, etc should be in line with what they expect and will come out in the commentary (and in the drive itself).

Tend to agree with Nick on the blindspot check. I think as long as it forms part of a *systematic* approach it will be fine, eg mirror (for giving signal) -> signal -> mirror (for response to signal) -> blind spot check, but if it appears to be random then I think it will be picked up. I tend to use blindspot checks both on overtakes and when returning to the left lanes too.

Try and relax and enjoy it - I was surprised how un-test-like mine was.

Good luck

Chris

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Holding up the traffic in a little Italian..........

ncarring

When's your actual test?

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Nick

North Wiltshire RoADAR

KenONeill

JMF's own take on that incident, which was at the "Station Hairpin" (Now Loews Hairpin) at Monaco, was that, the night before, he'd seen a photo of the corner taken from a car. When he approached the blind corner, he realised that something "looked different" rather than what it actually was, and slowed more than usual because he thought a shunt was the only thing the crowd could find more interesting than the approach of the leader. He made it through a 4 car shunt, and the drivers who were second through fourth didn't.

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should know in the next few weeks (once i send the test app off to IAM).

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