The Test
The Test takes about 90 minutes, over all types of roads and using your own car/bike you will drive about 30 to 40 miles and will travel through town and country with a section of motorway driving included. The four essential qualities are Concentration, Observation, Anticipation and Planning. The examiners all hold the Police Advanced Driving Certificate and have experience in Traffic Patrol work. They have all had to deal with the consequences of poor driving, and share a common interest in road safety, and the belief that no one has the right to drive badly.
A full understanding of what is expected can be found in the IAM publication "Pass Your Advanced Driving Test" or "Pass Your Advanced Motorcycling Test" as appropriate. A number of important points are mentioned here:
THE PRINCIPLES OF ADVANCED DRIVING
Do you concentrate properly and avoid distractions?
Can you read the road and anticipate potential hazards in good time?
Are hazards dealt with in a planned and systematic way?
Do you use your mirrors before changing your speed or position and do you always give a signal to other road users if they will benefit or appreciate one?
Can you drive with reasonable restraint, but not indecision?
Is your judgement of speed and distance accurate?
Do you drive with courtesy and consideration for other road users, including pedestrians?
Are you always in the right place on the road, travelling at the right speed with the right gear engaged and able to stop safely in the distance you can see to be clear?
HANDLING SKILLS
Are steering actions safe, smooth and accurate, and do you pass the wheel through your hands?
Are gears smoothly and correctly selected?
Do you make full use of automatic transmission, if your car is fitted with it?
Is your braking smooth and progressive?
Do you use "acceleration sense"?
ADVANCED DRIVING SKILLS ON THE ROAD
Do you keep up a reasonable pace and maintain good progress if conditions permit?
Do you anticipate and react correctly to the situations developing ahead?
Is the correct road position chosen and signals given in good time for the next manoeuvre?
Are all signals, signs and road markings observed, obeyed and approached correctly?
Are overtaking manoeuvres carried out smoothly, decisively and safely?
Do you drive with proper restraint and proper sensitivity of control when the roads are slippery or visibility is reduced?
Are manoeuvres such as parking, reversing, carried out smoothly and competently with effective all-round observations?
Another way of looking at what is required is to group what the examiner is looking for.
Your drive should be
. . . Safe
Safety is the most important aspect of all driving. Position and speed must always be sacrificed for safety, but safety must never be sacrificed for any reason. The driver's objective is to maintain safe progress by identifying hazards early and planning how to deal with them safely and efficiently.
The four key skills of advanced driving are Concentration, effective all round Observation, Anticipation and Planning. Advanced Driving is using these skills properly and co-ordinating them with good handling skills to ensure that your driving is . . . .
. . . Systematic
The System of Car Control is a way of approaching and negotiating all situations that is safe, methodical, and leaves nothing to chance. The IAM uses the Police System of Car Control. Driving to a system draws all your driving skills together so that you can deal with an unpredictable environment in a methodical and logical way and have time to select the best position, speed, and gear to negotiate all hazards safely and efficiently.
. . . Smooth
If your vehicle control and handling skills are properly co-ordinated with your perceptual and awareness skills, your driving will not only be safe and systematic, but it will also be smooth. Nothing should look or feel hurried. The three main considerations are passenger comfort, vehicle stability and vehicle sympathy.
. . . Speed (correct use of)
The ability to make progress is an important advanced driving skill, but progress must never compromise safety. Excess speed (speed above the statutory limit) and inappropriate speed (excessive speed for the circumstances, regardless of the statutory limit) are dangerous and are not acceptable. Advanced Drivers understand this and know that speed limits are limits, and not targets. They use their perceptual and awareness skills to identify when they should impose their own speed limit on themselves, (regardless of the statutory speed limit), depending on circumstances.
The four S's of Advanced Driving, (Safety, System, Smoothness and (correct use of) Speed ensures that the driver makes progress with skill and responsibility and is always at the right place on the road at the right time, travelling at the right speed with the correct gear engaged for that speed and can always stop safely in the distance that can be seen to be clear.
Advanced Drivers are expected to control the risks, despite the incorrect actions of others. Every journey can have its unexpected moments.
However, even successful candidates have made minor mistakes, which did not prevent them from passing the Advanced Driving Test.