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Re: Is AD 'better driving'?

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 7:44 am
by GTR1400MAN
Horse wrote:It's odd, though, that since we've had most riders in the UKusing daytime headlamps we haven't had a massive drop in 'SMIDSY' crashes.

And any benefit there was has now been totally eradicated by the un-necessary fashion accessory of DRLs. :twisted:

Re: Is AD 'better driving'?

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 7:59 am
by sussex2
On topic and in answer to the original question my answer is yes - with reservations.
The simple passing of a test/tests may not in themselves make a driver better. It is the mental attitude of the individual that will make the largest difference.
You could argue that an individual without the correct attitude wouldn't pass the tests (especially recurrent ones) but I have known it to be the case that they can.
It's hard to put a name on it and it's hard to quantify it but there's a feeling which starts the moment I get into a vehicle with another driver.

Re: Is AD 'better driving'?

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 10:02 am
by Strangely Brown
sussex2 wrote:It's hard to put a name on it and it's hard to quantify it but there's a feeling which starts the moment I get into a vehicle with another driver.


I think the word you are looking for is, "confidence'.

Some drivers inspire confidence right from the off, others do not.

Re: Is AD 'better driving'?

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 10:36 am
by EasyShifter
It's worth remembering why 'advanced driving' was thought of. As I understand it, in the relatively early days of car transport police drivers' accident rate was astronomical and so the decision came about to train them specially for the demands of the task, and that meant developing a skill set that kept them and the public safe. That was based on the system of vehicle control which I first knew as Course, Mirror, Signal, Brake, Gear, Accelerator, and has now evolved into IPSGA. That system has for the best part of a century enabled police drivers to carry out demanding and otherwise dangerous driving tasks while keeping accidents, and certainly deaths, to a much lower level pro rata.
If I'm right about all that - and if we would include safety as one of the criteria for 'better' - then there seems to me to be little if any doubt.
That's not to say that every single detail of an advanced drive is necessarily going to be better, or still less that the system is perfect. But for road driving, with the general public all around us, I don't have any doubt that it's better.

Re: Is AD 'better driving'?

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 11:20 am
by Horse
EasyShifter wrote:It's worth remembering why 'advanced driving' was thought of. As I understand it, in the relatively early days of car transport police drivers' accident rate was astronomical and so the decision came about to train them specially for the demands of the task


viewtopic.php?f=10&t=39

EasyShifter wrote: That was based on the system of vehicle control which I first knew as Course, Mirror, Signal, Brake, Gear, Lifesaver, Accelerator


ftfy ;)

EasyShifter wrote: That's not to say that every single detail of an advanced drive is necessarily going to be better, or still less that the system is perfect. But for road driving, with the general public all around us, I don't have any doubt that it's better.


But which are the key elements which result in that 'better'?

Re: Is AD 'better driving'?

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 11:22 am
by Strangely Brown
EasyShifter wrote:...based on the system of vehicle control which I first knew as Course, Mirror, Signal, Brake, Gear, Accelerator


That's the old IAM simplified version with its associated mnemonic:

Can - My - Safety - Be - Given - Away

IIRC, the original system as laid down in Roadcraft was:

Course, Mirror-Signals-Speed, Gear, Mirror-Signals, Horn, Accelerate.

Re: Is AD 'better driving'?

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 11:47 am
by sussex2
Strangely Brown wrote:
sussex2 wrote:It's hard to put a name on it and it's hard to quantify it but there's a feeling which starts the moment I get into a vehicle with another driver.


I think the word you are looking for is, "confidence'.

Some drivers inspire confidence right from the off, others do not.


I sometimes refer to it as when a driver 'puts the car on' rather than 'gets into it' as if they become part of the thing rather than an addition.

Re: Is AD 'better driving'?

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 12:17 pm
by jont-
sussex2 wrote:I sometimes refer to it as when a driver 'puts the car on' rather than 'gets into it' as if they become part of the thing rather than an addition.

You drive a Caterham too? :lol:

Re: Is AD 'better driving'?

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 1:19 pm
by GTR1400MAN
Strangely Brown wrote:
sussex2 wrote:It's hard to put a name on it and it's hard to quantify it but there's a feeling which starts the moment I get into a vehicle with another driver.


I think the word you are looking for is, "confidence'.

Some drivers inspire confidence right from the off, others do not.

Aren't you all talking about S #5?

Re: Is AD 'better driving'?

Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2016 1:27 pm
by Strangely Brown
GTR1400MAN wrote:
Strangely Brown wrote:
sussex2 wrote:It's hard to put a name on it and it's hard to quantify it but there's a feeling which starts the moment I get into a vehicle with another driver.


I think the word you are looking for is, "confidence'.

Some drivers inspire confidence right from the off, others do not.

Aren't you all talking about S #5?


Not necessarily. I think that some drivers just put their passengers at ease while others make them feel, not exactly concerned, but maybe slightly apprehensive. It's not necessarily the polish or the sparkle that's either there or missing but that there is an almost indescribable something that garners trust. Maybe it's an instant recognition of competence?