Advanced Driving Hub

Horse wrote:
Sadly, though, its what some people do.

https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/14792 ... -children/

A LORRY driver has admitted killing four people from the same family on the A34 after ploughing into four stationary cars while changing the music on his mobile phone.

The 30-year-old was distracted for seven seconds by his mobile phone in the moments leading up to the concertina crash which was captured in harrowing dash cam footage.

Whether or not it was, he obviously thought it was a good idea to look away at that time, for seven seconds.

And I feel that issues like this are significant enough as-is. They don’t need some contrived methodology to try to produce a bar-chart where it’s ’worse’ than drug-driving. I just don’t feel the bar chart represents reality, and skewing the results in this way muddies the waters unnecessarily.

I don’t have much experience with Android Auto, but I know that the interfaces on CarPlay are much simplified and easier to navigate than on a mobile phone, with fewer, larger buttons.

as clicking 'Thanks' for roadworks warnings on Waze,

Is there a benefit from this? Otherwise, it seems like an unnecessary distraction, even if only for a few moments.

Fair enough, this was probably a poor example. Obviously, I’ll get a passenger to do it if possible, but the ones I do find real value in is the ‘car stopped in the shoulder ahead, ‘debris in road’ etc.

The options there are ‘thanks’ or ‘not there’. Clicking thanks serves to keep the system informed that the hazard remains, so that it will continue to warn following motorists.

You make a good point, roadworks are less of a ‘valuable distraction’ as they’re not very changeable.

Ohlins wrote:
Is anyone here in contact with IAM HQ, who can give me a glimmer of hope by asking IAM HQ to get real? Encouraging people to drive legally is one thing. But it's another thing altogether for press releases to get increasingly holier than thou, thereby putting off people from joining IAM Roadsmart.

Over the years a few of us (some on this forum) have tried but with only small success. We did get minor changes made in reducing some of the dogma concerning acceptable driving techniques for the test. It was hard work, What shocked and disappointing me was the lack of depth and breadth of knowledge about driving within the IAM.

I've been an Observer for over 40 years and despite my disillusionment with IAM HQ i am passionate about the concept of training to become a better, safer driver (I regularly go for professional coaching myself) and in the idea of an Advanced test. For this reason I still support the IAM but I do wish they would stick to what they were set up to do, that is to provide an Advanced test and promote safer driving. It was never to create or take control of local Groups as they have done in recent years. There was a time when local Groups worked with the IAM now they work for them.

Errr... the whole point of Apple CarPlay is that it is "eyes free". If you want to play a specific song, you do not need to use the panel at all. You press the button on the steering wheel to activate Siri and then ask it to play what you want. No need to look at the screen at all. Yes, it really is that simple.

There is a huge difference between using normal "connected" iPod/phone systems in the car and proper Apple CarPlay/Andoid Auto. The latter require almost zero interaction, the former are very human intensive and using a touch screen makes it even worse. I don't know but perhaps the study is confusing / conflating the two.

jcochrane wrote:I've been an Observer for over 40 years and despite my disillusionment with IAM HQ i am passionate about the concept of training to become a better, safer driver (I regularly go for professional coaching myself) and in the idea of an Advanced test. For this reason I still support the IAM but I do wish they would stick to what they were set up to do, that is to provide an Advanced test and promote safer driving. It was never to create or take control of local Groups as they have done in recent years. There was a time when local Groups worked with the IAM now they work for them.

Other organisations are available. If the IAM has "lost its way" - which it certainly appears to have done - try an alternative.

jcochrane wrote:Over the years a few of us (some on this forum) have tried but with only small success. We did get minor changes made in reducing some of the dogma concerning acceptable driving techniques for the test. It was hard work, What shocked and disappointing me was the lack of depth and breadth of knowledge about driving within the IAM.

Hah! Try similar with DVSA and see how far you get

Strangely Brown wrote:Other organisations are available. If the IAM has "lost its way" - which it certainly appears to have done - try an alternative.

It wasn't so long ago that similar complaints were being made about RoSPA's press releases...

Strangely Brown wrote:Errr... the whole point of Apple CarPlay is that it is "eyes free". If you want to play a specific song, you do not need to use the panel at all. You press the button on the steering wheel to activate Siri and then ask it to play what you want. No need to look at the screen at all. Yes, it really is that simple.

There is a huge difference between using normal "connected" iPod/phone systems in the car and proper Apple CarPlay/Andoid Auto. The latter require almost zero interaction, the former are very human intensive and using a touch screen makes it even worse. I don't know but perhaps the study is confusing / conflating the two.

not if you have a car with apple carplay but no button for siri on the steering wheel!
I upgraded the head unit in the M5 and it now has apple carplay - brilliant, but if I wanted to search for a song on spotify (and I don’t use Siri) then it would be as complex as suggested - to change from eg waze to an app like spotify involves hitting a small icon and then it becomes more complex... not something I would want to do while driving

Horse wrote:

Strangely Brown wrote:Other organisations are available. If the IAM has "lost its way" - which it certainly appears to have done - try an alternative.

It wasn't so long ago that similar complaints were being made about RoSPA's press releases...

But RoSPA is a [health and] safety organisation first and a driving organisation second

Ohlins wrote:IME, mothballs were more of an issue with the odd car group (and may have improved since my car experience years ago). But bike groups are, thankfully, more real-world and better.

Motorcycling culture is another world compared to car driving (except HPC). A minor error in a car often results in a dent or just dented pride. But a minor error on the bike can result in incredibly serious injury, and I expect it’s why riders are generally more pragmatic.

Living in Spain I see good quality riding and good quality driving. The former are invariably polite if you move over to let them pass.
There seems generally to be more consideration for other road users. It does depend on the region (We live in Catalunya) and take frequent trips up into the Pyreness where the driving/riding standards are very good indeed. In the crowded coastal areas less so.

It seems in some countries they teach you how to drive before granting a license here we teach you to pass a test. You learn how to drive after.