The IAM Examiner Expects ...
Safe
Safety is the most important aspect for any road user to achieve and is the main reason the IAM Advanced Driving Test should be taken. Advanced driving is about educating the driver and improving their safety, as well as of their passengers and other road users. The importance of safety is ingrained throughout the ‘Skill for Life’ training programme as well as the IAM Test and examiners have a policy that if you put your car or other road users in danger you will fail the Test.
Systematic
Advanced drivers are taught to use the system of car control which has been used by the Police in their driver training schools. This system ensures that hazards are approached and negotiated in a methodical and flexible way.
Smoothness
If the driver uses the system of car control efficiently it will allow their handling of the vehicle and their observation skills to be correctly co-ordinated, resulting in a smooth drive.
Progress
Progress is often incorrectly translated to mean speed. It is not, it is the ability to make good progressive when safe to do so and is an important skill that advanced drivers should posses. Safety should never be compromised, and progress should only be used when safe to do so. Excessive or inappropriate speed, regardless of any speed limit, is dangerous and unacceptable. Speed limits are exactly that – limits not targets, and advanced drivers know when they need to impose their own speed restraints (below the statutory limits) depending on the circumstances.
Restraint
Restraint is the ability to recognise when to hold back particularly from hazards to ensure safety and reassurance of passengers and other road users. Advanced drivers learn this skill through continued practice, improving their ability to recognise potential danger.