Advanced Driving is the ability to control the position and speed of the vehicle safety, systematically, smoothly, using road and traffic conditions to progress unobtrusively with skill and responsibility.  Skill requires a positive but courteous attitude and high standard of driving competence based on concentration, effective all round observation, anticipation and planning. This must be co-ordinated with good handling skills.

The vehicle should be at the right place on the road at the right time, traveling at the right speed with the correct gear engaged and always be able to stop safely on its own side of the road in the distance that can be seen to be clear.

It is known fact that a large number of drivers in the UK consider themselves to be good drivers. We cannot all be right, in more than 90% of crashes human error is the cause. Crashes don’t happen by chance but are the consequences of unsafe driving habits.  The truth is that most drivers are only average - they will have good days and bad days.  Only a minority of drivers are ‘advanced drivers’.

The aim of advanced driving techniques is to increase both safety and car sympathy.  The results to safety are both to the drivers own safety and that of those around them. The effect of car sympathy is to increase car efficiency and it in turn effects safety.

The main way in which driving is improved is through vastly increased levels of observation and concentration, adjusting the manner in which the driver reacts to these observations during the course of their journey. Use of these observations will lead to a safer smoother journey, as use of the information obtained in observation is applied better than other drivers around you.

Training is provided based on the Police System of Car Control using ‘Roadcraft’ - the Police Driver’s Handbook, together with the Highway Code.  Training is carried out on an informal and friendly basis, but does not end with the test.  Drivers can continue training in preparation for their periodic retest, forming the basis of getting higher grades.

Becoming an ‘advanced driver’ does not entitle you to think you are any better than other drivers. In order to be an advanced driver you need to keep working and learning from the process and apply it consistently (we do still all have bad days). With this in mind RoADA requires your skills to be retested every three years, by examiners who are all either serving or retired Police Officers holding a Class 1 Police driving certificate. Many examiners are also police instructors.

Your local group provides you with all the training and backup you need (free of charge) to become an ‘Advanced Driver’. How do you think your skills measure up - why not assess them. You can have an initial assessment with no further commitment, if you decide that you do not wish to proceed.