The Enjoy Your Driving Course

What is Enjoy Your Driving?

Enjoy Your Driving is a free introductory workshop to promote Advanced Driving. It is aimed at improving your driving skills so that you can confidently enjoy the increasingly challenging driving conditions on today's (and tomorrow's) roads. By a half-day mixture of 'light touch' theory and friendly, practical input, we give you an insight into a new way of thinking about driving.

Who is it for?

Any driver who has held a licence for more than a year and drives regularly, but especially:

• Experienced drivers who may have developed some bad habits or complacency
• Nervous drivers who lack confidence in dealing with unfamiliar roads and traffic situations
• Parents who need to keep their families safe while presenting a good role model to their impressionable children.
• Drivers who relish the challenge of self-improvement and simply want to do the best job they can behind the wheel.

...in fact, anyone who isn't already an IAM Advanced Driver.

Why are we doing "Enjoy Your Driving" events?

A large part of the answer to this question is "because Advanced Driving is the most fun you can have behind the wheel". The fun factor isn't related to the car you're driving, the route you're following or the speed you're travelling; it's in addressing the mental challenge of making optimal safe progress. The largest part of Advanced Driving takes place inside your head, and it has been proved over years by researchers in Universities and commerce, that Advanced Drivers are up to 75% less likely to be involved in road traffic incidents than 'ordinary' motorists. This is reflected in reduced insurance premiums offered by IAM Surety, our insurance partner. Having put time and effort (as well as oil, fuel and rubber) into achieving Advanced status, our Observers are keen to pass on their knowledge and skills to improve general standards of driving. Advanced Driving isn't a set of tips and tricks to help you out of difficult situations, it's simply 'how you drive' when you're an Advanced Driver. Anything else feels wrong!

The IAM's Skill For Life package is the only way of becoming a Member of the IAM - an Advanced Driver. The cost is not trivial - but what of any value is? The price of acquiring such skill should be viewed over a remaining lifetime of driving. £139 for your first year will cover IAM and Group membership, your Advanced Driving Test and as much 1:1, practical coaching as you need to get you to Test standard. £25 an hour is not uncommon for basic 'driving school' driver training, and the DSA suggests that average learners will need something around 40-50 hours, so lesson costs of £1000 - £1250 are fairly typical. And this is just to give them enough ability to get into trouble!

By taking the Skill for Life course, we give you the skills to keep you and your passengers safe for not much more than the cost of couple of tanks of fuel in the first year. And if you like us, you can, for example, save money on your insurance and get discounts on airport parking for an ongoing cost of less than £1 a week.

And we mustn't forget "Greenness". Obviously, the greenest way is not to drive, but if you must, or even if you want to, then we think you have a responsibility to minimise your effect on the environment. After Safety, our priority is smoothness. It's likely that the new techniques you'll adopt as an Advanced Driver will reduce the costs both to your pocket and to the environment. You may be surprised by our enthusiasm for 'progress', but our equal enthusiasms for good observation and anticipation will probably see you using less fuel, and having more mechanical sympathy for your vehicle, reducing 'wear & tear' repair costs.

For further information, or to book a place on a future workshop, email: eyd@nwlciam.org.