Step 2 – All being well, we will then contact you!
On us receiving notification from IAM RoadSmart that you have been assigned to us, one of our Group representatives will contact you to discuss the arrangements for your course, checking if you have any particular requirements and assigning your personal ‘Observer’ to mentor you and your driving.
Whilst they act on an entirely voluntary basis, all our Observers have received specialist tuition to mentor you in advanced driving and have been qualified to standards overseen by the Institute for the Motor Industry. Lastly, all our Observers are very friendly!! If they are not – please tell us and we will ensure there is more sugar put in their tea!!!
So how will your Observer try to help you now you are an Associate with us? Your Observer will meet you at a convenient location and watch you drive your own car to assess if there are some areas where your driving might become safer based on the principles in your Advanced Driver Course Handbook. We call these appraisals Observed Runs (or OR for short) and they normally last about 90 minutes. These enable you and your Observer to agree a few points which you may need to brush-up on or to practice some new skills. Provided that you practice and study we usually find that after 6 OR’s most Associates are ready to take their IAM Advanced Driving Assessment. We do however set an upper limit of 10 OR’s after which your progress will be reviewed. If we don’t have an Observer available who lives near you, we may need to travel to an area where we have an Observer who can help you.
The IAM ‘Assessment’
The IAM Assessment is carried out by an IAM RoadSmart Examiner and so is independent of the Cornwall Group and conducted by a serving or retired Police Traffic Officer. The Assessment is to the standard outlined in the IAM RoadSmart’s Advanced Driver Course Handbook. We will not recommend you for the Assessment unless we are confident that you are ready and can pass. Note that the Group has a success rate of 95% averaged over 3 years.
We have to add that the Examiner wants you to pass, but it will be a fair test, he will not use tricks to try and catch you out. To fail, you have to prove that you don’t deserve to pass. Also, the IAM Assessment will probably not be as demanding as some of your previous Observed Runs so you should find the Assessment easier. Remember that there is no such a person as a ‘perfect driver‘ – everybody makes mistakes, it is just that, as an Advanced Driver, you will make less than the average driver and those mistakes will have less serious consequences.
Once the Assessment has finished you will be given a very good and useful debrief (including positive aspects) from the Examiner. Well Done!!!
