forward vision edition 110 feb 2015

The Newsletter of Chelmsford Advanced Motorists

www.iamchelmsford.org.uk

Issue 110 February and March 2015 IAM Group 7223 Registered Charity No 1059372

What’s behind this?

Why am I Yellow?

Chelmsford Advanced Motorists Issue 110

Congratulations

Here are some of our successful members receiving their certificate from our Chairman Scott Bannister

Having passed my motorcycle IAM test in 1999. I am now proud to have passed the car test too. And it's all thanks to my Observer, John Ockmore who imparted invaluable knowledge to help me. Thank you Colin Byford

I would really like to thank Scott for all the help he gave me in obtaining a F1rst! Learning different techniques certainly wasn't boring in Scott's company with 'more gas' ringing in my ears! The test was stress free and enjoyable thanks to my Examiner Derek Weddon who explained everything thoroughly making it a relaxed experience. Pete Robinson


Associates, Full Members & Guests Welcome

Forthcoming Group Meetings These are usually held on the 2nd Monday of each month

at the Essex Police Sports and Social Club, Which is through the Police vehicle park at the very end of St. Margarets Road,

Chelmsford.

Group Meetings start promptly at 8pm, so please arrive at around 7.45pm.

Make a note in your diary and please be there!

http://www.essexexplorer.co.uk/cam.kmz

Disclaimer—Please note that the views and opinions expressed in this Newsletter are those of the individual writers and they do not necessarily reflect those of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, nor those of the Chelmsford and District Group of Advanced Motorists. Their accuracy has not been verified.

Notice—Data Protection Act: records are held of members personal details submitted on their appli-cation form. The information will be used solely for the Group’s administration purposes and will not be passed to any third party.

CM2 6DS

http://goo.gl/maps/VrEwi

Date Topic Speaker

Monday 9th March

Working behind the scenes on the TV show Inspector Morse.

Lindsay Siviter

Monday 13th April

Driver First Assist programme Rachel Hewings


to our new Associate and Full Members.

We look forward to seeing and talking to them at our monthly Group nights

We are a friendly bunch, so don’t be worried about coming to our Group nights if you are on your own.

Make yourself known to John who will greet you at the desk, he will find one of us to come and talk to you. John will also try to get you to part with some money for the raffle.

There will be Senior Observers, Observers and generally an Examiner at the evening and you will be able to get answers to any questions that you have.

Please come along, we’ll even give you tea or coffee and there is a bar - for light refreshments obviously!

Terry Joyce

Philip James Silver End Arthur Winn South Woodham Ferrers

David Terry Braintree David Appleford Chipping Ongar

Deborah Lewis Braintree Nigel Powell Blackmore End

John Abel Blackmore Chloe Guidera South Woodham Ferrers

Steve Briscoe Black Notley

Electronic Newsletter

It was agreed by the Committee that all new members would receive their copy of

Forward Vision electronically. This is because the cost of printing it and postage is our

group’s largest expense. Existing members will continue to receive a hard copy un-

less they wish to receive it electronically.

Please let me know if you change your email address.


Please remember: Do telephone both your Observer and Scott Bannister ( Associates Co-ordinator ) immediately after your test.

Congratulations to these latest Members of our Group who

have Passed

‘The Test’.

To all those people who have passed their test: It would be appreciated if you could write a few words thanking your Observer and maybe something about the process and your test, to give those New Associates an insight into the process of learning Advanced Driving.

Test No Name Test Date Observer

1038 Colin Byford 21st November John Ockmore

1039 Charles Proctor 13th December John Ockmore

1040 Tony Foster 3rd January Gaynor Manthorpe

1041 Sarah Windibank 8th January Scott Bannister

1042 Alan Hatch 9th January Graham Lowe

1043 Neil Howard 18th January Terry Joyce

See page 2 & 23 for photos of our members receiving their certificates.


From the Chairman So, 2015 has rolled around – in fact it is now so far underway it’s like a runaway train on a downhill section with the wind behind it and ice on the tracks. I reckon within the next month or so it will be Christmas again. On the positive side, the cold weather will soon be behind us but on the negative, life is going past at a great rate of knots. I reckon I must just be getting old…...or perhaps that should be older ! If this continues I’ll have to start telling everybody I meet how much a loaf of bread used to cost. I think it may be some kind of legal requirement. Anyway, to business. Congratulations to those of you who managed to send in the Gift Aid form in the last newsletter. It was a bit of a challenge seeing as we didn’t actu-ally give you an address to return it to. So, well done to the four of you who, against all the odds, managed to deliver it to us. I thought we’d remove the challenge and have another go at it – this time properly. It’s now loose leaf so you don’t have to strain any muscles getting it out of the staples, and it’s got the return address of our esteemed Treasurer, John Johnston (the vicar had a stutter when he was christened). So if you would be so kind can you please send it in to us. The money we get from Gift Aid matters to the Group and enables me to continue to take extravagant holidays in the Bahamas. Now that the business is out of the way I can turn to advertising. I’m in the process of booking sessions on the skid pan, a Driver Experience Day on the test track at Dunton and, with a bit of luck, a 4x4 off road course. If I’m feeling energetic I might try another 4x4 part two course and a skid pan part two. These are both for people who have done the basic training and want to have a bit more fun. The 4x4 one I’ve done but the skid pan I haven’t tried yet. The theme is races against the clock round a slalom course on the skid pan. The idea being to minimise skidding. It’s pretty slippery out there so that should be good for a laugh. Anyway, my name is down for that one. Any interest from any of you lot can be registered by sending me an e-mail. At this point I don’t have any dates but I’m looking at April/May/June so getting your name on my list gets you first refusal of whatever dates I come up with. So, like the upcoming general election – vote early and vote often. My e-mail address is printed somewhere in this fine publication. I’m not telling you where – got to put a little bit of challenge into your life !! Drive safely

Scott Bannister


Please contact me

by email at

[email protected]

~~~~~~~~ Editorial ~~~~~~~~

Terry Joyce

Hello,

For information about the picture on the front cover see Page 23.

Thank you to those of you that have contributed to this edition. Please

keep the letters and articles coming.

There are the dates for next year on Page 16.

The review of The Official Highway Code has come to an end. The last

change is shown on Page 17.

Many Thanks to Sue Sweetland for her patient and educated assistance in

producing this Newsletter.


Our Group Enquiry number: - 07757 399897

Honorary Life Members Mr Mike Corbett, Mr Glyn Jarrett, Mrs Ruth Jarrett, Mr Dave Travers, Mr Colin Snow.

Group contact information

Chairman Associates Co-ordinator & Chief Observer

Scott Bannister [email protected]

Secretary Steve Wright

Treasurer John Johnston

Membership Secretary Ken Carrington

Website Editor Jon Ward

Newsletter Editor Terry Joyce [email protected]

Events Organiser Sally Langley

Publicity John Stone

Group Contact Susan Sweetland

Committee Member Dr Clifford Murira

Committee Member John Ockmore

Committee Member Ken Howard

Committee Member Malcolm Kentish

Committee Member Selva Seeni

Committee Member Anthony Shilson

Committee

Observer Examiner Gaynor Manthorpe

External Events


New Chief Executive Mrs Sarah Sillars OBE has been appointed as the IAM’s Chief Executive Officer. Sarah’s mission will be to improve driving and riding skills and to campaign for legisla-tion to improve road safety. Sarah takes up her role on 5 February. Sarah said: “I am delighted to be back playing a significant role in the automotive sector. The IAM has played a unique part in lower-ing the numbers of people killed and injured on UK roads. I am very proud to be appointed Chief Executive.” “Many thousands of people have reason to be grateful to the IAM and its passionate volunteers for their advice, guidance and training over the decades.” She continued: “With more than 1,700 deaths and 21,000 serious injuries a year on our roads there is still much work to be done. “My intention is to ensure that we consolidate our experience and expertise, and then change up a gear – to further build on the excellent and vital research, training and lobbying activities that we carry out. “We will change opinions, driving habits and legislation.”

The IAM, which was formed more than 50 years ago, has more than 90,000 members, all intent on improving their own motoring skills or driving through reform to improve road safety. It provides independently audited driver and rider training, including the advanced test.

IAM Chairman Alistair Cheyne OBE said: “Sarah is the perfect person to drive the IAM into a new era. She has the skills, background and experience to help the IAM achieve its goal of becoming the best provider of post-licence driver and rider training in the UK. “The challenge ahead is a large one, but I am now confident that we will see growth for an IAM that attracts more of the UK’s drivers and riders.”

Sarah has a long and illustrious career within the automotive sector, having been CEO and Executive Chair of the Institute of the Motoring Industry (IMI). They made her an Honorary Fellow and Vice President on her departure in 2012. Awarded Industry Personality of the Year 2004 and Outstanding Achievement Award 2006 by automotive magazines AM and Motor Trader respectively, Sarah was listed in the UK motor industry’s most influential top ten and the ‘most powerful’ female execu-tive, according to the 2007 AM Power List.

In September 2008 Sarah was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award by Bodyshop Magazine in recognition of IMI’s work with ATA in the body repair sector.

She was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in June 2008 for services to skills training and the retail motor industry.

Sarah has more than 25 years of experience within the motor and retail industries, having begun her career with Marks & Spencer, managing stores in England and later as Operations Director at automotive management consultancy Anne Gray Associates.


I suppose it was going to happen sometime but when I came out of Sainsburys (other supermarkets are available) and discovered that someone had driven into the car, my heart sank. It didn't take long to grow angry because the driver hadn't bothered to leave a note and we were going to be landed with the bill or the Insurance Excess.

Now, I've banged on about women in 4x4 monsters before but the damage is so high up on the bodywork that it couldn't have been caused by anything else. So, instead of tucking the car away in the covered part of the car park when we're shopping, we're braving all sorts of unpleasant weather on the roof where the spaces and aisles are wider. I'm not a happy bunny!

Oh I know we all make mistakes but if you do the best part of a thousand pounds' worth of damage to someone else's vehicle, you surely can't drive off without knowing what you've done.

Anyway, the car is at the Body Shop for four days and the weather forecast is for snow – good 'ere innit?

Susan Sweetland

Our Observers Ron Adams

Scott Bannister

Pat Clements

Philip Cooper

Paul Crosby

Jamie Drummond

Tony Hawes

Helen Jeffries

Terry Joyce

Rob Laird

George Locker

Graham Lowe

Gaynor Manthorpe

Dr Clifford Murira

John Ockmore

Graham Robson

Roger Spall

Lawrence Tattersall

John Tullett

Mark Warbey

Brian Williams

Rob Wise


Notification of Events

There has been a lot of positive feedback from events organised by the Group. If you would like to be kept informed of any up and coming events please make sure that l has your current email address.

Young Driver Scheme

Do you know of anyone who is not 17 years of age, but wants to learn how to drive?

Chelmsford IAM group supports this road safety scheme to give people the opportunity to learn basic car control skills in Driving School Dual Controlled cars on pri-vate land before they go on the public Highway.

getting behind the wheel (again, or for the first time).

Full details of the scheme, a letter from Essex Police and a map may be viewed, and the application Form can be downloaded, from

www.youngdriverscheme.org

Lessons, lasting for one hour, are run on the third Sunday of most months at Earls Colne (near Coggeshall). There is an initial Registration Fee of £30 which covers registration and the first one hour lesson. Subsequent lessons cost £25. Lessons must be booked in advance.

The scheme is intended primarily for 16 year-olds but, if vacancies permit, places may be offered to 15 year-olds or even to older people who are nervous about

Alternatively, forms may be obtained from the YDS Organiser.

Nicola Hyland, 67 Main Road,

St Lawrence Bay, Southminster,

CM0 7NA

Dedicated Mobile number

07847 645632 or

[email protected]


Roadcraft

Chapter 4 focuses on anticipating hazards in the driving environment and in particular at night, in poor weather. The road surface, road signs and observation links are covered to give you a fuller picture of your driving environment. As with other chapters of Roadcraft information is mentioned a lot and if you have been in the car with me you will know that I go on and on and on about 'information' and the reason that I do that is because to improve our driving we need to see more.

Back to night driving, because it is harder to see, we get less information therefore we need to slow down to make the best of what we can see. Night driving puts a strain on our eyes and our bodies become more tired. Once we are aware of our bodies limitations at night we can then think about our car.

I'm going to do a bit of advertising now. I keep a slightly damp Meguiars Water Mag-net Towel in the boot of my car in a carrier bag. These a great for cleaning windows and mirrors. To make the most of the vision we get from our cars the windscreen and mirrors need to be clean. The times that I get into an Associates car and see that thin film of dirt/dust across the screen. The other thing that I keep in the sidepocket is one of those microfibre cloths specifically designed for glass. I can't stand the feel of microfibre cloths but these are a lot smoother and work very well on windscreens. I bought mine in Aldi. Now where were we. If you have a film of dirt/dust on your wind-screen at the time you need most vision; at night or when the bright winter sun is low shining in your eyes it will be even more difficult to see.

We also need to know how our wipers and demisters/air conditioning if you have it works, so when we are driving we can make any adjustments without losing concen-tration on the actual driving. As part of the cockpit drill it is worth a quick check of where all the buttons/switches are for demisting so that should you need to make a change it is possible by feel rather than looking to see where they are. This is not possible with all cars as some are much more complicated than others but should you need to look before making a change bear in mind that for every ten miles per hour that you are doing you will cover approximately fifteen feet a second. This equates to around ninety feet at 60mph. Just a second glance at these or other controls in the car can have a marked impact on control of the car.

We are told by Roadcraft that we should always drive so that we can stop safely with-in the distance we can see to be clear on our own side of the road. At night this is limited by the strength of our headlights and our eyesight. We can use main beam depending on other traffic on the road to help gain more information. Also our ability to assess the speed and position of other vehicles at night is reduced so we need to allow for this. We can also be dazzled by the lights on other vehicles and for me by those zenon headlights. I have had an anti glare coating put on my glasses to help with this.

How can we improve our observation at night. Roadcraft tells us to keep our speed down when we leave a brightly lit area to allow time for our eyes to adjust to the lower light level. Any light inside the car can reflect off of the windows and distract you. For instance, if you need to use a Sat Nav make sure it is set to night mode before you leave.

Continued on Page 13


Roadcraft continued

Pilots use a red light in the cockpit at night to help preserve their night vision. Some glasses can be unsuitable for driving at night particularly photochromic lenses because the time they take to change in different light conditions. Back to flying for a moment, my AME (Authorised Medical Examiner) will not allow me to fly in glasses that have variofocal or photochromatic lenses. Check and see what your optician recommends.

Roadcraft now talks about weather conditions stating that weather is often blamed for collisions when the real cause is inappropriate driving. Careful observation, good anticipation, the correct speed and enough space to be able to brake are crucial in difficult weather conditions. Choose your lights according to the circumstances. If the light is fading or visibility is poor in daylight use dipped headlights and as a general rule use dipped headlights whenever your wipers are in constant use.

Observation, looking for information when the visibility is low is more difficult but the same principles apply. Getting the speed for the conditions right is important because this will give you time to look and see what is happening, don’t stare, keep your eyes moving and remember you can use your horn if you want to let other drivers know that you are there.

Look out for Microclimates. We often get these near me in Watery Lane, there are high banks with hedges shading part of the road often causing wet or ice on one side of the road. This can lead to a very slippery surface, especially if you need to brake or accelerate as there may be two wheels with ice or water beneath them and two wheels on dryish tarmac. This is just one aspect of road conditions, build a check in your scan to check for changes to the road surface and think how they will affect your drive. Potholes and other irregularities are part of this check. The earlier you can spot them the earlier you can plan to avoid them. Page 77 of Roadcraft has a chart identifying the grip characteristics and problems with different road surfaces, take a look.

There is a section on ‘Driving through water’, I’ve covered that on page 22.

Road signs and markings are there to warn you of approaching hazards and give instructions and information. You should use your observational skills to read the road and link the signs to the hazards. At this point Roadcraft introduces an acronym, OUR. Observe - actively search for road signs and markings in your scan and incorporate the information into your driving plan.

Understand - be able to recognise them immediately. You should be familiar with the current editions of the Highway Code and Know your Traffic Signs.

React - to a sign or marking by looking ahead to see what it refers to and decide what you need to do, if anything.

Local knowledge can be a useful addition to the information part of the system but never take familiar roads for granted. 2 out of 3 collisions happen on roads that drivers are familiar with.

The next part of Chapter 4 covers is about observation links. I will cover that in the next edition.

From Roadcraft with comments by Terry Joyce


What power do we need? What power do we need from the engine in order to be able to drive our motor

vehicles?

In one sense there is no answer to this question and it will vary from country to coun-

try but I hope to be able to show that there is an optimum power in order to drive

comfortably and safely. Power in itself has little relevance in this discussion what is

more important is the power to weigh ratio as this affects the acceleration and thus

how the car performs in real traffic conditions. Some purists will comment that it is

torque that affects acceleration and this is true but as there is a simple mathematical

relation between power and torque using the standard published power figures is

quite legitimate and does not depend on which gear the vehicle is using.

My motoring career has extended in

excess of 50 years and during that

time I have owned various vehicles,

both two and four wheels, and with a

wide variation in power. My first

vehicle was a Jowett-Bradford van,

weighing about 7 cwt. and with a 20

BHP engine, my latest a Skoda

Fabia weighing 1.32 tonnes with driv-

er and producing 180 BHP. The cur-

rent motor cycle weighs 250kg in-

cluding rider and produces 58 BHP.

Over my driving career I have had a range of vehicles having between 55 and 230

BHP per tonne.

Using as an example a typical modern super-mini weighing 1.3 tonnes with the driver

(e.g. Ford Fiesta), the power required to propel it at a constant speed is approximate-

ly 5.5 BHP at 30 MPH rising to 32 BHP at 70 MPH. So why do we need more power?

The answer, of course is that we very rarely drive at a constant speed or on a com-

pletely incline free road. If we re-calculate the power for the vehicle climbing a 1:200

slope and at the same time accelerating by 4 MPH in one second, this being equiva-

lent to a 0 – 60 MPH time of 15 seconds, the power figures rise to 50 BHP from 28 to

32 MPH and 125 BHP from 68 to 72 MPH.

These latter figures are based on an acceleration of 0 - 62 MPH in 15 seconds –

quite a slow time for a modern car. The other figure not taken into account on the

above is the transmission loss. This is usually quoted as between 15% and 20% so in

the worst case conditions to accelerate the car at 70 MPH the true engine power at

the flywheel would be 156 BHP. These powers are well beyond the output of most

super-mini engines, even most of the GT versions Continued on Page 15


What power do we need? continued

Let us now take another example. We have a Skoda Fabia with the mid-range 1.2l,

85 BHP petrol engine. We are following a truck at 56 MPH and wish to overtake brisk-

ly on a dual carriageway which has the 1:200 slope. How long will it take to accelerate

to 70 MPH?

Assuming that the engine can be held at the optimum speed, in this case 4800 RPM,

the time will be 6 seconds. This is a long time to be in the outer lane with vehicles

closing, initially, at 21 feet per second. In practice the advanced driver will open the

space behind the truck, pick a safe gap perhaps a quarter mile back and accelerate

up to the truck before pulling out into the gap to complete the overtake. This doesn’t

always work smoothly particularly if the gap changes speed while you are accelerat-

ing and it is so much easier if you have the ability to accelerate very rapidly into the

gap when it is nearly alongside.

We now come to one of the most hazardous manoeuvres. We have the same Skoda

as before and we are on a single carriageway “A” road following a 44 tonne articulat-

ed truck at 40 mph and still going up the slight incline. The truck is 16.5m long and

the car 4m. We move up into the overtake position say 5.5m behind the truck and will

need at least a clear car’s length in front of the truck before we can safely return to

our side of the road, a total overtake of 30m. We accelerate as hard as possible and it

takes 5.6 seconds to achieve this position in front of the truck and we will now be trav-

elling at 63 MPH, slightly over the limit but not a speed that is likely to interest the law.

More importantly we will have covered 423 feet. If, however, there is a car coming to-

wards us at the legal limit it will cover 493 feet in the same time so it can be seen that

you need in excess of a clear 300 yards to complete the overtake safely. To find such

a clear piece of road in the UK these days is quite unusual so the only way to make

possible a safe overtake in the limited spaces available is to do it quicker. This re-

quires a more powerful engine.

So we return to the original question of how much power? The IAM expects us to

drive briskly and to make good progress and to do this it is necessary to demonstrate

similar manoeuvres to the two described above and to do them completely safely. I

would suggest that a power of about 100 BHP per tonne will provide a vehicle that is

sufficiently brisk to accomplish most of the driving that we might need within the

speed limits and, because the engine is operating very gently at cruising speeds, will

still remain very economical. Most medium sized saloons and above, apart from the

base models, already achieve this power to weight ratio but it is the smaller cars

where power is sacrificed in the efforts to cut costs and these are the cars that create

many of the hold ups because they are just unable to proceed sufficiently briskly.

Chris Gardiner


Monday 9th March

Working behind the scenes on the TV show Inspector Morse.

Lindsay Siviter

Monday 13th April

Driver First Assist programme Rachel Hewings

Monday 11th May

Essex Crimestoppers Presentation Stuart Walins

Monday 8th June

Hospital Radio Chelmsford Graham Medhurst

Monday 13th July

Parking manoeuvres in the car park Scott

Monday 10th August

Subject to be advised nearer the time. Clifford Murira

Monday 14th September

Director of EMG Driver Training High Performance Course UK Ltd

who is an Advanced Car Instructor & Trainer (Grade A), talks to us about his

role.

Eunan MacGuinness

Monday 12th October

Collision investigation & the litigation process and Wills.

Tony Carter & Andy Grant

Monday 9th November

A talk about Jeremy’s role Jeremy Moore OBE

Monday 14th December

Annual Christmas buffet & quiz night

These speakers have all been booked by Sally Langley. If you know of someone you think the group might like to hear, then please contact Sally on 07905 445249 or

email her at [email protected].

Dates for 2015

Please add them to your diary

mailto:[email protected]


Changes in the New Highway Code (2007)

© Crown copyright 2007

Highway Code

The other bits

Safety code for new drivers

This code will help you drive safely in your first year after passing the driving test, when you are most vulnerable. You should always follow the Highway Code. It’s most dangerous driving at night - don’t drive between midnight and 6am un-

less it’s really necessary.

Don’t let passengers distract you or encourage you to take risks - tell them that you need to concentrate on the road.

Never show off or try to compete with other drivers, particularly if they are driving

badly. Don’t drive if you’ve drunk any alcohol or taken drugs. Some medicines can affect

your ability to drive safely - always read the warning on the label. Make sure everyone’s wearing a seat belt throughout the journey. Keep your speed down - especially on bends. Be very careful driving high-powered or sporty cars - even if you learnt to drive in

one. You must have insurance - it’s an offence to drive without it.

You’ll lose your licence if you get 6 penalty points within 2 years of passing your first driving test. You’ll need to pass both tests again to get it back.

Page 133 &134 This was new in 2007.

https://www.gov.uk/highway-code

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-insurance


Review of ‘How to Drive’ by Ben Collins

I have just finished reading ‘How to Drive’ by Ben Collins. In broad terms, this book sits part way between the earlier editions of ‘Roadcraft’, which gave fairly prescriptive advice, and the more cerebral “Mind Driving” by Stephen Haley.

The book has four chapters, these are roughly equal-sized, and the first two are easy and often informative to read. Collins describes how he took a while to work out what to do in many aspects of his driving, including the education of a head-on with a 12-ton truck "which his driving plan said could not happen". But, pretty clearly he is at the top of his game nowadays, and he is now writing down what he has learned to do.

Collins describes practical techniques for car control using the pedals and I tried out some of his suggestions by pottering along a quiet road and swapping between third and second over and over again, so clearly the book has encouraged me to experi-ment. He also drops pithy one-liners into his text, and entering the A12 near Boreham I remembered his instruction to “own the blind spot” which almost guarantees a de-cent level of concentration and situational awareness.

The coverage of tyres including winter tyres is especially good, and also the elemen-tary things like changing gear and using the pedals. I think fundamentally the book is about getting the most out of a car, rather than maximising safety, and so it is rather different to both Roadcraft and Mind Driving. Plenty of the advice is sound enough - for example, overlapping the feathering off at the end of braking with beginning to work the clutch - and here Collins addresses the need for timing which is often so difficult to describe in print.

He is a strong advocate of rotational steering, and his use of this technique to the ex-clusion of the alternatives does seem to emphasise a desire for ‘progress at speed’ over ‘safety at all speeds’. He does not mention the possibility of a wheel-mounted air bag smashing your forearm into your face.

Collins has a pleasant and readable style, but wanders off topic too often to describe specific events during his racing career. They don’t seem to add anything to his argu-ments. He fails to mention the need to get someone to watch and mentor you, and also omits to mention the balance speed we crave in bend work, and both of these are serious omissions.

The last quarter of the book is devoted to 'skidding' and herein is the biggest weak-ness of the book - the scope of the subject tackled is just too wide. He finishes off with the instructions on how to do parallel parking by going in sideways, and perhaps more usefully how to extract a car from such a position when you are boxed-in at both ends. He points out what this sort of behaviour will cost you in tyre wear too, and even gives very explicit instructions on how to dump a clutch - but I am left wondering what will happen to the gearbox and the transmission of the car.

The book gets a place on my bookshelf. It has some excellent original illustrations of car dynamics and I will keep it for these and a re-read of the earlier chapters one day. The cover price hardback is £20, but I found my copy substantially discounted in one of the big supermarkets. The book is published in London by Macmillan.

Richard Gawler.


Chelmsford Advanced Motorists

Library List

DVDs

Drive Smarter, Essential know-how for your driving career (2 copies) By Gem Motoring Assist

Roadcraft, The Police Driver’s Course on Advanced Driving By The Police Foundation

PC CD-ROMs

The Interactive Highway Code HMSO/ Interactive Driving Systems

Hazard Perception Test HMSO/Oasis

BOOKS

Roadcraft TSO Human Aspects of Police Driving Scottish Police College The Tyre Digest (2 copies) Michelin

Driving Abroad Robert Davies

The Official Highway Code Rev. 2007 Edition HMSO

The Official Guide to Accompanying L-Drivers DSA

Sideways to Victory Roger Clark

The Myway Code Ian Vince/Dan Kieran

Paul Ripley’s Expert Driving Daily Telegraph

The Inner Game of Tennis W Timothy Gallwey

Mind Driving Stephen Haley

Older Drivers – Safe or Unsafe? IAM Traffic– Why we drive the way we do Tom Vanderbilt Boreham, A History of the Racing Circuit Bryan Jones & John Frankland

CDs

Awake, Driver Reviver THINK

Advanced Road Craft Bespoke Driving Training

The Driving Test – Your Licence to Drive IAM/Safety on the Move

If you have any books etc from the Library can you please contact Scott Bannister


Letters & emails On all matters relating to motoring and the Chelmsford Group, this newsletter or your experiences in preparing for or taking your test are most welcome.

I'd decided that my wife was right - I wasn't the best driver in the world, and that I would finally do something about getting advanced driving lessons. I wish I'd done it years ago. Not only was it much cheaper than I expected - and certainly far less expensive than getting to the required standard for the last driving test I'd taken, 25 years ago - it was hugely enjoyable and of course educational, and I can't thank my observer, Gaynor, enough, for her time and advice. I've always been keen to spend time behind the wheel, but extended periods left me feeling tense and drained. Now I arrive relaxed and ready for anything.

Tony Foster

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Having passed my motorcycle IAM test in 1999. I am now proud to have passed the car test too. And it's all thanks to my Observer, John Ockmore who imparted invalua-ble knowledge to help me. Thank you Colin Byford

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I would really like to thank Scott for all the help he gave me in obtaining a F1rst! Learning different techniques certainly wasn't boring in Scott's company with 'more gas' ringing in my ears! The test was stress free and enjoyable thanks to my Examin-er Derek Weddon who explained everything thoroughly making it a relaxed experi-ence. Pete Robinson


A Press Release from the IAM

As the Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings of ice and snow for much of the country, roads are expected to be gritted to prevent snow from settling. The IAM’s chief examiner, Peter Rodger is offering advice to motorists to better cope with driving on road surfaces that have been recently treated.

1. If weather conditions are severe in your area you should take notice of police ad-vice and simply don’t travel. However, in exceptional circumstances if you must go out make sure you drive safely with extra caution on icy roads.

2. Salt will often make the windscreen, headlights, number plate and rear parts of your car very dirty. Cars without headlamp washers, for example, will lose an esti-mated 40% of luminosity, and possibly all their focus in about 20 miles on a damp, gritted motorway. When travelling long distances it is advised that you stop regular-ly at service stations to clean your windscreen and headlights with a clean cloth. Or keep a filled gallon of water in the car boot to give your lights, windows and mir-rors a quick wash over – a handy investment to top up your windscreen washer reservoir when needed too.

3. When driving on a busy road avoid overtaking a gritting lorry as the road ahead may not be treated yet. If you have any doubt, don’t risk it. Never overtake a snow plough in heavy snow conditions.

4. While roads may be gritted to give you better traction some areas may not be com-pletely treated, leaving ice patches exposed. You should therefore drive at a steady pace – ensuring the safety of you and your passengers.

5. It’s important that you keep your car clean throughout the winter as the salt in grit can cause external damage such as corrosion to any exposed suspension parts. Ensure that you thoroughly wash the underneath of your car when you can to stop salt from settling.

6. Don’t forget to wash/rinse alloy wheels too; the smallest scratch can quickly be-come a large rust patch.

Peter Rodger, the IAM’s chief examiner said: “Preparation is the key to avoiding a dangerous situation whilst driving in snowy or icy conditions. Don’t rely on the perfor-mance of your car systems to get you out of trouble – allow time, make sure you have good visibility all round and carry the right equipment.”


Driving through water

This is covered in Chapter 4 of Roadcraft but if you have had a drive with Scott or myself you would have probably been taken through a Ford.

Driving at speed through water can sharply deflect the front wheels and cause you to lose control. See more about this in Chapter 7.

Take extra care when driving at night because it becomes difficult to distinguish be-tween a wet road surface and flood water. Flood water can gather quickly especially now we seem to get a lot of heavy rain in a short space of time. Drains don’t seem to be cleared as often as they used to and this can compound the problem.

Slow down or even stop as you approach a flooded area to assess its depth. Avoid driving through water wherever possible. When you do drive through water look for the shallowest part but look for hidden obstacles or subsidence. The smallest of puddles can hide a deep pothole. I had an Associate drive through one recently and there was quite a bang on his wheel and tyre. We had to find somewhere to stop and inspect them. On this occasion he was lucky.

If the road is entirely submerged, stop your car in a safe place and then try and assess its depth. If you are not sure don’t be afraid to turn around and find another route. I heard of several cases last year where BMWs suffered catastrophic engine failure because water was taken in through the air intake. The depth of water that you can safely drive through depends on how high your car stands off of the ground and where the electrical components, engine, air intake and exhaust pipe are positioned. For example, submerging a hot catalytic converter could cause damage. Take a look in your handbook to see if there is any advice.

If you do decide to drive through the water Roadcraft offers this advice: In a car with a manual gearbox - engage first gear and keep the engine running at just above idle speed (just enough to prevent stalling). In older cars, driving at higher revs could prevent water being drawn into the exhaust system. In many newer cars, the air intake is positioned below the front bumper so avoid higher revs as this would cause water to be sucked into the engine causing expensive damage.

In a car with automatic transmission - refer to the manufacturer’s handbook for specific advice as this varies from one automatic system to another. Drive through the water at a slow even speed (a slow walking pace). Grip the steering wheel more tightly to maintain direction as you drive through the water. When you leave the water, continue driving slowly and apply the foot brake lightly until the brakes grip. Repeat this again after a short while until you are confident that your brakes are working normally.

If just one wheel enters a deep puddle (usually the nearside wheel), that wheel will slow rapidly causing the car to veer in that direction. If you can’t avoid the puddle, prepare by tightening your grip on the steering wheel and holding it straight until clear.

From Roadcraft with comments by Terry Joyce #


Congratulations

Here are some of our successful members receiving their certificate from our Chairman Scott Bannister

Charles Proctor

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Signs with a yellow background

Recently one of our Associates was asked on test what a sign with a yellow background means.

I believe these sign denote a ‘Blackspot’. I haven’t seen it written anywhere but I have been told they are used where there have been a number of collisions.

As you can see from this sign it is not only ‘Warning’ signs that have the yellow background.

The Traffic Signs Manual states, To improve conspicuity against a com-plex or dark background, a warning sign may be mounted on a grey or yellow backing board

The links below are to websites that you may have an interest in. Please let me know if any of them are not working. Email me if you think of any websites that may be of interest.

IAM DrivingAdvice & Tips

http://www.iam.org.uk/media-and-research/media-centre/driving-and-riding-tips

Online Highway Code

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/index.htm

Know your traffic signs

http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/@motor/documents/digitalasset/dg_191955.pdf

Tyresafe

http://www.tyresafe.org

Drive Alive

http://www.drive-alive.co.uk

Heritage Motor Centre http://www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk/

London Cyclist http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/

www.iamchelmsford.org.uk

Here are the A13/A132 wrapping around Tesco at Pitsea.

Internet Links

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