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Dumfries and Galloway IAM

Institute of Advanced Motorists And Motorcyclists

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Kevin

As for the test, I was informed in advance that there would be more than one other person in the car with me; the Examiner was to be observed by no less a person then IAM’s Chief Examiner for Scotland. No pressure, then!

On the day itself the weather could not have been worse. It had already been raining on and off for weeks, but on this particular day I could have taken the test in a canoe.

I met the test Examiner and the Chief Examiner in a car park in Dumfries with the rain still hammering down. It remained pretty much like that throughout the test. Nevertheless, I kept my cool and just made the best of it. To my surprise, I felt remarkably relaxed, despite the weather conditions and the presence of the ‘Chief’ in the back seat; to be honest, I forgot he was there!

By the end of the test we were back at the car park where the Examiner wasted no time in informing me that I had passed. He briefly discussed the errors I had made during the drive and I was surprised how few there seemed to be.

Now that I am a member of IAM I am determined not only to maintain my standard of driving but to improve upon it. The opportunity to develop my driving skills in this way has been great for me; I would thoroughly recommend the IAM Skills For Life programme to anyone considering doing it. – Kevin

I was rather too cautious in the climb out of Lochmaben through the switch back bends and could have made much better progress here. Good observation and more acceptable speeds got me through Torthorwald and back to the Dumfries By-pass. At the roundabout I expected the examiner to take us along the A75 for a few more roundabouts but he didn’t and just asked to go back to the car park by the quickest route. Obviously this involved going down the narrow bit of the Lockerbie Road by Noblehill with parked vehicles everywhere but careful observation, planning and clutch control got us through here without incident; I say this now but at the time I thought “I think I’ve failed, he’s hardly said anything, barely written anything down and he hasn’t asked me any questions!” and now he was busy writing the report sheet. Maybe I wasn’t worth bothering about? However, as soon as I had completed my shut down drill, he said he wouldn’t hold me in suspense, I had passed! He complimented me on my smooth gear changes and good use of mirrors and signals when needed and a good commentary but noted a lack of progress at times with a tendency to be over cautious.”

Mark


- Mark
 
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