RobSun, the IAM I did a few years ago was basically the Roadcraft that the Police use. Well, not basically, it IS! Even the skidpan training I did was taken as part of that to learn to control rear and front wheel spins on ice.
Plus it was brilliant fun!
But I paid for it, I did the training, took the exam, put everything into practise, and yes, you do learn to use your peripheral vision to keep an eye on your speedo, but to be accurate to 1mph? My eyesight isn't that good!
But that's with training. Look at the level and standard of most drivers around. Most people don't see a truck, let alone a police car! So the chances of them observing junctions, hedges, road signs, surrounding traffic and knowing what speed they are doing are nil. If the idea is to improve the standard of driving, then the DVLA need to improve the standard of the tests. And lane hogging and messing on phones, and drink and drug driving ought to be more enforced than speed cameras.
I followed a car up the road the other week, with 6 people in, all of whom were drinking cans of Tennents (I know the brand, they threw the empties out of the window) and passing around joints, and all does include the driver. The smoke coming from the car was worse than what came out of my old Montego exhaust 20 years ago!
But it was fine, because they were only doing 25mph. I told one of the police officers when I got to work (not a cop, I just work in the same building) and he couldn't be less bothered. He actually said "at least they weren't speeding".
Speed doesn't kill. Bad driving kills. And apparently you can be a terrible, dangerous driver just so long as you do it slowly.
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