Parents and Relatives
25/07/10 11:26 Filed in: Young Drivers | All
I’d like to draw the attention of parents and other relatives of young drivers to two recent IAM press releases.
Firstly, this one highlights the effect that our own driving can have on the habits that others will adopt, and secondly this one about insurance for young drivers.
I’m sure that all parents of young drivers are keen to know that their children are safe behind the wheel - whether they’re driving their own car or yours. These two articles highlight how you can encourage good driving skills and practice in a positive way, and also show that joining the IAM could make financial sense for young drivers.
If I think back (and yes it is a long time ago) my personal experiences as a teenage motorcyclist and motorist back up both of these press releases. When I got my first motorbike, no amount of nagging by my parents could have influenced my driving style; in my mind, the moment I got on that bike I was Barry Sheene or Ron Haslam (yes that long ago!). And when I got my first car I was equally sure that I was the best driver on the roads, despite having no experience to back up that confidence.
At that time, my uncle could have been a very bad influence on me; he’s an ex-rally driver who regularly took my cousins and me to watch the forest stages of the RAC rally near Kielder in the Northumberland National park, where I saw stars like Roger Clark and Timo Mäkinen demonstrate what the invincible Ford Escort RS 1800 could really do. And yet for some reason we must have been more impressed by my uncle’s impeccable driving skills on the road, which of course are due to him being an IAM observer. Whist all the trophies he’d won demonstrated that he could drive like Roger and Timo on a rally stage (well perhaps not quite that quickly), his road driving demonstrated that the highway was no place for such antics, and that it was possible to make very safe but reasonably fast progress if you knew and practiced the appropriate skills.
Without any persuasive effort on his part, I’m sure my uncle has encouraged many people to improve their driving. My sister and I, and all of our cousins have since taken and passed the Advanced Driving Test and we all enjoy our driving much more as a result. As for the financial savings for young drivers, IAM Surety wasn’t around at that time but I know I’ve saved many thousands of pounds on my motoring costs (I did say it was a long time ago); not only in terms of lower insurance costs* over the years, but also due to better fuel consumption, reduced maintenance costs and other factors.
*On the subject of insurance costs I’d like to add that the discounts available to IAM members are only a small part of the potential savings in this area. Never picking up a speeding ticket or losing your No Claims Bonus can have a much more dramatic affect on the price you’ll actually pay for your insurance, and following the RoadCraft skills is surely the best possible way to achieve that.
Firstly, this one highlights the effect that our own driving can have on the habits that others will adopt, and secondly this one about insurance for young drivers.
I’m sure that all parents of young drivers are keen to know that their children are safe behind the wheel - whether they’re driving their own car or yours. These two articles highlight how you can encourage good driving skills and practice in a positive way, and also show that joining the IAM could make financial sense for young drivers.
If I think back (and yes it is a long time ago) my personal experiences as a teenage motorcyclist and motorist back up both of these press releases. When I got my first motorbike, no amount of nagging by my parents could have influenced my driving style; in my mind, the moment I got on that bike I was Barry Sheene or Ron Haslam (yes that long ago!). And when I got my first car I was equally sure that I was the best driver on the roads, despite having no experience to back up that confidence.
At that time, my uncle could have been a very bad influence on me; he’s an ex-rally driver who regularly took my cousins and me to watch the forest stages of the RAC rally near Kielder in the Northumberland National park, where I saw stars like Roger Clark and Timo Mäkinen demonstrate what the invincible Ford Escort RS 1800 could really do. And yet for some reason we must have been more impressed by my uncle’s impeccable driving skills on the road, which of course are due to him being an IAM observer. Whist all the trophies he’d won demonstrated that he could drive like Roger and Timo on a rally stage (well perhaps not quite that quickly), his road driving demonstrated that the highway was no place for such antics, and that it was possible to make very safe but reasonably fast progress if you knew and practiced the appropriate skills.
Without any persuasive effort on his part, I’m sure my uncle has encouraged many people to improve their driving. My sister and I, and all of our cousins have since taken and passed the Advanced Driving Test and we all enjoy our driving much more as a result. As for the financial savings for young drivers, IAM Surety wasn’t around at that time but I know I’ve saved many thousands of pounds on my motoring costs (I did say it was a long time ago); not only in terms of lower insurance costs* over the years, but also due to better fuel consumption, reduced maintenance costs and other factors.
*On the subject of insurance costs I’d like to add that the discounts available to IAM members are only a small part of the potential savings in this area. Never picking up a speeding ticket or losing your No Claims Bonus can have a much more dramatic affect on the price you’ll actually pay for your insurance, and following the RoadCraft skills is surely the best possible way to achieve that.