Are You a Member of the IAM ??

[parapaul]

My driving training from work allows me to be a member if I send in a few quid and a form, which I was seiously considering doing.

However...

Since the IAM publicly approved of these ridiculous "automatic speed limiting devices" that the government proposed, I have lost every ounce of respect I had for them. What advanced driving organisation would advocate anything that will give drivers LESS control of the car and encourage people to pay even less attention?

****wits.

[square box]

I'm a bike member and an Observer for them if anyone rides in the Hert's Beds area join up great bunch loads of rides and social
www.hbam.org.uk

Cheers Square box.

[boba]

Been a member of the IAM for years. I'd recommend the training/observation runs to anyone. Whether you stay a member or not sepends a lot on what activities your local branch get up to, some are quite active and others do little more than tout for new members.

But what I learned about good lookout, keeping my distance, safely making good progress etc. has stayed with me and I'm sure help make me a safer driver.

[MrT]

Since the IAM publicly approved of these ridiculous "automatic speed limiting devices" that the government proposed, I have lost every ounce of respect I had for them. What advanced driving organisation would advocate anything that will give drivers LESS control of the car and encourage people to pay even less attention?

Must've missed that memo...

I agree about the auto speed limiting devices thing - my satnav has speed limit warnings, which I can set all the way from zero mph tolerance up to +20mph (LOL!), whereupon the nice lady will almost whisper 'beware', compared to all other instructions (at speed, with the stereo on, it's about as audible as a tiny asthmatic ant sneezing)

But, and here's the biggy - there are roads where the limit is not stored in the nav, there are roads where the limit is too low compared to the road signs, and (crucially) there are roads where the unit thinks the speed limit is more than is posted - the run into Harrogate on the A61 goes from 50mph up the hill from Pannal to 30mph just before the side roads begin, and stays 30mph all the way through to the other side of town - except in the satnav, where it pops back up to 40mph (what it used to be about 4-5 years ago) after about two seconds all the way to the first traffic-light junction.

At least this is only a sat-nav, but does anyone think that the 'national database of speed limits' will be vastly more accurate? To be held up by a nav-gov'nor that thinks the limit is lower than posted is tiresome, but to be able to speed by such a device renders them pointless. My fear is that too many drivers will just drive to the nav-gov regardless, and lose the ability to think for themselves.