How to Prepare for Police Driving Courses - Part 1, Introduction

[@whimsical_ninja]

A few thoughts in no particular order: 1. The courses are exhausting. You'll actually be in the car for less than 5 hours a day - and actually only driving for about an hour and a half - but the levels of concentration are intense (and you'll be concentrating just as hard when it's someone else's turn to drive). Don't even think about doing additional shifts or catching up on work etc. 2. Don't worry too much about your current standard of driving. The instructors will tear your driving to bits anyway at the beginning of a response course. A friend of mine had barely driven since she passed her driving test (and the standard of her driving was horrific); she passed the course with flying colours, which is testament to the quality of instruction. 3. Our instructors said there's only one thing that you get automatically kicked off the course for and that's "failing to respond to a command". That sounds like instructors getting on their high horse but it's critically important for everyone's safety that you don't get tunnel vision - if you decide to go for an overtake, the instructor has to be confident that if they say "IT'S NOT ON" that you'll listen and respond appropriately. It can be easy to get caught up in your own little world but that's potentially very dangerous! 4. Speed isn't everything. In fact nobody will kick up much of a fuss if you're slow on the response course (the same isn't true of the advanced course). 5. I personally found the advanced course much, much more difficult than the response course (even though you're not really being taught much that's different from the response course). The standards and levels of accuracy expected are much higher than the response course (as are the speeds). 6. Do watch Reg's back catalogue of videos which are probably the best content out there. Do read Roadcraft but don't cram it all into a couple of days - dip in and dip out. 7. If you're a bit worried about your current standard of driving, practice by trying to drive the way you were taught when you first learned to drive (pull-push steering, lots of mirror and blind spot checks etc). Do have a go at commentary driving when you're on your own. If you want to, have a go at revving the engine on a downshift (are the response courses still taught in manuals? Can't be long before that's put to bed...) Other than that I wouldn't bother with practicing anything specific - that's what the instructors are there for.

[@Matt_Hil]

I just want to say a massive thank for creating these videos. I am currently preparing for my advanced driving / blue light course with the Ambulance service. I feel much more confident now with what I need achieve on the course. Thanks again.

[@CrazePure]

My blue light response course was one of the best three weeks of my career to date. Just waiting for my ipp next🙌

[@OpvectorUK]

Basic permit generally allows compliant stops. This is force dependant, though. There isn't always a requirement for assessment either. As long as you have held a license for over 12 months and go through some e-learning, you are good to go.

[@zelicanth1927]

Always appreciate your videos, correct on the wait times, but a little too optimistic about the state of current UK policing! Been in a counties force for 6 years on response and still don't have a standard course. It's mostly random allocation or dependant on if your supervisor likes you. We don't call it standard anymore, because it's not standard to have it. Currently only 1/3 of officers on the front line even have it. Never did any basic driver assessment, literally was just given a PowerPoint slide sometime in the first month of joining with no testing and I can now stop vehicles with lights. Used to have to have a course to drive a cell van, but they removed this when some of our stations only used cell vans! Also have to have a course for fast roads, however every road where I work is fast so we have to just leave stranded road users and hope they don't get hit. This is still the current method of operating in my force. I was dragged through a complains procedure once when I stayed within the law and didn't go through red lights to get to an incident about 300 meters away that I could see. Members of the public complained that I was just sat there watching. No-one thought to check if I was allowed to or not! Took three months before it was dropped and the force told me in the future I need to raise the issue and continue to request a course given the lack of officers where I work. I've probably asked every month for four years straight and when I asked again they suddenly backtracked on that and said they still don't have capacity. The members of public had a bigger complaint when the force told them the officer wasn't trained to respond to their serious incident despite being the only unit in a 40 mile radius! I tell every member of the public I can now as to why it's taken so long to get to them and it surprises me they are shocked every time. It's a juicy BBC/Channel 4 story yet nothing.

[@jakeswift10]

Sounds like the largest metropolitan force in the UK!! Ridiculous

[@egeg4216]

@@jakeswift10 Nah things have changed in the met, anyone out of probation is getting a course now!

[@jakeswift10]

@@egeg4216 since when?? And how long after your probation are you getting one. Surely it is dependent upon where you’re based too. Heard people are getting taser quicker than they are a standard course

[@egeg4216]

@@jakeswift10 it's changed in about the last year or so, essentially a huge uplift in courses, the met began purchasing course spaces from other forces. Alot of the people I know now are getting theirs 2.5 years in. My team is so flush we get response drivers paired with response drivers!

[@jakeswift10]

@@egeg4216 very good! I like to hear it, sounds better than up north then. I’ve fancied transferring to the met for a bit. What would the likely roles be I could do. Advanced Tpac trained. Anything proactive ?

[@se9225]

@RegLocal - A mathematical assessment of the 0-60 (mph) acceleration time (seconds) and the maximum speed gives us a single value that represents the maximum speed and how quickly it can be achieved. This is the Acceleration / Velocity Ratio (AV) and what decides what is low/high performance vehicles. Dividing the AV by the BHP, results in an assessment of the vehicle's power to speed / acceleration. This capability assessment is a small fraction and by multiplying it by 10,000, results in a whole number, to one decimal place and allows for the final number to be interpreted easily and concisely.

[@maxtorque2277]

Looks like you could do with a "how to wade in your car" video given the standing water in this video 🙂

[@maunsell24]

Nice roads indeed: Hartside Pass with no traffic. :>)

[@Dave-cn4no]

Another cracking video

[@R04drunner1]

Sounds fantastic.

[@michaelggriffiths]

Bring it on!

[@yorkshirefazer]

love the vid! is there any way that civvies can gain access to these more advanced courses? obviously we couldn't use the "exemptions", but it would improve the driving standard of those who did the course.

[@dp1311-n9z]

IAMRoadsmart provide this, particularly at Masters level.

[@yorkshirefazer]

@@dp1311-n9z ta :) currently doing my IAM Roadsmart. will have to look into the masters once i complete it.

[@herme99]

Step 1: "who do you think you are, Nigel Mansell " - I assume this is rote learned 😜

[@kevinbarker3366]

The old Police class one drivers didn't go around dressing and acting like robo cops!