I am not totally such where it originated from. However, mention that you are an advanced driver to someone and most often than not they will firstly accuse you of thinking you’re better than every other driver on the road – heaven forbid, even them! Then more often than not remind you that advanced driving is something flat cap wearing old men tend to enjoy doing, whilst of course driving their Volvo!
So from the start things don’t look good, do they? I guess the above paragraph maybe a little extreme, or is it? According to recent research 56% of people had this view. Maybe it’s a UK thing, as if you mention that you are an advanced driver in Canada it is more often than not welcomed with a more impressive response. I don’t have any statistics on this but there is a substantial difference.
Are British drivers too uptight?
Part of this negative thinking I think is down to British drivers being too uptight. For example a friend of mine drove a Lamborghini from Italy to the UK. He pulled up at the station in Italy and people looked, came over, took pictures etc…In the UK people pretended not to notice it. Why is this?
I think somewhere in our history the British driver has had a bad experience, and this has been passed down the generations to create a nation of uptight drivers!
Is safety uncool?
The only thing I can think of it that advanced driving is not cool because it promotes safety. I personally think wanting to become a safer driver is great but maybe this is a reason? Advanced driving institutions like The IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) has tried to some degree to get away from this image by building their advanced motorcyclist group and to also offer track days. Basically they are trying to get away from the flat cap image.
Is it about education?
I wonder if people actually took an advanced driving course they would think differently? In my experience this is indeed the case. However, most people don’t tend to do things unless they have an interest in driving, an interest in road safety or have to do a course as part of their job…
Maybe its time we started changing our perceptions?