September 2008
Trevor Dickenson, IAM Staff Examiner
It was a pleasure to welcome Trevor as the first speaker at the group's new venue, The Cherry Tree on Oundle Road. Theoretically his subject was "What the Examiner expects" but in practise he covered a huge range, from recollections of his time as a police driver and the work he still does on training programmes for the emergency services to a personal aversion to 50 mph limits! Along the way he covered the entire technique of advanced driving, including perfect smoothness, making progress (the national speed limit signs are referred to in certain circles as meaning "go like fury"), commentary driving and getting every last ounce of performance out of the car. He reminded us of the need for systematic driving particularly with reference to his experience with the police and having to drive extremely fast to something no driver wants to arrive at, such as a fatal collision or to break up a fight. It is impossible to imagine anyone else with such a huge knowledge of the subject and thanks are due to Trevor for a thought provoking, informative and very amusing evening.
July 2008
Driving an HGV
For the second time, Sainsbury's were kind enough to send one of their lorries with a team of 3 drivers for members to get in the cab and find out what is's like to be in control of an artic. These frequently carry a 40 - 44 ton load and while the drivers are quite relaxed about this, it is not a job for nervous people!
The lorries have all the most up-to-date equipment that there is, most of them are fully automatic and they have navigational and tracking equipment that would do justice to an aircraft. Even in a year it was interesting to see the changes such as the new blindspot mirrors - although ironicaly these create huge blindspots of their own.
Aside from giving some insight into the skills required to drive these vehicles they also explained how the system works to keep the stores stocked up - and also how this can go spectacularly wrong. At 8mpg mistakes are very expensive!
May 2008
Dan Graves, A.A. Patrolman
Arriving in a brand new A.A. van, packed with all the latest tracking and diagnostic equipment, Dan explained the procedure from the moment a breakdown call is received and the tricky job of actually finding people who are not sure of their own location - he ran through the facts and figures on callouts and offered useful advice for anyone unfortunate enough to need him. He then demonstrated the equipment on the van and finally found himself answering a huge number of totally urelated questions, including the reliability of various makes of car and having to confess to having driven off with someone's cat asleep in the van.
With many thanks to the A.A and Dan himself for a very interesting evening.
March 2008
Chris Breeze, Cambridgeshire Constabulary.
Chris has spent many years as a traffic officer and specialist in his subject, forensic science. A motorcyclist as well as a driver he is based at Police Headquarters in Huntingdon and is often called upon to give evidence in the Crown Court. His job it is to analyse all the evidence at the scene of a crash in order to determine the likely sequence of events that led to it.
Chris took us through a series of horrifying incidents to demonstrate his methods. From analysis of skidmarks – he referred to one where a vehicle had skidded for 105 metres – to the place where the vehicle finally stopped moving – including one in the window of a first floor flat.
Seemingly immune to the tragic consequences of driver error – he is a hands on member of the emergency services team - Chris involved his audience in trying to work out what had happened, working out which wheels had actually skidded, how fast the vehicle was travelling and what had happened and why. It was a challenge, but assisted by our good friends from the Bike Group who had been invited to join us, we largely succeeded in unravelling the details. As he put it, every picture tells a story.
A request from him: IF YOU FIND YOURSELF AT THE SCENE OF A CRASH, PLEASE PRESERVE THE SCENE AND DO NOT DISTURB IT. Valuable evidence can be lost when people start to move things out of the way.
2007
Trevor Dickenson, IAM Staff Examiner, class 1 police driver and motorcyclist. On leaving the police Trevor became an accident investigator and gave a presentation on his methods and how he obtained compensation for two innocent victims who were seriously injured in road accidents.
"Antartica and Climate Change". Dr Neil Morgan O.B.E. Neil had recently returned from Antartica and brought a slide show of the continent. His observation was that the evidence on climate change was inconclusive. While there was significant ice melt in some places in others the ice was expanding.
"Driving an HGV". Dave Salisbury and a colleague from Sainsbury's transport department brought along a brand new mercedes actros and after a tour of the cab and the opportunity to explore matters such as the blind spots they gave a talk on sharing the road.
"Life on 2 wheels". A social evening at the Plough Inn, Farcet Fen with PECAM advanced motorcyclists. After supper the bikers took the drivers for a ride on the pillion. Their skills and roadcraft were admired by all.
Karting Match. The drivers challenged the bikers to a match at Kartsport indoor track. The bikers turned out to have a couple of experts among them but the drivers came a close second!
"Military transport". Sgt Geoff Mackay, MT2 Squadron RAF brought along a fascinating presentation about the vehicles used to overland equipment for all 3 Services around the world. There are some photos in the gallery. The chicken gun is used to fire dead chickens, feathers and all, down a 30 ft barrel, to test aircraft canopies!