To those who don't know the work of prolific PH poster R_U_Local, he's an ex-police traffic officer and instructor with a passion for sharing his training with fellow PHers. A dry sense of humour, realisation we drive for more than getting from A to B and genuine enthusiasm
for the subject
led to a self-published book, based on posts he'd made in the
Advanced Driving
Does what it says on the cover!
Clearly inspired by the deservedly warm reception for Advanced and Performance Driving, Reg Local (the name he writes by outside of PH) has now written another book whose contents are as straightforward as its no-nonsense title. The professional and personal motivations for this one are made very clear from the outset. And, though the subject and its data-driven presentation are more serious, Reg has successfully maintained his conversational tone to keep it a breezy and entertaining read. No small feat.
The basic gist is that police paperwork offers a list 78 contributory factors officers can select from when writing accident reports. These are covered by nine sub-headings, which make up the main chapters of the book. This starts with the most common - "Driver error or reaction" - which crops up in 72 per cent of reported accidents and works back from there. It's worthy stuff and occasionally sobering reading. But if, as Reg has it, you want to avoid crashing or getting caught up in someone else's accident it's well worth your time. And, throughout both books, it's crystal clear Reg wants us all to enjoy our driving as he does his. Just safely. And you can't argue with that.
Learner or old hand, it's one of those books anyone can benefit from reading. And it all started out as a few posts on PH! See here for details.
Reg has also started a YouTube channel, putting his thoughts on various aspects of advanced driving on film - check it out here!