IAM MEMBERSHIP COST

[RichB]

stefan1 said:

Having just read of the IAM's support for "Intelligent Speed Adaption" - a.k.a. a little black box controlling your car's speed - I am going to resign my membership.

Any organisation that supports that dreadful device deserves to die - I didn't have the IAM on a par with BRAKE but now I know better...

Edited by RichB on Saturday 3rd January 17:36

[p1esk]

RichB said:

stefan1 said:

Having just read of the IAM's support for "Intelligent Speed Adaption" - a.k.a. a little black box controlling your car's speed - I am going to resign my membership.

Any organisation that supports that dreadful device deserves to die - I didn't have the IAM on a par with BRAKE but now I know better...

Edited by RichB on Saturday 3rd January 17:36

Oh, haven't you heard about their planned amalgamation? Any day now I'm expecting to hear that Mary Williams is to become the new Chief Instructor - or something - for the IAM.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[Kinky]

I have to be honest - I struggle to justify continued membership.

I simply don't have the time to become an observer (although that was my intention). I was blackballed by my local group by daring to criticise their website (which I am qualified to do). They showed absolutely no interest in bringing the group into the 21st century.

I've spent about 3 months trying to get my latest membership card from them - although I pay by DD, and have sent them 3 times now, the declaration that I have 0 points. Setting up the DD was a nightmare to start with. My membership gives me no benefits - I get cheaper insurance just by shopping around - and those companies who are cheaper (eSure, Privilige, etc) do not offer additional discounts for being an IAM member.

I get the mag every few months - I read it - but nothing startling in it (for me).

And now with an increase from £18 to £28 ..... I'm struggling to see the justification.

K

[LaSarthe+Back]

Kinky said:

I have to be honest - I struggle to justify continued membership.

I simply don't have the time to become an observer (although that was my intention). I was blackballed by my local group by daring to criticise their website (which I am qualified to do). They showed absolutely no interest in bringing the group into the 21st century.

I've spent about 3 months trying to get my latest membership card from them - although I pay by DD, and have sent them 3 times now, the declaration that I have 0 points. Setting up the DD was a nightmare to start with. My membership gives me no benefits - I get cheaper insurance just by shopping around - and those companies who are cheaper (eSure, Privilige, etc) do not offer additional discounts for being an IAM member.

I get the mag every few months - I read it - but nothing startling in it (for me).

And now with an increase from £18 to £28 ..... I'm struggling to see the justification.

K

Hi Kinky,

I'm kind of in the same boat.

I like what I thought the IAM stood for - road safety, giving people better skills and abilities and all the rest, their non-jumping on of the "speed kills" bandwagon. I really thought that, as the UK's most highly regarded road safety charity, they would be around for a long time, time enough to change young people's views of further driver training after the shambolic L test.

I am an observer with the local group, recomended by the observer who trained me. his opinion was seconded by the examiner, who said "Young people don't want and old Rover which can barely do 30, but someone who has a nice car and is visibly in to motoring will instantly have more impact. I agreed and I signed up.

To me, this is pretty much the only way they will get the quantity of younger drivers that are needed to make a difference signed up, passed and improving the standards on the UK's roads. Now they are standing by this intelligent override bks which, when I think about it; completely stands against the ethos of advanced driving anyway, I can't see how they will attract the younger drivers.

There must be an idiot at the helm! Oh that's right, it's not even good enough for one of them.

It's a sad thing to say, because I've worked hard for them over the last year, but unless they change their stance in relation to taking over of your vehicle, once my membership comes for renewal (Nov), I'll be keeping it (and I really want to give it to them cos they need it to keep going).

I'll be telling both the group and the gentlemen who got me involved and asking opinions. Given that most of the group were for the road charging bks, I wonder what response I'll get.

Cheers,
Andy

[Don]

I am an IAM Member because of my local Group - which is fantastic - and has people in it I genuinely admire. Not because of the national body for whom, these days, I have concerns.

Nevertheless a national body is a good thing. They do need to get in better touch with their grass roots membership, however.

[p1esk]

Don said:

I am an IAM Member because of my local Group - which is fantastic - and has people in it I genuinely admire. Not because of the national body for whom, these days, I have concerns.

Nevertheless a national body is a good thing. They do need to get in better touch with their grass roots membership, however.

That course in diplomacy must be going exceedingly well, Don.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[arryb]

They try to encourage younger members, I signed up and did my test last year (I'm 21, was 20 at the time), yet because I'm a student, I don't have £28 to continue my membership, which is a shame because I started a thread a while back about becoming an observer in my local group, and I can't do that if I'm not a member!! It's not a hidden fact that the IAM needs bringing into this century but they don't seem to want to do that, and then wonder why they can't attract younger members??

[R3v 1]

I am a fairly recent member to the IAM (In fact got my test end of January!).I find the group are very down to earth and against all the rubbish that todays government seems to throw our way. There have been many occasions on observed runs I'v been ''Adviced'' to push the engine fairly hard and ''Make progress'' as they call it.

I have learnt many good qualities that I have adapted into my driving and met some very interesting and friendly people. I will still be attending my groups fournightly meetings once I have completed the course with maybe a view to assisting in observing (If they would have me!)

For me this makes the yearly fees more than worth it. I suppose it all depends on your local groups.

PS - I'm what you would call a ''Young Driver'' at 23 with only 6 years experience.

[RichB]

R3v 1 said:

I am a fairly recent member to the IAM (In fact got my test end of January!).I find the group are very down to earth and against all the rubbish that todays government seems to throw our way. There have been many occasions on observed runs I'v been ''Adviced'' to push the engine fairly hard and ''Make progress'' as they call it.

So you won't be doing that once you've got an electronic throttle control linked to your engine managemernt unit and a GPS - seems to be a contradiction there?

[R3v 1]

RichB said:

R3v 1 said:

I am a fairly recent member to the IAM (In fact got my test end of January!).I find the group are very down to earth and against all the rubbish that todays government seems to throw our way. There have been many occasions on observed runs I'v been ''Adviced'' to push the engine fairly hard and ''Make progress'' as they call it.

So you won't be doing that once you've got an electronic throttle control linked to your engine managemernt unit and a GPS - seems to be a contradiction there?

Let's be 100% honest here... All this rubbish about limiting the speed on vehicles via GPS or other satellite related systems is pie in the sky. The government of the moment cannot feasibly introduce this plan let alone afford it! The technology I believe is not even to a required level for the amount of people it involves.

Even by some remote chance they decide to introduce it in the next... Lets say... 7 Years, they will only be able to fit it to new vehicles (Legislation forcing it to be fitted to older vehicles would never pass and how could they inforce it?). I'll be more than happy running around in older vehicles for many years!

That is the reason I have stuck on topic and talked about membership costs rather than jumping on the band wagon about a system that cannot even be introduced at the current time.

[waremark]

R3v 1 said:

That is the reason I have stuck on topic and talked about membership costs rather than jumping on the band wagon about a system that cannot even be introduced at the current time.

I completely agree that it is not an imminent threat, but I don't think that stops the IAM's apparent support for something which it should be opposing from being a current issue.

[TonyHetherington]

Same boat as Kinky here - I struggle to justify why I'm remaining a member.

I was an observer for around 5 years, did my bit, but found that I didn't actually progress at all. All you can do is learn to teach a higher tier, but none of that involves a particularly higher standard of driving.

I enjoyed the IAM, am thankful for what it gave me, and am pleased to have helped them for 5 yrs. I'll remain a member, I'm sure, although I can't quite see why; I think I just do it for the card

[R3v 1]

waremark said:

R3v 1 said:

That is the reason I have stuck on topic and talked about membership costs rather than jumping on the band wagon about a system that cannot even be introduced at the current time.

I completely agree that it is not an imminent threat, but I don't think that stops the IAM's apparent support for something which it should be opposing from being a current issue.

I agree with your point there. I cannot understand why they would support a system which could possibly be dangerous (Overtaking etc). However I have not heard a good word about this system from any member of the group I am in. Don't think is a proper representation of the members views what the senior tier of IAM has stated.

[S. Gonzales Esq.]

TonyHetherington said:

I was an observer for around 5 years, did my bit, but found that I didn't actually progress at all. All you can do is learn to teach a higher tier, but none of that involves a particularly higher standard of driving.

It's usually the case that having to deconstruct what you're doing and explain it to an Associate will help with your own driving. Of course, if you don't get any other input then you'll just get better at doing things the IAM way, rather than progressing beyond that.

Why not join us over at this forum, where you can get exposure to other ideas, and perhaps join in on one of the Driving Days. Things I've learnt there have certainly helped with my Observing, and I've had two Associates in the past year that went on to HPC.

[Major Bloodnok]

TonyHetherington said:

Same boat as Kinky here - I struggle to justify why I'm remaining a member.

I was an observer for around 5 years, did my bit, but found that I didn't actually progress at all. All you can do is learn to teach a higher tier, but none of that involves a particularly higher standard of driving.

I enjoyed the IAM, am thankful for what it gave me, and am pleased to have helped them for 5 yrs. I'll remain a member, I'm sure, although I can't quite see why; I think I just do it for the card

I've been observing for about 20 years and will probably continue (although the AIM's ISA stance irritates me). I do it not because I get anything out of it WRT my own driving, but because, in some small way, I'm helping to raise another driver's standard. I don't really know whether my input will make the difference between that person getting home or wrapping himself around a tree one day, but the statistics say that it probably has for one or two of the couple of hundred drivers I've sat next to and rabbited on at over the years. That alone has kept and will continue to keep me turning out every other Sunday morning until I'm no longer capable.

[ipsg.glf]

I received this in response to my resignation email:




I was most disappointed to see that you wish to resign due to our comments on the above issue.

The IAM’s policy on ISA was debated by the IAM Council last year and posted in the ‘In Our View’ section of the IAM Trust website last October. That policy stance formed the basis of our press release in response to last week’s story.

ISA is indeed a contentious issue but I believe that we have been consistent in voicing our concerns and in linking it to our other high profile campaigning issues of young drivers and rural roads. It would be hard for any road safety organisation to ignore a project that promises to deliver up to a 29% cut in road injuries. Having said that our concerns are real and focus on the, as yet largely untested, effects of ISA on driver behaviour. Through our involvement in the Motorist Forum and projects such as FootLite the IAM is ensuring that our real world experience of driver training and skills is placed at the forefront of research thinking. We will not support any new measures which we believe will have a detrimental effect on road safety. Our main concern will always be that ISA removes ‘informed thought’ from the driving process. Knowing when and where to slow down is a key advanced driving skill, one that cannot be replicated by ISA as it is currently designed.

The Motorist Forum is not recommending compulsory fitment or usage of ISA and indeed goes on to point out that its environmental benefits are minimal. Their research also shows, however, that there are three roughly equal views on the topic among the driving public. One third hate it and would never support it, one third are non committed and could be tempted with the right kind of incentives and a final third appreciate its potential and would use it. Obviously such research is based on relatively small samples but it does appear to argue that this is an issue of interest to drivers and one that the IAM must take a position on.

I trust that I have been able to reassure you that the IAM is not rushing to support new technology in the blind hope that it will remove all crashes from our roads overnight. We will monitor the development of ISA carefully and ensure that any systems brought forward work with a driver’s innate abilities and not against them.

Neil Greig
Director
IAM Motoring Trust
Tel: [phone]