I am delighted to announce that the Committee has approved the award of Honorary Member to Adam Slaughter, RoSPA Diploma (Car) and Glos RoADAR Advanced Tutor (Car).

Beginning in the mid-1970s Adam spent over 20 years teaching L plate motorcyclists and coaching full licence riders. In the late 1970s Richard Smith who had formed and was working in Glos Road Safety along with Garry Handley OBE. Adam joined them and Glos RoADAR and, over the years ran non-advanced motorcycle training and participated in numerous police road safety videos.

 

In 1979-80 Adam was taught advanced driving by Ron Harley who founded the original RoSPA RoADAR group in Gloucestershire. Shortly after this Ron Harley moved away from Gloucestershire and the RoSPA group folded so Adam joined the IAM in 1979. He was the first person in a single calendar year to gain DVSA Licences AND advanced test passes for both car and motorcycle.

Adam became an IAM observer aged 19 but in his first year, having encountered resistance due to his youth, gave it up. However, many friends and acquaintances knew how good he was as an Observer so asked him ‘unofficially’ to teach them how to ride / drive.

By April 1996 Adam, who had begun his working life as a Warehouseman, had made it to Senior Manager in a £multi-million business. That business was later sold so Adam took a break, left the company and began job-hunting, without success. He trained and qualified as an Approved Driving Instructor (Cars) in 1999 and in July that year founded Adam’s Driving Institute, a very successful venture. 4-5 years later he was invited to re-join Gloucestershire Road Safety Unit, again working with Garry Handley, and over time became the lead instructor on Speed Awareness and Drink / Driving Courses as part of a very small team.

 

Adam taught himself how to decipher body language and soon became adept. As a result, he was given the most difficult clients to work with and soon built a solid reputation as a trouble-shooter.

Adam is a lifelong learner and signed up for the IAM Certified Advanced Trainer. He joined RoSPA in 2006 and, during the second meeting he attended, was drafted onto the Committee as Newsletter Editor for 18 months and was elected as Chair 2008. After 8-9 years, due to increasing family commitments, Adam handed over as Chair to Nigel Warwick.

 

 

 

 

Enviably, over his career, Adam has done anything and everything driving and riding. He hasn’t ridden a motorcycle for a few years but will return to biking. When asked about where Advanced Driving is today, he replied: “It’s a bit stuck in the 90s. Vehicles have moved on with assistive technology. My first Ford Focus had 45 on-board micro-computers; my latest one has 202! Stalling is thing of the past. Hill start assist means that new cars shouldn’t roll backward. The real problems begin when new drivers buy older cars that lack such assistance. The impact is that people think they’re better than they are but don’t understand the basic laws of physics [and how they affect driving].”

 

• Smooth and steady
• Look far and wide
• Look for space and time
• Enjoy life