Drive with precision and
purpose.
This goes beyond passing the test. Learn the techniques used by police, IAM and RoSPA advanced drivers. Based on Roadcraft: The Police Driver's Handbook, 2025 Edition.
Advanced Driving Series
Five modules you can open, print or save
Each module is a full guide you can read on screen, print to paper, or save as a PDF using your browser's print function.
System
The System of Car Control. It's a methodical way to negotiate any hazard safely and smoothly, the same way every time. Used by police and advanced drivers worldwide.
IPSGA stands for Information, Position, Speed, Gear, Acceleration. Instead of just reacting to hazards, advanced drivers work through this sequence consciously and consistently, adapting it to every junction, bend and roundabout they meet.
Includes real-world applied examples (left turn, roundabout) and a printable quick reference card based directly on Roadcraft Chapter 3.
Driving
How narrating what you see sharpens your observation and anticipation, and makes you a safer, more aware driver on every journey.
Commentary driving means narrating everything you observe and what you plan to do about it, either aloud or in your head. It's the fastest way to find gaps in your own observation and close them.
Covers perception errors (looking but not seeing, expectancy bias, attention tunnelling), observation links, the "What if…?" technique, and how commentary integrates directly with each phase of IPSGA.
Braking & Cornering
Why speed must be managed before the bend, and what happens when it isn't. Tyre grip, weight transfer, understeer and oversteer explained clearly.
Tyre grip is a fixed budget, shared between braking, steering and acceleration. This module explains the physics behind that trade-off, how weight shifts under braking and cornering, why FWD and RWD vehicles fail differently, and how to spot and correct understeer and oversteer.
Verified against Roadcraft 2025, RSA Rules of the Road and the UK Highway Code. Includes the IPSGA system applied to a bend in full.
Rule
Is the gap we all teach actually safe, or just the bare minimum dressed up as a target? A research-led verdict on safe following distance.
The average gap on Irish motorways is under 0.9 seconds, less than half the rule. Two seconds covers roughly your reaction time and almost nothing else. It's an absolute minimum, not a safe target.
Built from the RSA Rules of the Road, Roadcraft 2025 and MIT human-factors research. Covers where the rule comes from, when it holds, when it fails, the pros and cons, and what you should actually drive.
Signals are for communicating with other road users, not for going through the motions. Here's how to use every one at your disposal to say what you're about to do, instead of signalling out of habit.
A signal is a message, not a ritual. Used well, signals tell other road users what you intend to do in time for them to react. Used out of habit, whether that's too late, too early or left on, they mislead more than they help.
Covers the real purpose of signalling, the full range available to you, and the correct use of indicators, brake lights, headlight flashing, the horn, hazard warning lights and arm signals, plus the common mistakes for each.
Module 1 overview
The five phases of IPSGA
Every hazard, whether a junction, bend, roundabout or pedestrian crossing, is approached using this sequence. With practice it becomes automatic.
Information
Take, Use and Give: the TUG principle. Runs through every phase. Mirrors, scanning, signals.
Position
Get into the correct position to see and be seen. Nearside, central or offside, with safety first always.
Speed
Adjust speed using accelerator or brake. All braking before bends. Acceleration sense reduces wear.
Gear
Select the correct gear for that speed after braking. Brakes are to slow, gears are to go.
Acceleration
Final check: confirm it's safe, then accelerate smoothly and progressively away from the hazard.
Module 2 overview
The four steps of Commentary Driving
Apply this structure to every hazard you encounter. Miss any step and you have found a gap to work on.
See it
Actively scan the environment: far distance, middle, foreground, sides, mirrors. Name what you observe out loud.
Identify it
Is it a physical feature, another road user, or a weather/surface condition? Immediate danger or potential hazard?
Question it
"What if…?" Verbalise the worst credible outcome. What could this hazard do? What might other road users do next?
Plan it
State your intended response. "Checking mirrors… reducing speed… holding position until I can see into the junction."
Deep Read · Driver Psychology & Safety
The science behind vehicle feedback
Why modern cars are getting quieter, and what 15 years of peer-reviewed research says that means for driver awareness and road safety.
Ready to take your driving further?
Book a lesson with one of our instructors to practise IPSGA and commentary driving on real roads.