IHCD Blue Light Driver Training Days 4-5

Day 4

As per usual the day of driving began with the vehicle daily inspections (VDIs), we found a problem so took the ambulance to the mechanics to get it rectified. A lesson was learned at the garage. I asked what the engine was on the new Mercedes that we were driving, thereby asking what I thought was a straight forward and obvious question. Of course the answer I received was “That’s it there.” as he pointed under the bonnet, knowing full well that I meant the engine size. I set myself up a treat for that I guess.

Driving wise we practised acceleration sense with greater pertinence receiving constant prompts from the tutor as to when and when not to change gear or break. Day 4 was also an opportunity for us to pull together all that we had learned throughout the week and revise all the highway code ready for the subsequent test the next day.

Day 5

Was test day. The test was the IHCD Highway Code test that consisted of 50 multiple choice questions to be answered in 30 minutes. It wasn’t too difficult but did have far too many questions regarding level crossings for my liking. As usual there were plenty of ambiguous questions with misleading and confusing possible answers. However, none of these posed any real difficulties as the whole group passed with good scores. For the second half of the day we revisited all the PowerPoint’s of the week as a quick refresher prior to the week 2 of the course. The final part of the day was  a PowerPoint of cornering, a prelude to day 6 of the course.

That was the end of Driver 1 training following the IHCD syllabus. The aims of the week were to highlight any driver errors that had crept into our driving styles, teach us the correct method of car control, and put the theory into practise. I found the first couple days quite boring in all honesty, probably due to the fact that I’m a relatively new driver and haven’t really had time to pick up many bad habits. The latter stages of the week were far more enjoyable as we got to grips with small bits of advanced driving techniques. I anticipate the second week to more demanding and to present a steeper learning curve.