About Ride Drive

The Ride Drive organisation is predominantly involved in delivering on-road advanced driver training to the private motorist, defensive driver training to the company vehicle user (fleet driver training) and for the motorcyclist there is advanced rider training. With a large team of specialised trainers, for both car driving and advanced motorcycle courses, Ride Drive has the capacity to serve its customers all over the UK.

Contents of This Page
Advanced Driving Courses
Young Driver Safety
Performance Car Driver Training
Car Control Experience
Skid Pan Experience
Fleet Driver Training
Speed Awareness Courses
Advanced Motorcycle Training
Road Anxiety Disorder

Advanced Driving Courses and the Private Motorist

The skills taught at driving test level are woefully inadequate, everyone knows that – or at least should do. Standard driving instructors provide a pretty inadequate service, as the system they have to work to ensures that will be the case. This isn’t their fault as they haven’t been given the training to be effective. Therefore, something more high–grade is needed for greater effectiveness and driver safety.

The reason why most collisions take place is the drivers involved find themselves in a situation with which they cannot cope. It doesn’t matter who started it, but in a two–car crash, both drivers can be in a situation that is beyond their ability. Following too close, not seeing dangers and entering a situation too quickly are a tiny few of all the reasons people get into difficulty.

Our advanced driving courses strip away a lot of the old techniques and replace with a complete new driving system. This is about space and vehicle management, planning for hazards and dangers, even before they are seen. It is about making progress on the road using a process of evolving risk assessment and intelligent interpretation of the road environment.

Young Driver Safety

We have a particular programme to better manage young driver safety, helping this vulnerable group of drivers to better understand the road environment and to provide more advanced skills. We provide skills that will help young drivers to deal with real life situations at real speeds and in real traffic conditions. This is quite a change from only learning driving test routes.

Performance Car Driver Training

On the subject of advanced driver training, Ride Drive provides specialist driver training services to the high performance car and sports car driver, as well as for those of standard production cars. We’ll take on anyone who drives anything from a Fiesta to a Ferrari.

The courses for standard and performance cars are all road-based, but we can mix in other activities. These can take the form of car handling programmes during which the customer will experience a series of car control exercises. We have courses that build in a skid pan experience too.

The car handling driving sessions, or those on a skid pan, will always form part of an on-road advanced driver training day and will last for one–hour within that day. Therefore, if the customer is completing 8–hours of driver training, he or she will receive their road driver skills development input on the way to the off–road driving venue or skid pan and on the way back.

Car Control Experience

The purpose of the car handling exercises are to help the customer gain a deeper understanding of why their vehicle will respond in a particular manner according to how the driving controls are operated. We do this at one of our risk assessed off–road driving sites, which usually consist of a disused aerodrome.

We do not use tracks as we regard these as high–risk environments. This is due to the presence of tyres walls and Armco barriers, as well as there being a restriction on working space. Car control exercises are carried out off road so we are able to effectively control risk.

Whilst taking part in the car handling routines the venue is closed to the general public, and as well as being fully risk assessed. This provides a safe environment within which to perform the driving activities.

The car handling sessions do not allow the customer sufficient space in which to achieve the maximum speed of their car, but that is not the purpose of being there. This isn’t about high speed driving, but about working in harmony with the car, being able to understand its needs and limitations.

Taking part in a session of car control training doesn’t harm your car either, and as we are very conscious of you using your pride and joy. Certainly you will not be leaving the facility with your tyres hanging off the rims. There will be a little tyre scuffing, however, but as you will be at the wheel at all times you will be in control of what activities you participate in.

Skid Pan Experience

There is a lot of public misconception concerning the purpose of Skid Pan Driver Training, as most people think this will give you the skills by which to get out of a skid when driving on the road. When people talk about skidding they tend to do so in terms of dealing with the skid as though it is almost an inevitable occurrence.

What a skid pan experience should teach you, providing the training is administered correctly, is how not to get into a skid by using the skills necessary to feel the car along the road. If you visit our driving tips page that deals with skid control you will see this explained in greater detail.

Ride Drive does not provide skid control and correction training in isolation, but will build this activity into a road driver training day. The same applies to the car handling sessions.

Fleet Driver Training

For the corporate vehicle fleet operator, or the organisation that employs people to drive other motor vehicles on the road as part of their paid job, Ride Drive offer a selection of defensive driving courses for the fleet driver. By either accredited training or standard courses, we provide high quality skills development to minimise occupation road risk, improve road safety and reduce carbon emissions.

By making effective risk assessment of each individual we can ensure that any money spent within the customer organisation is used wisely to buy good value driver training. By using targeted training led by risk indicators identified from accurate and professional assessment, we can apply focus to those areas of behaviour and driving style that require the greatest attention.

Speed Awareness Courses

If you have been caught for speeding for a single offence that is likely to cause you to lose your driving licence, or this is the fourth time you have committed a lesser speeding offence, you need our help.

For our Speed Awareness Courses we have found a successful formula which often reduces penalties imposed at court hearings. We can often secure the retention of a driving licence where it had been anticipated the individual concerned would be disqualified from driving.

Whilst speed awareness courses taken before a court hearing can be very effective at helping offenders to retain their driving licence, there can be no guarantee this will be the outcome.

Advanced Motorcycle Rider Training

Motorcyclists are the most vulnerable group of motorised road users. The obvious reason for this is because they are so exposed on the bike and so easily dislodged from the state of being in control. However, with expert training in advanced defensive riding methods the risk to the motor cyclist can be significantly reduced.

Ride Drive of course uses police class–one riders for bike courses. Not only have these people enjoyed world class advanced motorcycle rider training, but they have also ridden under some of the most extreme circumstances. It is this additional and somewhat unique ingredient that makes a remarkable difference to the quality of training we can provide to the public motorcyclist. Courses are available all over the mainland UK.

Road Anxiety Disorder

This is a term that seems to have cropped up as the suggested term to describe a condition of phobia relating to driving a car on certain roads – or any road, come to that. The name that becomes the industry standard will usually be that which is easiest to remember and which is used the most.

Ride Drive has carved out a name for itself for the work with victims of Road Anxiety Disorder. The company is a leader in what is a very specialised field of work and has become very successful in helping people back to the road who are suffering the effects of Road Anxiety Disorder, and confidence issues, back to to the road. In fact, we have become so much in demand by people who want to know how to stop panic attacks when driving, we have created a dedicated website for the topic.

No one knows how many people are affected by driving phobia, and any figures produced can only be speculative. Certainly those who have such issues with driving as to be scared of driving on a motorways, for example, will not be ready to discuss it.

If you have an anxiety problem relating to road driving then our phobic and anxious drivers programme may be just the thing to get you through.

You Are Here » Home » About Ride Drive

This page was last updated
Wednesday, 02-Mar-2011

About Ride Drive