I had the pleasure of attending the Fire services driving refresher course for officers some weeks ago and found the input extremely useful and which has changed a number of aspects of my driving technique and habits.

I especially wish to send my thanks to the Cambridgeshire Police Shrievalty Trust & The Alconbury Driving Centre course where I experienced for the first time skid avoidance training and the use of ABS. Being a little further on in my career than most the advent of ABS was not around when I learnt to drive – the allowance it makes for steering whilst braking in an emergency was not one I had considered.

You can count on one hand the times I have had to brake in an emergency and I have never had to steer in such incidents. However the very next day after the course I had a situation on a slip road onto a dual carriageway when the car in front instead of matching speed with the traffic on the carriageway decided to do an emergency stop. I was looking back for the traffic coming on the main carriageway way, on looking forward again I was presented with a stationary car where there should not have been one. I executed the emergency stop but had to steer around the car on the inside eventually stopping some two thirds past the back of the vehicle.

I am convinced if I had not had the input from the training my reaction would have been emergency stop and no steer which would have resulted in a serious Road Traffic Collision – which would also have been my fault entirely. The `gentleman concerned` was an American and thought he was turning right at a junction. Luckily I explained about dual carriageways and slip roads to him – politely of course!

Andy Tucker
Central and Huntingdon Risk Manager
Cambridgeshire Fire & Rescue Service
Huntingdon Fire station
Hartford Road,
Huntingdon PE29 3RH.

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