IAM the route to driving skills

Reckless, cocky and a danger to himself and others – Ben Devlin was all those things when he passed his driving test. All that changed when he joined forces with the Institute of Advanced Motorists, writes Caroline Brodie

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BEN Devlin has been fanatical about anything with four wheels ever since he can remember. But the 23-year-old tasked with casting off the IAM’s stuffy image and bringing a new generation of young drivers into the fold, admits he is lucky to have survived some of his early jaunts behind the wheel.

Before he even turned 17, the Glasgow-born racing enthusiast had taken two friends for a joyride in his mother’s car at speeds of up to 100mph before crashing it into a lamppost.

Ben was unhurt and did not get caught so avoided criminal charges for underage driving, but his parents, who were on holiday at the time, came home to a badly bumped car.

At 17, he took just 12 driving lessons before passing his test first time round – taking care to drive by the book in front of his instructor, who told his parents he was both very competent and safe. Reassured, they bought him a 1.2-litre Volkswagen Polo.

But his attitude to driving was totally different when he was in the car alone, or with friends. He wanted to drive fast and he wanted to do it no matter what.

Within a year, Ben had clocked up three penalty points and completely written off his car.

These days, he openly admits the crash was his fault. He careered into a corner in a 30mph industrial estate doing more than 40mph, mounted a pavement, crashed through a road sign and came to an abrupt halt just six inches from a lamppost.

The police told him had he hit the lamppost he would have been dead.

As it was, Ben and his two friends all escaped serious injury.

But, incredibly, the crash was not the wake-up call you would expect.

“After that, I actually decided that it wasn’t my fault, no matter what the police said. It was the car’s fault,” he said.

“It was only a 1.2-litre Polo and wasn’t meant to do that so I used the insurance money to buy a 1.6-litre Citroen Saxo with twice the brake horsepower.”

Soon after, a friend, who was volunteering for the IAM, managed to persuade him to give advanced motoring a go.

Ben reluctantly agreed to go for a drive with one of the local assessors despite serious misgivings.

“I was not convinced they could tell me anything about driving I didn’t already know,” he said.

“I turned up and jumped in the car, which was a big Jaguar and didn’t look very sporty or performance-related and I thought, ‘I’m wasting my time, but I’ll go along with it for half-and-hour and then go home and not do anything about it’.

“That attitude lasted about 30 seconds. I was amazed by what this 58-year-old man could do with a lumbering four-door saloon. I couldn’t believe the way he was driving this car and the skills he was demonstrating. Every move was to the letter of the law, but he was making much better progress than I could make. I would drive at 90mph on the straight and then do 30mph round a corner. He was doing 60mph on the straight and 55mph round corners. Instantly, I thought, ‘where do I sign up’.”

Four years on and Ben is employed by the IAM – a rarity as most of its positions are voluntary – to set up a young driver network which will encourage people throughout the country to take their advanced driving test.

He embarked on his new career last July and has already helped form groups of young drivers in Newcastle, Bristol and Glasgow, and is currently working with Northern Constabulary to set up something similar in the Highlands.

“It’s going very well. One stumbling block has been that a lot of young people are put off by the grey-haired image of the IAM.

“What I would say is that it is not just for the motoring enthusiasts or people who want to drive a Porsche or a Ferrari. It is for every motorist who wants to keep themselves safe and alive. It’s also a whole lot of fun.”

Ben now drives to the letter of the law, but he still manages to drive fast. He just sticks to the racetrack to do it these days.

“It allows me to have what I call my mad half-hour when I can go as fast as I like,” he says.

“It’s the right time and the right place.”

At present, his pride and joy is his 1.8-litre Seat Ibiza Cupra 20-valve turbo, which he bought for £7,000 when it was three years old. He has since spent £12,000 on modifications, with another £6,000 due to be added this summer.

He is often to be found at racetracks up and down the country, including Knockhill and Donington Park, and is a regular visitor to the Isle of Man, a well known haven for speed junkies where there is no national speed limit outwith built-up areas.

The IAM’s Skills for Life package costs £85 and is everything you need to pass your advanced driving test and become a full member of the IAM. Under-25s automatically receive a £20 discount.

If you want more information about joining, visit www.iam.org.uk, call Ben Devlin on 07877 012332 or e-mail him at ben.devlin@iam.org.uk