Location Overview – The lovely port town of Ipswich has been occupied since the Saxon era and is highly contested as the oldest town in England. Ipswich is located in East Anglia, approximately 10 miles from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. The historical docks, now called the Ipswich Waterfront, were England’s largest and most important dock. Ipswich is 67 miles northeast of London, 45 miles east-southeast of Cambridge and 40 miles south of Norwich. Ipswich is enclosed by two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Suffolk Coast and Heaths and Dedham Vale.
We offer a range of bespoke driver training for both business and private clients. Our courses include:
* Company drivers, which include both car and van
* Pre-court courses
* High-performance driver training
* Confidence driving courses
* Motorhome training
* Motorway confidence
* UK Familiarisation
We offer nationwide coverage across the UK and come directly to you for the on-road training, which takes place in your own vehicle. Whether for business or private clients, the training is tailored to meet your unique needs.
With our advanced/defensive training, we aim to cover a wide range of things, including:
* Creating increased powers of anticipation and forward planning
* Safe driving on rural roads, urban areas, and motorways
* Awareness of speed limits and controlling your own speed
* Educating drivers about the rules of the road
* Understanding of the reasons for road rage in yourself and others
* Slow manoeuvres, parking and reversing
* Driving in dangerous and wintery weather
* Being aware of at-risk road users and risks linked to urban driving
* Understanding the difference between skids and how to control them
* Driving in a more economical and efficient way
* Anticipating the actions of other motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians
After training is completed, you will be sent a full driving report, you can see your standard of driving at the beginning and end and the improvements made and in which areas. Every client has a unique driving report, which will provide some handy and insightful information. Each report is fully documented and has its unique verification number so anyone can check back for an original copy with us. This is useful if an employer has asked an employee to take driver training.
Our courses are always door-to-door, using your own vehicle. You do not have to attend a centre, and you will have a handpicked tutor with excellent local knowledge.
Half or Full Day?
The half-day session is ideal for those with many drivers to train across the UK, whereas the full day is suitable for two drivers in the same location or for a driver with issues, a longer intensive advanced driving course to iron out ingrained habits.
We find many corporate clients opt for the full-day session and book one driver for the morning and one for the afternoon – there is no additional charge for this.
When we train all drivers, we look at building the course around their specific needs, letting them drive for a short time initially. Then, after a debrief, we introduce several advanced driving techniques, such as forward planning, car control, and advanced observation, tailored to their strengths and weaknesses.
The central part of the course is always designed to improve the driver’s safety; we find the best approach is to work on their specific driving style and requirements and adjust the training to fit their needs.
Contact:
If you’re looking to train a large number of drivers, we will be able to help along with how we can find the best approach for the training based on your specific business needs. Training large numbers requires a little extra planning. Still, we have many years of experience managing extensive, often complex, driver training sessions involving multiple start locations and hectic diaries.
Routes and Roads:
We provide training on a wide range of roads. Here is a brief overview of the main roads in Ipswich, some of which we will drive on during a training session.
A12: The A12 is one of the most important roads in the region, running from the south (through Colchester) to the north, connecting Ipswich to London and other towns in East Anglia.
A14: The A14 is a major dual carriageway that passes through Ipswich, connecting it to Cambridge to the west and running to the east toward the port of Felixstowe. It’s a key road for both local and long-distance travel.
A1189: This road runs through the northern parts of Ipswich, connecting the town to areas like Stowmarket and further into Suffolk.
A1022: This road connects the centre of Ipswich to the eastern part of the town and provides access to the port and industrial areas.
Westerfield Road: This road links Ipswich to the town of Westerfield and provides access to the northern suburbs of Ipswich.
Stoke Bridge (A137): This road connects the town centre with the eastern areas of Ipswich, running over the River Orwell and linking to the A14.
Felixstowe Road (A456): This road runs from Ipswich toward the port town of Felixstowe, providing access to the east coast and linking to local areas along the way.
Road Safety Risks and Information – Ipswich
Ipswich is primarily served by the A14, which circles the town west and south. Junction 53 of the A14 links to Bury Road, and this is a challenging junction leading into a large and busy commercial and retail centre. Bury Road merges with Norwich Road, A1156, which travels into the town centre. This route is littered with accident sites, especially near the traffic light systems at Meredith Road and Deben Road junctions. This route is shared with public transport and passes through a highly residential area with many driveways opening onto a busy road. It is hectic during rush hours, and it is vital that extra care and attention is taken to look out for pedestrians and cyclists along routes such as these at all times. The closer Norwich Road gets to the town centre, the collision rates soar as they happen near every road junction here, with one of the worst affected areas being the joining of Bamford Road. The A1156 then becomes St Matthews Street and Crown Street, and it skirts the north of the town centre, with numerous accidents occurring on the roundabout connecting Civic Drive and Berners Street.
Civic Drive runs west and south of the town centre and has a high level of accident statistics recorded, with many occurring near the junction of the Princes Street and Franciscan Way traffic lights. Franciscan Way merges into Greyfriars Road and meets the challenging intersection that joins Grafton Street to Bridge Street, College Street and Star Lane, which continues the A1156. There are numerous collision sites throughout these routes as it is a bustling area with a high amount of commuter traffic. It requires a lot of patience when using busy town roads, especially the older narrow streets near town centres, as they are often shared with buses, delivery vehicles and cyclists, with everyone rushing to their destination. Understanding and anticipating the actions of other drivers is a great skill to have if you use busy urban environments often, as not all drivers will indicate or look around them before moving into busy traffic, which is how needless accidents happen.
This brief outline only covers a fraction of collision sites in Ipswich. If you frequently travel on specific roads in the area and want to know which parts pose a higher risk for collisions, please get in touch. We provide this service free of charge for anyone interested.