Tips and Blogs

During the Coronavirus lockdown traffic in certain areas has reduced to next to nothing. But it's critical we avoid putting any additional pressure on the emergency services at this time, so we need to share the road space safely with the many vulnerable road users out exercising. IAM RoadSmart’s head of driving and riding standards, Richard Gladman, has put together a few simple tips to keep us all safe on the road.

While we are all in lockdown and our cars are only being used for essential journey, Richard Gladman, head of driving and riding standards at IAM RoadSmart, has some simple checks that can ensure your vehicle remains in good condition.

The current situation regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19) is fast-moving, and this week’s IAM RoadSmart tips have been written by Simon Bolingbroke from Chelmsford Advanced Motorists group offering advice on what the coronavirus pandemic means for cars and motorists.

Today the Department for Transport (DfT) has announced that due to the Coronavirus lockdown vehicle owners will be granted a 6-month exemption from MOT testing, allowing them to continue to travel on essential journeys while minimising the need for social contact with garage and testing centre employees.

Even though the roads are going to be far quieter over the coming weeks as we all follow the government’s self-isolation advice to beat Coronavirus (Covid-19), it’s still important to make sure we practice safe, courteous driving when faced with an approaching emergency vehicle.

Alloy wheel theft was a problem years ago, when a smart set of wheels made your mundane car stand out from the crowd.

As a young teenager in the 1970s I ached for a motorbike and the object of my desire was the Triumph Bonneville. It was not until later that I discovered the bike had been named in honour of Triumph’s 1956 speed record set at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA.

For most of my life I always drove a car and didn’t dare think of riding a motorcycle. I’d spoken to a lot of riders and motorcycle groups during my career as a road safety officer with Staffordshire and Derbyshire County Councils, but motorcycle casualties were always a concern to me.

It seemed a good idea at the time; a road trip to Disneyland Paris, and why not offer to take the 12-year-old nephew with me? A boys’ road trip, what could be more fun!

I was visiting a classic car show recently and chanced across The Motor Repair Manual, a book for the home mechanic dating from the 1930s. The term DIY wasn’t invented back then, but the sub title A Practical Handbook for Owner Drivers And Amateur Mechanics makes the intended readership clear.