Tips and Blogs

Now that spring is here, the sun is rising earlier and flowers blooming. However, being dazzled by the sun can be a major distraction and is often a factor in summer collisions.

As we make the same commute every day to work and back, we can get used to seeing pedestrians on the streets, motorcyclists on the road and even a few cyclists appearing now that the season is officially changing.

Many riders take to roads without realising they are putting themselves in danger, wearing the incorrect clothing. This week’s tips offers advice on clothing to all riders from IAM RoadSmart’s head of driving and riding standards, Richard Gladman.

It’s time to get your car hale, hearty and ‘beach body ready’ in preparation for the spring. This week’s tips give advice on getting your car ready for the warmer weather, from IAM RoadSmart’s head of driving and riding standards Richard Gladman.

Spring is just around the corner. And this means that many of us are keen to wipe the dust from our bikes and get them into top shape for the sunnier days that we are eagerly waiting for. Richard Gladman, IAM RoadSmart’s head of riding and driving advice, explains the POWDERY checks you should do on your bike before setting off for your first ride of the season.

The ‘beast from the east’ left many things in its wake; poor retail sales figures, an extended skiing season in the Scottish mountains and of course lots of potholes! Even before the storms, my phone had already started ringing with local journalists looking for comments on poor road surfaces and social media was full of pictures of bathtub sized holes.

At IAM RoadSmart we talk a lot about the dangers of distraction when it comes to driving – and yes distraction plays a very large part in many accidents. Music can be both a distraction and a way of keeping the driver alert. Too loud or too high the bpm, the greater the chance the driver will go faster and less able to hear of other things around them.

It probably won’t come as much of a surprise that autonomous vehicle technology was a theme that came up repeatedly at the recent Parliamentary Advisory Committee for Transport Safety (PACTS) ‘Streel Legal’ conference on 28 March. Over the last couple of years, it seems like almost every day has brought with it a new headline about vehicle technology in general, often centring on the latest developments in driverless cars.

It doesn’t seem long since cars were content to tell us how fast we were going and how much fuel was in the tank. Some appealed to the repressed fighter pilot with extra gauges for engine speed, battery voltage, oil pressure and even inlet vacuum, but most had a quite straightforward dashboard, meriting only the occasional glance.

A short while ago Harry and Meghan announced their engagement and much of the nation descended into misty-eyed romance. Certain individuals (naming no names!) began helplessly bemoaning the fact that Britain’s most eligible bachelor was now officially ‘taken’. Some began speculating about what the dress would look like, or asking just how Britain would ever come to terms with having an American (shudder) in the royal family.