Tips and Blogs

Richard Gladman, head of driving and riding standards, shares some tips on how to avoid the dangers of falling asleep at the wheel.

Variable winter weather often results in sunny mornings turning into gloomy grey clouds and heavy rain. IAM RoadSmart’s head of riding and driving, Richard Gladman, suggests a few way to keep safe in heavy rain and floods.

As the dark days delay the morning sunrise and the evening twilight creeps upon us more quickly than before, our cars are at more risk of being a victim of theft. IAM RoadSmart's head of driving and riding standards, Richard Gladman, suggests a few top tips aimed at those drivers without knowledge of advanced driving techniques. See how you can protect your vehicle on a day to day basis, whether you're out and about or in the comfort of your home.

Spring still feels like a million miles away as we ride our motorbikes in these cold, wet, and sometimes freezing, conditions. It’s crucial that we take extra care of our bikes during the winter to help them run smoothly and without any issues.

Every year, our motivation increases after Christmas and we spend the New Year planning our goals, such as getting fitter or eating more healthily, but many gym memberships feels unloved by February. Richard Gladman, head of driving and riding standards, suggests a few New Year Resolutions that are easy to keep and will improve your driving and keep you safe throughout the year.

I recently came across some stats regarding drug driving convictions and noticed a worrying trend starting to appear. This led me to wonder why this could be happening and if the wider driving community is clear on new laws governing this area.

Aside from IAM RoadSmart and Tottenham Hotspur, one of my pleasures in life is buying and selling vintage toys and games, and every now and then my work and leisure worlds collide (not the best word to use I guess!)

The House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee has been considering the implications of self driving cars. One part of their conclusion was this: “…autonomous cars could have negative implications for drivers' competence, making drivers complacent and overly reliant on technology. This is of particular concern in emergency situations, where a driver may react slowly to taking back control of a vehicle.”

During the course of a week Richard Gladman, IAM RoadSmart’s head of driving and riding standards spends his time engaged with professionals and very talented volunteers in the field of road safety. It is easy to forget when surrounded by this peer group that for a lot of us, a car is just a car and the tyres are just at the corners to stop the wheel rims getting scratched on the road.

I can't imagine I'm alone in thinking that the standard of driving on UK roads and especially in my own area is so bad as to becoming intolerable. Whilst reading the Bucks Free Press last week, I was astounded at the amount of crash related stories there were, but however it does seem to be any, everyday occurrence.