Tips and Blogs

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.

Most of us travel at some stage over the festive period, and sharing the road with what can feel like the entire population can be stressful. This week’s tips from IAM RoadSmart’s head of driving and riding standards, Richard Gladman, give advice on driving home for Christmas…

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.

Personally I am looking forward to the clocks springing forward an hour to take advantage of longer daylight hours – with a new dog in the family being able to get out with him after work is much more fun in the daylight. Does changing the hour have a positive effect on road safety though? – Well yes, I believe it does.

I drive a car. A car from a European manufacturer that builds lots of cars. Lately, my car has taken on certain stereotypical characteristics akin to its place of birth. It’s defiant (absolutely no need for all of the electrics to work properly), it’s passionate (about guzzling tyre tread at an alarming rate) and it’s suave; given a clean it looks pretty good and gives the impression, albeit falsely in this case, of a real mover.