Tips and Blogs

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…

Winter brings with it difficult driving conditions, so this is a good time to remind everyone how to drive safely when the temperature drops below zero. When we expect freezing conditions we normally get a weather warning from the Met Office, however you should always take extra care when travelling in winter.

Being the designated driver for an evening out is not everyone’s top choice during the Christmas season, however there are some options which could change your opinion.

Christmas shopping can be a really festive start to the season and planned well you can get everything done without breaking the bank on parking. This week’s tips give advice to all those planning on making a day of getting all the Christmas shopping done.

Driving a van for the first time requires some thought: although they are the same licence group as a car, there are some real differences which could catch you out. This week’s tips give advice to all those planning on driving a van for the first time, from IAM RoadSmart’s head of driving and riding standards, Richard Gladman.

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.

I was told when I was little that your face should be seen as a statement piece. Now I don’t want to expose the little birdy that told me this, so I’ll end this here but I can’t help and believe that this affects many people even subconsciously as this is becoming more and more reflective of how we operate in society.

A recent enquiry about headlight dazzle got me thinking about how lights have developed since the days of my old BMC Mini. The at best flickering yellow glow the front end of my old friend was made even worse by a wiring malady which, despite the best efforts of a number of ‘auto sparks’ and talented workers (in their own eyes), was never cured.

I write this after having driven up and down the longest average speed camera equipped road in the UK (and possibly the world), which is the A9 from Dunblane to Inverness. IAM RoadSmart is a member of the A9 safety group; we normally meet at the southern end but this time round we were in Inverness, giving me the ideal opportunity to see the entire system in action again.