We make better drivers and riders

Summer driving in the city

Blog post posted on 25/05/16 |
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Advice

Driving through busy urban roads needn’t be stressful this summer. All you need is IAM RoadSmart’s head of driving and riding standards, Richard Gladman to guide you through safe city driving.

  • Forward planning is key – if you know of any roadwork's taking place it of course makes sense to avoid driving through them. And if you’re travelling through an unfamiliar city use Google maps or street view to get a sense of your journey beforehand.
  • Be on alert for any motorists driving and riding erratically – they may be unfamiliar with the area and change lanes unexpectedly. Slow down and keep a safe distance to avoid any accidents.
  • Look out for lanes that are closed to cars, such as cycle lanes, one-way streets and bus lanes. Make sure you’re aware of when bus lanes operate too – you don’t want to end up paying a heavy fine.
  • If you get caught up in traffic double check to see you’re not blocking any junctions or pedestrian crossings. In city centres yellow box junctions are monitored by cameras and will often result in a fine if used incorrectly.
  • As always, check your mirrors, signal in advance and keep an eye out for vulnerable motorists including pedestrians and cyclists at all times.

Richard said: “If you’ve accidently missed a turning or an exit, don’t panic. Continue with your journey until you find somewhere suitable you can turn back on yourself.

”Glancing away from the road for any length of time can cause a crash. Don’t let yourself get distracted by people dressed for the summer. There is nothing more uncool than a bump caused by ogling a member of the opposite (or the same) sex.”

Notes to editors:

  1. Richard Gladman is IAM RoadSmart’s head of driving and riding standards.
  1. IAM RoadSmart has a mission to make better drivers and riders in order to improve road safety, inspire confidence and make driving and riding enjoyable. It does this through a range of courses for all road users, from online assessments through to the advanced driving and riding tests. IAM RoadSmart is the trading name of all businesses operated by the UK’s largest road safety charity, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and was formed in April 2016 combining the IAM, IAM Drive & Survive, PDS and IAM Driver Retraining Academy. The organisation has 92,000 members and campaigns on road safety debates on their behalf. At any one time there are over 7,000 drivers and riders actively engaged with IAM RoadSmart’s courses, from members of the public to company drivers, while our Driver Retraining Academy has helped 2,500 drivers to shorten their bans through education and support programmes.

Media contacts:

IAM Press Office – 020 8996 9777

press.office@iam.org.uk/ www.iamroadsmart.com

ISDN broadcast lines available

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IAMroadsmart    

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamgroup 

ENDS