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Dress to impress – and drive to arrive this Valentine’s Day! Tips from IAM RoadSmart

Blog post posted on 12/02/19 |
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Advice

This Valentine’s Day, make sure you get to your date safely and stress-free. IAM RoadSmart’s head of driving and riding standards, Richard Gladman, has put together five top tips to help keep yourself and your loved one safe on the road.

  • You may be all dressed up and ready to go, but is your car? Before you leave, make sure you’ve done those weekly vehicle checks which include checking tyre pressures and tyre condition, tread depth and checking fluids such as oil and screen wash
  • Whether you’re going somewhere different this Valentine’s Day or visiting your ‘go to’ restaurant, drive every road like it’s the first time. When driving the same route regularly, it’s easy to lack concentration but remember that each journey you make brings you different situations on the road, so it’s important to be observant and anticipate for any hazards ahead
  • Don’t leave your loved one waiting. Check the traffic beforehand and plan your journey ahead. Allow extra time if there are roadworks as the last thing you want is to stress about time before you get to your date
  • Don’t pick up the phone whilst driving to let your date know you’re running late - however, if you’ve planned ahead this should be preventable. To avoid the temptation of looking at your phone, why not turn it on silent and put it away in your glove compartment for the duration of your journey?
  • If you’re the one driving then don’t drink any alcohol. We recommend that you never drink and drive – not even after having one drink. At just below the legal limit, you are four times more likely to be involved in a road crash than if you had not had a drink. So no alcohol at all is the best way to stay safe. If you know you’ll be having one or more alcoholic drinks, then why plan an alternative route from A to B? #NoneForTheRoad

Richard says: “Dress to impress but make sure you drive to arrive. A well-planned out evening will be the perfect way to make an impression. It takes a lot of effort to seem as if you are breezing through life but a well prepared driver can take the stress out of the day. Remember to share the road - it might just make somebody’s day.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1.      Richard Gladman is IAM RoadSmart’s head of driving and riding standards.

2.      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 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.

To find out more about IAM RoadSmart products and services visit the new website www.iamroadsmart.com

To find out the name of your own local IAM RoadSmart group please visit: https://wwwiamroadsmart.com/local-groups

Media contacts:

Further information from:

IAM RoadSmart press office – 020 8996 9777 

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

ISDN broadcast lines available

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On Facebook: www.facebook.com/IAMRoadSmart

On Twitter: @IAMRoadSmart  

ENDS ALL