Tips and Blogs

Pollen is in abundance during springtime, and this is when flowers start to bloom resulting in pollen levels becoming high. To help you to cope better with your hay fever symptoms whilst driving and riding, IAM RoadSmart are on hand with their top tips for hitting the road with hay fever.

The Easter break is nearly upon us, and many people will be setting off on that Spring getaway for a chance to unwind. But with airports reporting cancellations and lengthy delays, will you be choosing to take the car?

Welcome to the first in IAM RoadSmart’s new series of expert driving tips from Head of Driving & Riding Standards Richard Gladman. Over the coming weeks we’ll cover everything from safe motorway driving to how to navigate a single-track road, a steep incline or preparing for driving abroad. This week Richard talks us through what we need to think about before we’ve even left home.

The Highway Code was updated earlier this year to introduce a risk-based hierarchy of road users, which places more responsibility on the drivers of larger vehicles to look after more vulnerable road users. But are pet owners aware of the rule that relates to having four-legged passengers in the car?

The clocks are going forward, which means days will soon be longer than nights for the next six months and dark winter mornings spent scraping the windscreen are now a distant memory. It’s time to dust off your leathers and make sure your motorbike is in tip top condition for the warmer weather ahead, whilst not neglecting your car in the meantime. This week’s tips from IAM RoadSmart will help you prepare yourself and your motor for those brighter days ahead.

In this week’s blog ‘The IAM Family’, Christopher Dunn, Vice Chairman of West Yorkshire Advanced Motorcyclists, shares his delight at how his IAM RoadSmart colleagues from across the country have rallied round to provide support when he and his local group have needed it.

Telematics policies, sometimes called ‘black box’ insurance, traditionally rely upon small pieces of kit known as black boxes installed in a vehicle to record driving style. In this week’s blog, Richard Hardesty, National Observer for the IAM Roadsmart Lincolnshire Group, and his new driver son Oliver share their thoughts on telematics insurance for younger drivers.

What do you get when you take a bunch of Nepalese riders and a couple of IAM RoadSmart trainers? The only trained bikers in the country, that’s what! Read about Area Service Delivery Managers Scott Tulip and Pete Doherty's trip to Nepal to deliver off-road motorcycle training to The Gurkha Welfare Trust on behalf of IAM RoadSmart. This blog is extracted from an article in Motorcycle Sport & Leisure magazine, December 2020.

Living in Bedfordshire I was commuting daily to Welwyn Garden City, around 35 miles each way via the busy A1. However, the thought of facing this again after so long started to play on my mind and I was getting increasingly anxious. I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder in 2013. My condition is well managed most of the time, but I still struggle when faced with something I can’t fully control.

James Hall, IAM RoadSmart’s Director of Sales and Marketing shares the story of his life-long love for cars and bikes. "My passion for cars and motorbikes started at a very young age and has been heavily influenced by my father who is ex-military and slightly obsessive about his cars. He’s the only person I know who would remove the wheels to clean the inside alloy as well as the outside!"