IAM RoadSmart Spring 2024

CURRENT AFFAIRS

ARE ADVANCED DRIVERS AND RIDERS READY FOR AN EV FUTURE?

ROADSMART AT TESLA We learn about EVs from the people who sell them – and fix them

INFRASTRUCTURE We find out how green the grid is – and if it’s ready for the EV transition

PORSCHE TAYCAN

The EV sports car for petrolheads

SPRING 2024

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH

IAM RoadSmart

1 Albany Place, Hyde Way, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire AL7 3BT

Phone: 0300 303 1134

Email: roadsmart@iam.org.uk

Web: www.iamroadsmart.com

Patron HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Kent President Nigel Mansell

Vice Presidents Sir Peter Bottomley, Steven Norris, Nick Ross

Chief Executive Officer Antony Kildare

Marketing and Communications Director

Kat Hyde

Head of Membership Engagement and Operations Karolina Brzeska

Council of Trustees Stuart Donald QPM (Chair), Nick Stein (Vice Chair), Nick Lomas, Sarah Whiteside-Jones, Victoria Milford, Tom Kelman, Angela Bell, Mark Armitage, Rupert Newman, Mark Powell Registration England & Wales 562530

Registered Charity Number 249002 (England & Wales), SCO41201 (Scotland)

PUBLISHED BY

Our Media www.ourmedia.co.uk

Editor Matt Rigby

Art Editor Robin Coomber

Production Editor Sarah Newman

Senior Account Manager Katy Hewett

Account Executive Kajal Grant-Hindocha

Editorial Director Dan Linstead

TO ADVERTISE

Head of Commercial & Partnerships

Jamie Bolton (0117 300 8518; jamie.bolton@ourmedia.co.uk)

Sales Manager

Melanie Harris (0117 300 8246; melanie.harris@ourmedia.co.uk)

WELCOME

A warm welcome to the Spring 2024 issue of RoadSmart magazine, where we’re focusing on electric vehicles (EVs). We’ve taken a trip to a Tesla dealership with a group of IAM RoadSmart members – to hear from Tesla staff and motor industry figures and find out what EVs mean for us as advanced riders and drivers. And our diligence knows no bounds – editor Matt Rigby has even been for a spin in a Porsche Taycan in the name of journalistic research. Such commitment! Find out more on page 38.

However, no discussion of an EV motoring future would be complete without a debate on the planned 2035 ban on non-hybrid petrol and diesel vehicles. Is it the right thing to do? We ask just that question on page 14.

We’re also looking at the science behind traffic. You can read about that by turning to page 19, but first a word about our Autumn Forums, which took place just after the last issue of RoadSmart was published.

Throughout October, we delivered eight events across the UK. Our purpose was clear: to share the great progress made over the past 12 months as One IAM – members, staff, volunteers, Groups and partners – which is thanks to the continued support and commitment of our community.

As we continue to champion the One IAM message, it was important –not only for myself and the Senior Team, but also for middle managers and fieldbased staff – to meet with Group Chairs and Secretaries; all volunteers who give so much of their time to support the cause.

“AT OUR AUTUMN FORUMS WE SHARED THE GREAT PROGRESS MADE OVER THE PAST 12 MONTHS DUE TO THE CONTINUED SUPPORT OF OUR COMMUNITY”

We were able to share updates on our national campaigning (including drug-driving and motorcycle PPE), our strategic plan that will further cement the future of the charity, plus some of the preliminary research we’ve done with younger people and our research around new product development. Overall, the events generated positive feedback from members as well as some food for thought for us.

In November, we attended both the Classic Motor Show and Motorcycle Live, the latter our flagship event, where we met with drivers and riders of all abilities, whilst planning started for our commercial event attendance throughout the new year.

Antony Kildare Chief Executive, IAM RoadSmart

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INTAKE

07 NEWS

What’s happening in motoring, from motorbike safety updates to a chance to share your views on government policies

10 IAM ROADSMART AWARDS

We celebrate some outstanding individuals and Groups at the return of our awards ceremony

13 INNOVATIONS

BMW’s integrated computer system is the beating heart of their upcoming EV

14 THE GREAT DEBATE

Was the government right to push back the ban on selling new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2030 to 2035?

We consider the issue

19 THE SCIENCE OF TRAFFIC

We look at the technology that keeps us moving, and how advances in AI will influence the future of tra c management

FEATURES

38 FUTURE OF EV

The shift to electric is slowly happening, but are we ready for it? IAM RoadSmart and some members visit Tesla to find out for themselves

46 PSYCHOLOGY OF ROAD SAFETY

Dr Katie Plant explains how the driving simulator at the University of Southampton allows a driver’s thoughts and actions to inform road safety improvements

CONTENTS

ON THE ROAD

23 LOFTY IDEAS

Three mountain drives that allow you to take the high road into breathtaking (and sometimes nervewracking) scenery

31 RICHARD GLADMAN

Those who provide motorway tra c safety deserve respect, says our Chief Examiner

33 SKILLS REFRESHER: URBAN DRIVING

Advice on safely moving through built-up areas

36 ASK THE EXPERTS

Our team tackle all your road-based conundrums

INSIDER

52 GALLERY

We meet the original bike Group – Kent Advanced Motorcyclists

54 GALLERY EXTRA

Experts behind the wheel compete for FIA’s Best Young Driver title

57 ANTONY KILDARE

How your opinions on road safety will be heard, according to our CEO

60 MEMBER BENEFITS

Exclusive o ers and discounts for you

62 LETTERS

Members have their say

64 MEMBER PROFILE

We meet Darren Tudor, who uses his love of motor and pedal bikes to keep others safe

66 IAM ROADSMART NEWS

The latest updates from within the organisation

INTAKE

News and views from the world of road safety

Was it right to push back the sales ban on new ICE cars?

Plus: IAM RoadSmart recognises hardworking members at our AGM awards ceremony on p10

The Plan for Drivers

AS A ROAD SAFETY

charity, we’re pleased to see that the government promised to issue a tra c advisory leaflet to guide local authorities on allowing motorcycles to use bus lanes in its Plan for Drivers, which was published in October 2023. It also says it’ll publish a consultation on whether motorcycle access to bus lanes should be standard. This is something that IAM RoadSmart has raised with ministers and o cials in meetings and is great news for our motorcycle members. Other points to note in the Plan for Drivers is a policy encouraging a more targeted approach to 20mph speed limits (rather than the default policy introduced last year in Wales), stopping further roll out of so-called ‘15-minute cities’ and plans to manage bus lanes.

NICK LYES Policy and Standards Director at IAM RoadSmart

AN IAM ROADSMART-LED petition

CAMPAIGNS 100 , 000 WE NEED SIGNATURES

for the removal of VAT from motorbike air vests hit 10,000 signatures on the Parliament website in November, meaning the UK government is required to respond.

e petition closes on 27 March 2024, so please keep sharing it to highlight this issue and call on the Treasury to #Scrap eVAT on motorcycle air vests. If it hits 100,000 signatures a debate would be held in Parliament on the matter. IAM RoadSmart has written to the Chancellor to put forward a case as to why this change would save lives and money. Read the letter (which includes a link to the petition) at www.media.

iamroadsmart.com/pressreleases

HIGH CASUALTIES ON BRITISH ROADS

THE LATEST GOVERNMENT report shows that the figures for those killed or seriously injured on the roads of Britain remain high. While there were 1,633 fatalities on our roads for the year (a 9% reduction), the overall figures including serious injuries were just 1% lower than the year ending June 2022. Even more concerning, the numbers show an increase in fatalities among older drivers.

“While there has been some progress in reducing fatalities and serious injuries,” says Nicholas Lyes, Policy and Standards Director for IAM RoadSmart, “the reality is that the figures remain stubbornly high and there is a worrying year-on-year rise in the number of over-70s killed on our roads.”

CALENDAR

12 MARCH

Biketrac webinar, 6.30pm

16–17 MARCH

Scottish Motorcycle Show, Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh

9 APRIL

Cornmarket webinar, 6.30pm

13–14 APRIL

81st Goodwood Members’ Meeting, Goodwood Motor Circuit, Chichester

17 APRIL

The Great British Fleet Event, Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes (For business audiences)

30 APRIL–2 MAY

The Health & Safety Event, NEC, Birmingham (For business audiences)

4–5 MAY

Donington Historic Festival, East Midlands

21 MAY

Electric vehicles with Quentin Willson webinar, 6.30pm

Find details on our four bike Skills Days at www.iamroadsmart.com/ events/skills-days

New signs improve safety for Scottish motorcyclists

A NEW TYPE of road marking trialled in Scotland has shown it can improve the behaviour of motorcyclists in bends.

e markings are called Perceptual Rider Information for Maximising Expertise and Enjoyment (PRIMEs) and consist of ‘gateway’ markings on the road, along with associated signage.

e idea is to help riders to adapt their riding on approaching a bend. A total of 22 trial sites across the west of Scotland have shown the markings result in a signi cant reduction in speed, an improvement in road position on the approach and apex of a bend, and improved braking behaviour.

e trial was conducted over three years, and there have been no motorcycle injury collisions at any of the sites where PRIME markings now are.

Scottish Minister for Transport Fiona Hyslop said: “Project PRIME is a triumph for road safety, showing what happens when academic theory is supported by realworld application.”

e next step is making a guidance pack for Scottish road authorities on how to use PRIMEs locally.

CAMPAIGNS

Opinion

Panel – your voices heard

IAM ROADSMART launched the Opinion Panel in December 2023, where members have signed up to be panellists and have their say on government policy and road safety issues. We’ve had an excellent response, so thank you to those that’ve got involved. The results from the research will form part of our wider communications programme with national and devolved government and media. Our first questionnaire asked for views on the contentious issue of default 20mph speed limits, dazzling headlight glare and motorcycle PPE.

#DEVITTRIDERSAFETY / @DJRWILLIAMS

GETTY

GETTY

IAM AWARDS 2023

The RoadSmart red carpet

The IAM RoadSmart awards returned in November, held during the AGM at our HQ

FORGET THE ACADEMY AWARDS or the Golden Globes – an IAM RoadSmart trophy on your mantelpiece is the thing to have. Well, it is in the world of road safety and advanced riding and driving, at least, which is why we were delighted to recognise the work of some outstanding individuals and Groups. Here are the winners…

GROUP VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR AWARD – DRIVER HENNY CAMERON Henny works tirelessly for Northampton Advanced Motorists (NAM) and is one of the key Group contacts with the local police force and Northants Safer Roads Alliance. As part of this, she has worked hard with the local police force and Fire and Crime Commissioner, and has secured money for the past four years to allow NAM to fund a successful young driver’s scheme, where they get a £100 refund on passing their IAM RoadSmart advanced test.

GROUP VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR AWARD – RIDER BILL HOLLINGSHEAD

Bill is why Lich eld Advanced Motorcyclists Group exists, taking the motorcycle section to independence in 2010 with 35 members. He has been responsible for initiating the current culture of improvement of the Group’s Observer Team. Bill has time for everyone, listens with interest and o ers appropriate guidance without ever being judgemental.

VOLUNTEER RIDER OF THE YEAR ANDY PEEL

It’s rare to volunteer who has committed as much to IAM RoadSmart as Andy Peel. Andy stepped up as Chief Observer for West Yorkshire Advanced Motorcyclists at short notice, sacri cing his beloved role as an Examiner in the process. Under him, Observer and member training initiatives in the Group went from two a year, to two a month! He’s a huge asset to the organisation because he inspires and encourages members to achieve whatever they set out to. Andy’s a game-changer.

VOLUNTEER DRIVER OF THE YEAR AWARD LINDA DAVIES

Linda has been the backbone of Mid-Kent for many years. She has been Social Secretary, Observer and Chairman. If there’s anything that needs doing and there isn’t a volunteer then she does it herself – even down to making the tea! Linda tirelessly leads by example and creates an environment within the Group where every member’s e orts count.

“I was thrilled to receive the award personally,” says Linda, “but I feel it also recognises the sel ess contributions of everyone in the Group.”

“WHEN I LEARNED ABOUT THE AWARD I WAS SPEECHLESS AND BELIEVE ME THAT RARELY HAPPENS!” – LINDA DAVIES

GROUP PARTNERSHIP OF THE YEAR AWARD IAM LINCOLNSHIRE GROUP

IAM Lincolnshire invited local Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones to take an advanced course to highlight collision risks for young drivers. He was so impressed that he provided nance to support 100 young driver courses. On the day of launch, the Group received nearly 200 applications. e project was so successful it’s been extended by 50 places.

Roger Hicks (pictured):

“Everyone at IAM RoadSmart Lincolnshire was delighted to win, and to prove that ‘good partnerships divide the e and multiply the success’.”

INNOVATIONS

Brain box

Multiple computers are merged into one at the heart of BMW’s forthcoming EV, says

Paul Horrell

Most car makers develop and build a surprisingly small proportion of the cars they sell. ey rely on suppliers to design and produce signi cant sub-systems. is means that a car will have several dozen independent computers: for the engine, transmission, brakes, safety systems, infotainment, climate control and more.

Increasingly, these need to talk to each other, exchanging huge ows of data at lightning speeds. Vehicle control systems are becoming vastly sophisticated, not just with ABS brakes and electronic stability programmes but also electronic dampers, steering systems and distribution of drive torque to each separate wheel (known as torque vectoring). is all has a strong e ect on the way the car feels on the road, even when the tyres are gripping safely.

So far, the electric age has brought diminishing di erence in the driving character between cars, simply because electric motors are all smooth and silent, with little of the diversity of combustion engines and their transmissions. Importantly, electric motors react far faster to control inputs than

OUR VIEW

“If this technology works as BMW hopes, it will make its cars more e cient and responsive and that, of course, has positive knock-on e ects for driving safety.”

Nick Lyes, IAM RoadSmart Policy and Standards Director

combustion engines do, giving scope for much ner and faster control and driver feedback.

BMW of course wants to make cars that steer, corner, ride and brake ‘like BMWs’. To do that, it’s developing a single integrated computer for the car’s entire electronic network, nicknamed ‘Heart of Joy’. Expect it in the 2025 Neue Klasse, a 3-series-size EV.

As it’s all in one box, reaction times will be much faster than they are now. Today, signals travel all around the car, causing tiny delays that really matter at this control frequency. Also, a team of engineers working towards a de ned ‘character’ has more exibility, with no need to take o -the-shelf systems from multiple outside suppliers. e new Heart of Joy should quicken development too, by keeping it in-house – at least it will do once BMW has learned the process. Finally, the car will be more upgradeable by so ware improvements through its life, sent via the onboard mobile data link and installed overnight. is is not wholly new. Most start-up EV companies – Tesla the highest pro le – have done similar things while existing car makers stuck to the proven ideas. But BMW claims the Heart of Joy goes further than any rival, including EV start-ups.

ILLUSTRATION

JAMES CAREY

YOUR VIEW

Where do you stand on the subject?

Send a tweet to @IAMRoadSmart or visit facebook.com/iamroadsmart

RICHARD T Reversing long-term net zero policy decisions for short-term political point-scoring is never a good idea. The motor industry is already investing in the transition to electric vehicles and the government’s five-year delay on the ban will have little practical impact on this.

DAVID D’H No. We are in a time of unprecedented climate change. It’s an emergency – we simply don’t have time to waste. That we pollute far less than China is irrelevant; it’s setting an example that matters. We must do this, no ifs and no buts.

Was it right to push back the sales ban on new ICE cars?

The government has delayed the ban on the sale of new non-hybrid petrol and diesel cars and vans until 2035. But was this a good move?

Paul Horrell investigates, and two experts share their views…

The ban on the sale of new internal combustion engine (ICE) cars has yoyoed disconcertingly. Moved from 2040 to 2035 in early 2020, it was then brought forward to 2030 just 10 months later. Now the same government has pushed it back to 2035 again.

ere is absolutely no proposal that you won’t be able to drive a combustion car. e ban concerns only new cars, not secondhand. Plugin hybrids escape it for ve more years. e qualifying term is ‘zero emission’, meaning batteries or hydrogen fuel cells. And though some commercial-vehicle manufacturers such as JCB are exploring hydrogen combustion-engined products, these aren’t considered to be zeroemission vehicles (ZEV), while few resources are going into hydrogen fuel-cell technology.

Strangely, during the time the ban had been set at 2030, its achievement was looking easier, not harder. One of the key hurdles is public charge-point rollout; both rapid chargers for

people on long journeys, and ‘slow’ AC chargers for overnight replenishment for people who don’t have a home charge point. Yet over the past year, the number of electric vehicles (EVs) per rapid DC charger has dropped from 96 cars per charge point to 92, despite the increased numbers of EVs on the road – and that’s only for the faster DC chargers, not the more common AC slow chargers. At average UK mileage, a 200-mile EV needs charging only every 10 days or so. One slow charger could service around a dozen cars owned by drivers who have no home or workplace charging; we don’t need one charger per EV, and even at the 2030 cut-o date, it’s likely only a quarter or so of the cars in use would be EV. It takes years to renew the whole eet. But infrastructure needs capital, and delay might mean investors take fright. en infrastructure shortage would become a self-fulling prophesy: slower EV adoption means slower infrastructure adoption, meaning potential EV buyers are spooked. It could cause investors in battery manufacturing to pause. Yet because of new

RICHARD E Drivers will continue to make informed decisions about their next vehicle regardless of the government. I drive a BEV, and despite being a ‘petrol head’ have no intentions of returning to ICE. A BEV suits me, but I respect it’s not for everyone.

DAVID L Moving the absolute date back to 2035, whilst leaving the ZEV mandate unaltered, is no better than a sleight of hand by the government to gain popular support from the electorate.

KEN M Yes. The National Grid won’t be able to deliver the necessary power for recharging until well past the ban.

STEPHEN B I think the ban on the sale of ICE vehicles should be removed completely, lock stock and barrel.

EVs

more

trade rules, if a British-built EV has a foreign-made battery, it will be subject to high export tari s from 2027.

Besides, many car makers have undertaken to sell only EVs in Britain before 2030. e list includes Jaguar by 2025 and Vauxhall by 2028. Ford has said it will be EV-only across Europe by 2030, and Volvo globally by that year, even though the EU’s cut-o date is still 2035. Car manufacture has a long planning schedule and it would be expensive for them to unwind their commitments.

cars in high numbers, but now there’s no need for people to buy them. “Customers and infrastructure providers have a 12-year stay of execution. It’s ambiguity and asymmetry that could be a problem.” He interprets the ban date change as a message that the infrastructure won’t be ready by 2030. “You can’t get much more destabilising than that.” Was it just a matter of con dence then?

Bentley might not sound relevant to the mass market, but it employs 4,000 people in Britain, and has also undertaken to build only EVs by 2030. Its chief executive, Adrian Hallmark, is outspoken about the delay. He points out the zero-emissions mandate forces the industry to sell electric

If everyone believed in the 2030 cut-o date, it would be achievable, but without certainty then the house of cards collapses.

About the only large manufacturer to welcome the delay was Toyota, which sells a lot of hybrids and plug-in hybrids and is active in hydrogen fuel cells. It stated: “We believe carbon is the enemy and have been following a clear road map for achieving zero emissions vehicles in

the UK by 2035 – bringing to market a multiple range of clean technologies.” In Germany, sports-car companies including Porsche have lobbied for an exemption on cars that use renewable petrol, which is made from bio-material or synthesised via renewable energy. But even Porsche admits this fuel will always be expensive and scarce. Besides, it’s chemically identical to petrol, so the car could still be driven on traditional fuel, thus emitting CO2 as now. e government says the delay can help people on ordinary incomes – new EVs cost perhaps £3,000 to £5,000 more than a petrol equivalent. But most don’t buy new cars. e sooner the new-car market switches, the sooner the supply of reasonably priced used EVs will grow. One appeal of an EV two years ago was being cheaper to fuel, o setting its purchase price. e rise in electricity prices has put paid to that for public charging, and it’s unlikely to change soon. e government also says it still expects the UK to reach net zero by 2050, and that it still follows the scienti c consensus on climate change.

TOM P The charging network currently doesn’t work for everyone, nor does it seem to have increased in line with EV vehicle production and sales. We’ve been sold lemons. Hybrid makes more sense.

BOB H The way forward is alternative fuels. They’re out there but just need the investment, then we can use the vehicles we already have.

GRAHAM

M No, the climate emergency shouldn’t be kicked into the long grass, it’s happening NOW. Governments have dithered and dismissed it in the hope that it’ll go away or become someone else’s problem. But younger generations are going to look back and ask us, ‘Why didn’t you do something sooner?’ What will we say – pandering to the oil industry was more important for politicians than protecting the planet?

IMAGES: GETTY

were more appealing to potential buyers before electricity prices rose, making it

expensive to go electric

YES:

Stuart James

IGA Chief Executive

NO:

Matthew Adams REA Transport Policy Manager

e Independent Garage Association (IGA) welcomes the government’s decision to extend the ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035. It allows much-needed time to address the challenges related to EV infrastructure and the a of EVs, particularly in the face of the ongoing cost-ofliving crisis.

“THE INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIRED TO SUPPORT WHOLESALE EV ADOPTION IN THE UK IS LAGGING BEHIND”

e announcement by the prime minister represents a reality check that the infrastructure required to support wholesale EV adoption in the UK is currently lagging behind where it would need to be, had the 2030 ban remained in place.

In the current challenging economic climate, to impose the high cost of new electric vehicles on businesses and consumers would be a step too far, so pushing back the ban date 2035 is the right thing to do.

e Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA) is a not-for-pro t trade association, with around 500 member organisations representing every type of renewable energy. e REA recently conducted a poll of its members and the wider industry of the impact of the PM’s anti net zero speech. In our poll, 97% of respondents disagreed with the decision; 67% also said that the decision directly impacted their investment in the UK, highlighting over £100m was at risk. One start-up reportedly lost £150,000 with two-thirds of their investors choosing not to invest in the UK as a result of that decision. ere is concern that this decision will also deter much bigger investment in facilities like giga factories for making EV batteries and electric car manufacturing facilities. e PM said the UK would still be in line with Europe, Canada and several US states.

Investors will ask the question:

Even so, more must be done to ensure that even the 2035 date can be successfully met.

2035 2030 2040

ere needs to be government support not only for the required infrastructure, but also support will be needed for upskilling of sta across the independent automotive sector. is is vital in order to provide consumers with the con dence that making the change to electric vehicles is backed up with an accessible network of local, competent garages to meet the changes in their motoring needs.

‘Do we trust in the UK government to ful l this commitment for 2035, when it has already back-tracked?’ Manufacturers who already chose to put giga factories here before the announcement may also question their commitment to the UK.

e IGA is the largest trade body representing independent garages in the UK. We support members with the day-to-day challenges and complexities of running a garage business, while ensuring that the sector’s voice is heard at government level.

To ensure the 2035 deadline is achieved, the IGA calls upon the government to develop plans to boost EV infrastructure, reducing the price gap between EVs and traditional vehicles, and providing adequate support for both consumers and the automotive sector during the transitional period.

“ICE VEHICLES WILL BE MORE EXPENSIVE THAN EVS BY 2030, MEANING CONSUMERS WILL HAVE LESS CHOICE”

We must also consider what is good for people. More petrol and diesel vehicles churn out harmful emissions into the air, impacting on air quality and causing asthma-related illnesses, hospital admissions and even premature death. ICE vehicles will also be more expensive than their electric equivalents by 2030, and the choice consumers will have is less as a result of this decision. Now there will likely be fewer hybrids, a few more ICE vehicles and fewer EVs. e PM claimed choice and cost were the reasons for this announcement and it’s just not possible for him to be right about either. Consumers purchasing ICE vehicles will be nancially worse o , have worse air, more health problems as a result and less choice of vehicle. It’s as simple as that.

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“ If it wasn’t for our dash cam footage, the other driver might not have been held responsible for knocking the cyclist off his bike & injuring him.”

“The driver coming in the opposite direction jumped the red light, knocking the cyclist off his bike & leaving him seriously injured Mandy helped the cyclist whilst the emergency services were on their way. We showed the police the high-res dash-cam footage of what happened & they were really impressed with clarity of the recording Later, it came out that the driver of the other car had denied jumping the red light, but when confronted with the video evidence quickly confessed Our dash cam footage helped the poor chap who was injured as it could have taken months, if not years, to sort it out otherwise. We wouldn’t drive without our DX1000 dash-cam now ” John

See the evidence for yourself online

THE OF SCIENCE TRAFFIC

How cutting-edge tech keeps vehicles moving – and how AI could revolutionise tra c management WORDS

Picture climbing into your car on a work day. Sharing its location with local authority transport systems, the car instantly knows the best route to work. As you relax into autopilot, your car ‘talks’ to the tra c control centre, constantly updating it with your progress. In this futuristic world, interconnected vehicles and infrastructure ensure the tra c light system adapts to your journey, giving you and other vehicles green lights all the way. is vision may not be far o .

“Interconnected vehicles and infrastructure are where the real magic begins,” says Chris Kettell, Chief Technologist of the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory.

Currently, tra c control centres can adapt tra c light signals using information from radar or cameras and, below-ground, inductive loop detectors (which count vehicles passing over them).

IN CONTROL

“From all these technologies, tra c control centres get a picture of how many vehicles are in which location and how they’re moving through a network,” says Kettell. “ e control centre can then develop tra c signal timing plans. If a big change is made to how the tra c light timings work at a single junction, compared to how they were running, it can introduce what’s

known as a ‘shock wave’ into tra c, resulting in excess queues and delays. It’s better to make lots of small incremental changes to keep tra c moving e ciently.”

Tra c light signals can also be adapted to support local services, such as helping emergency vehicles to avoid congestion. And by employing the adaptive control system to a set of tra c lights, a late bus can be given priority to get back on schedule and subsequent buses slowed down to avoid ‘bus bunching’.

In England, National Highways manages the strategic road network –4,500 miles of motorways and major A-roads. Around 10% of the motorway network in England is made up of ‘smart motorways’, where sensors monitor tra c ow and adapt speed limits accordingly, relaying that information to side-ofthe-road variable message signs (VMS).

e Motorway Incident Detection and Automatic Signalling system uses inductive loops to monitor ow, while radar detects stopped vehicles.

TRAFFIC ECONOMICS

Not only do tra c jams waste time, but also fuel and money. Data from 2021, by transport analyst rm Inrix, showed London drivers lost 148 hours a year, estimated to have cost the capital’s economy £5.1bn – or £1,211 per driver. Similar trends were reported

by TomTom and Transport for London’s (TfL) tra c speed data.

RESEARCH IN NUMBERS

Data from roads provides information that gives a broader picture on our changing transportation habits

Historically, in the UK, transport networks for vehicles have taken precedence over pedestrians and cyclists. But with the growing emphasis on combating the climate emergency and encouraging active travel, this attitude is Q=V SK 323.8

BILLION

Miles driven on British roads in 2022 (an 8.8% increase compared to 2021, but 2022 tra c was lower than 2019 pre-Covid levels).

Flow of tra c equals the average speed of tra c at a certain location, multiplied by its density (number of cars on the road).

Below: Tailbacks can arise when a control centre makes a big change to tra c light times at one junction

In the future, in-car displays could relay information to drivers that’s currently shown on road signs

changing. Today, above-ground detectors for pedestrians adapt ‘green man’ crossing time according to the number of people waiting to cross the road.

“

ere’s a lot of evidence which shows pedestrians and cyclists stay longer, spend more and are better for a town centre than cars going through,” says Kettell.

Indeed, research by TfL found that people who walk and cycle take more trips to the high street over a month. Cycle parking delivers ve times the retail spend per square metre than the same area of car parking. And walking, cycling and public realm improvements around the high street increase retail sales by 30%.

NAKED ROADS

In the coming years, there will also be advances with in-vehicle signage. e information that currently displays on motorway VMS will also display on in-vehicle screens. Eventually, this will remove the necessity for infrastructure at the side of the road. National Highways is working on the ‘naked roads’ concept,

“AS VEHICLES GET SMARTER, THEY’LL BECOME SENSING AND COMMUNICATIONS PLATFORMS”

where side-of-the-road infrastructure can be reduced, minimising the time and expense needed to develop, install and maintain it.

“How we move people and services will continue to change over time,” says Kettell. “As vehicles become smarter, they will not just be for mobility, but also a sensing and communications platform. e absolute sweet spot would be no need for tra c lights or road infrastructure, because all vehicles become self-organising.”

Jheni Osman is an award-winning science writer, author and broadcaster. See more of her work at www.jheniosman.co.uk, and follow her on social media @jheniosman

WAYS OF COMMUNICATING

Experts have been developing technologies that enable car-to-car communication (V2V) and vehicleto-everything communication (V2X). If a road network knew the location and speed of a vehicle, it could alert the vehicle to potential hazards and prevent accidents. Likewise, if a vehicle had information on its neighbours, the driver could react to accidents up ahead and avoid congestion by finding another route – helping to keep tra c flowing. Already in existence is software such as Waze for Cities, which provides live tra c maps and road alerts from all vehicle movements using Waze across the network. The software can also send push messages, such as alerting users if there is an incident ahead.

“This is a rudimentary form of V2X communication,” says Kettell. “Implementation of V2V and V2X communication in the UK is likely to develop incrementally.

An excellent model for the UK to follow would be the Dutch Talking Tra c programme – a national data warehouse for all junctions across the entirety of the Netherlands. If the UK government provides funding, we could create a similar but smaller-scale programme within five to seven years. However, legislation needs to support open and available data sharing, and we need to suitably address and overcome privacy concerns.”

Try TURMERIC+ before you buy it

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Turmeric+ has received numerous positive reviews since its launch, becoming the

“Soon after taking it I experienced that ‘light-bulb’ moment - I realised my knees felt like they used to. I take Turmeric+ religiously now.”

company’s best selling product. ‘Soon after taking it I experienced that ‘light-bulb’ moment - I realised my knees felt like they used to. I take Turmeric+ religiously now,’ says customer Paul Goddard, 63, a Nordic Walking instructor from Saffron Walden.

‘We’re happy to offer people their first pack of Turmeric+ for free so they can experience it for themselves,’ says Adam Cleevely, Chair of FutureYou Cambridge.

‘Most people know if it’s working for them within four to eight weeks – and if they like it, they will stick with it.’

ON THE ROAD

Taking your journey to the next level

“YOU’LL BE ABLE TO SEE DRIVERS ABOVE AND BELOW YOU; IT’S DEFINITELY NOT FOR VERTIGO SUFFERERS”

Driving up a mountain is worth the e ort –you’ll feel on top of the world

The Col d’Izoard mountain pass in the French Alps is quieter outside of the busy summer months

MOUNTAIN HIGHS

Do you have a hunger for hairpin bends or an itch for switchbacks? Then it’s time for driving on a mountain high, where you’ll be able to satisfy your craving for tarmacked curves

Nothing beats a mountain pass for an arm-twirling, adrenalininducing drive or ride. On the way up it’s a case of picking your line to perfection to maintain momentum, while the descent is balancing braking and steering for a smooth run down. And if the upper body workout doesn’t leave you breathless then the views surely will. Here are three perfect passes to whet your appetite. WORDS

Tunnels at the start of the ascent mean you’ll need to be especially aware of cyclists, who’ll hopefully have their rear lights on

COL D’IZOARD FRANCE

At 2,630 metres, or 8,629ft, reaching the summit of the Col d’Izoard is quite an achievement even with the aid of internal combustion.

Now imagine scaling these heights using pedal power alone – because that’s what Tour de France riders do on the D902 road. It’s known as a Hors Categorie climb, which essentially means it’s too steep to categorise, yet that doesn’t deter the racers or thousands of amateurs who test their stamina on the Col every year.

Part of the Routes des Grandes Alpes, the road is usually open between May and November and no matter when you visit you’re certain to find lycra-clad cyclists grinding their way up its slopes. Try not to look too smug as you breeze past them as there are plenty of places that could catch you out later on – just give them a wide berth and an encouraging smile.

The road’s part-time job as a racetrack means it has well-marked cycle lanes and is wide enough for cars, motorbikes and bikes to all enjoy its challenge. The surface is smooth and well-maintained –which is no mean feat given the altitude and severe winter weather, and a far cry from its earliest gravel-tracked days.

A benefit of the D902 road being part of the Tour de France route is that it’s in good condition

Beginning at Briançon the climb starts gently in a lush green landscape of alpine pastures and the road features open sweeping bends with just a few tighter turns. Ascending higher, the woods close in before you find yourself cutting into the mountainside at Terre Rouge. Pass Cervières and the incline is more exaggerated, with the corners coming at you more frequently, but it’s not until you’re beyond Le Laus that the serious switchbacks arrive. There’s barely a straight worthy of a squirt of acceleration

between here and the peak, so if you’re finding it tough then make a pit stop at the Refuge Napoléon at 2,290m. So tortuous are the turns that if you take a glance up or down you’ll be able to clearly see other road users directly above and below you. It’s definitely not a drive or ride for vertigo sufferers.

For the last push to the top you’re beyond the tree line in a barren and windswept land of boulders. At the summit you’ll find a car park, a stone monument and, perhaps, a warm sense

of achievement at having got to the top of one of the world’s toughest climbs.

Then it’s time to test your brakes for the descent and another hair-raising set of hairpins all the way to La Draye. You’ll be focused on slowing sufficiently to navigate the series of 180-degree corners and motorcyclists’ arms will bear the brunt of the braking required. Only on the final leg to Arvieux is the road straight again, allowing you to get your heart rate back under control as you cross the finish line.

Switchbacks and a hard climb greet you as the landscape changes after Le Laus

The D902 winds through ravines in the less elevated part of this drive

Arvieux

Briançon

Col d’Izoard

ITALY

FRANCE

BEALACH NA BÀ SCOTLAND

Not advised for learner drivers, very large vehicles or caravans.”

So reads the large blue sign at the entrance to the Applecross Pass, known locally as Bealach na Bà or ‘pass of the cattle’.

Linking Applecross and Tornapress in Strathcarron on Scotland’s wild west coast, this former drovers’ road often seems little wider than the track trodden by bovines for centuries before –hence the warning.

As part of the North Coast 500 route, Bealach na Bà can be heavily trafficked, especially in the summer, when motorhomes, motorcycles, hire cars and supercars all vie for space on this narrow road. Our advice: get up before dawn and you’ll have the road to yourself and can enjoy the spectacular sight as the early morning light begins to warm the valley.

It’s one of the steepest roads in the UK, with inclines of up to one in five and some switchbacks which bring you to the peak at 2,054ft.

There’s a car park here which, if you haven’t timed it quite right,

will be full of picnickers and #vanlife influencers taking in the wonderful view out over to the isles of Raasay and Skye.

The descent to Tornapress is no less steep, diving down almost to the banks of Loch Kishorn.

The harsh winters take their toll on the road surface which is often bumpy and broken. It could cause low-slung sports cars to scrape their undercarriage unless driven with care, and motorcyclists to lose their composure as the suspension struggles to cope with the uneven surface. SUV drivers could find it a squeeze to navigate past one another even using the sporadic passing places.

Having driven Bealach na Bà in both a Caterham 7 and a Land Rover Discovery I’d say neither is ideal – a hot hatch or rally rocket would suit this road best, while inexperienced drivers and anyone towing should certainly steer clear –just as the sign says.

Above right: Loch Kishorn, and the small settlements around it, await as you wind your way down Bealach na Bà

The twists and turns of this road make it a popular part of the North Coast 500

Tornapress

Applecross Applecross Pass

Loch Carron

Loch Kishorn

AUSTRIA

GROSSGLOCKNER HIGH ALPINE ROAD

I’m fortunate to have driven many mountain roads and this one simply towers above the rest when it comes to pure driving enjoyment.

Situated in the heart of the Hohe Tauern National Park it genuinely was designed for drivers. Back in the early 1930s it was built to attract wealthy tourists in their motor cars to the region, with more than 4,000 workers cutting an extraordinary path through the mountains. It’s a road trip in its own right rather than a major route between towns, and you’ll find motor-themed hotels welcoming drivers and riders at either end of its 48km (30 miles).

Along the way there are 36 corners carved into the rock face ensuring plenty of entertainment. The road is beautifully surfaced and wider than most alpine ascents, making it suitable for supercars. My last trip was in a Mazda MX-5 and while I enjoyed the car’s agility on the steep uphill sections I confess to craving more power, especially as the increased elevation at over 7,500ft took its toll on the engine’s breathing.

Speaking of tolls, the Grossglockner costs €40 to tackle in a car or €30 on a motorcycle – but that’s for a day ticket so you can zoom up and down as many times as you like.

As it’s one of the highest roads in Europe the conditions can be unpredictable. One side of the mountain could be a white-out with snow while the other might be bathed in sun. The good news is that there are plenty of spots to wait out the weather with several eateries along the way, and even an inn should you wish to spend a night on the mountain.

Großes Wiesbachorn

Grossglockner High Alpine Road

Heiligenblut am Großglockner

There are 36 corners to negotiate on this spectacular mountain road

Bruck an der Großglacknerstraße

Richard Gladman

Controlling motorway tra ic is no mean feat so support those who are keeping us safe, says our Chief Examiner

Have you ever wondered why you seem to get stuck behind the rolling roadblock on whatever motorway you choose? Or why, indeed, the rolling roadblock is a thing at all? As an experienced police o cer with 18 years’ service, I decided a posting to tra c would broaden my horizons about these and other motorway manoeuvres, and because of this became acquainted with the daily grind of the M25, from the point of view of the police.

Before policing it, I would’ve argued that it’s just another fast road, and probably would have wondered whether policing a motorway could really be all that di cult – a er all, everyone’s travelling in the same direction. Well, let me tell you this: when the tra c is owing and you are stationary, it’s a scary place.

e noise and air turbulence of HGVs driving at 56mph being overtaken by the well-behaved motorist at 70mph – and them being overtaken by the rest –is terrifying. It’s little wonder that to keep us all safe there are times when the police or National Highways need to neutralise the danger and slow the tra c.

Red ‘X’ signs ought to do the trick, but it’s amazing how many drivers apparently think they’re exempt from regulations. Likewise lane-closure signs are o en ignored or ‘missed’ in the midst of concentrating on a hands-free call. A rolling roadblock allows the road to be cleared in relative safety and the tra c to keep moving. Albeit slowly.

It would also seem such a simple task – a sign telling tra c not to overtake and a police car or a

NO EXCUSES

Perhaps errant drivers will pay more attention to motorway signage if it flashes up inside their vehicle – developing technology suggests this is the future. Read more in the Science of Tra c on p19.

“HIGHWAYS OFFICERS AND TRAFFIC POLICE MAY BE CLEARING DEBRIS, BROKEN-DOWN VEHICLES OR INSPECTING A POTHOLE THAT’S GOING TO DAMAGE YOUR VEHICLE”

Highways vehicle using all the lanes in front of you is not an invitation to become Lewis Hamilton and hone your overtaking skills. It’s a simple request to slow down and stay behind – they’re protecting people in front of them (and you), they may be clearing debris, broken-down vehicles or inspecting a pothole that’s going to damage your vehicle. At some point they may have to stop, too. ey won’t want to, but it’s sometimes the only way to keep us all safe. Co-operate. If you are joining the back of the queue, put your hazard lights on, operate your brake lights long before you apply your brakes rmly. If you do have to stop, try to leave space for emergency vehicles to pass down the centre of the lane.

I have seen undertakes, overtakes and even hard-shoulder warriors drive into a collision scene because the driver needs to be somewhere. If this is you, don’t be surprised to get a ticket.

Recently I was riding on the M62 and ltered to the front of the queue. About 100 yards in front were two tra c police o cers trying to deal with a collision and what seemed like a couple of tonnes of pebbles on the road. e o cer in charge of sweeping was trying to clear our way and was surprised when I stopped my bike 20 yards short of him and asked if he had another brush. I quipped that I was fast-roadbrush trained and could help him… Between us we replaced the aggregate in the central reservation and his colleague supervised the vehicle removal. Aside from the recovery truck I was treated to an empty motorway when he waved me through.

I am not suggesting we all o er to help with an incident – but please be patient with the e orts of tra c police or Highways O cers. Neither want to be standing there, but I for one am glad they are.

A journey to culture

Events of 2023 are now becoming memories, so thoughts turn to the promise of the year ahead. Now is the time to cultivate plans to explore. In fact, why not make 2024 your year of culture?

Fresh experiences

If a cultural odyssey is tempting there are many destinations to choose from at RSD Travel. Trips include visiting some of the world’s most impressive wonders including the fairytale landscape of Cappadocia and the stone formations in South Africa’s Kruger National Park.

Over two million explorers have travelled with the RSD-Group over the

Explore the world, enrich your mind and discover the traditions and history of nations across the globe

past decade, which boasts a reputation for providing well-organised study tour trips. Star-rated hotels and insightful guidance allow RSD guests to focus on the wonders of the trip and enjoy the company of new friends. As one of Europe’s largest cultural tour operators, prices are competitive too.

Culture and style

All RSD tours o er a wealth of treasures but a trip that should satisfy is the 15-day adventure to Croatia and Montenegro. With no less than four UNESCO World Heritage Sites included in the itinerary it’s a high hitter for

those looking for an experience that’s rich in history. e tour begins in Dubrovnik before travelling along the dramatic coastline and stopping in Split. en its inland into Bosnia Herzegovina and a visit to Trebinje and the Osman Pasha Mosque. Sweeping into Montenegro, travellers are rewarded with breathtaking vistas of the Gulf of Kotor. Explore the historic town of Budva, one of the oldest in the Mediterranean, before taking a well-earned sojourn in a four-star hotel on the Adriatic coast.

Ready for adventure?

If the riches of European history beckon, or it’s a long-haul trip to Asia or Africa you’re dreaming of, RSD Travel has organised tours that can show you the wonders of the world.

Visit rsd-travel.co.uk and log in with the access code RSD2024 or call 0800 021 14 28 for details on tours and trips.

Photo: © Guilleont –s hutterstock.com

Photo: © RossHelen –shutterstock.com

Explore the history and culture of Croatia, starting in Dubrovnik

Inset: Bosnia’s Our Lady of Medjugorje statue

Cathedral Square in Split, Croatia

Photo: © Vivida Photo PC –shutterstock.com

Urban driving

Keeping to a reduced speed limit is just one of the challenges when navigating busy streets. Be aware of how others are using the road, says

Richard Gladman

1. STAY LEGAL

With the expansion of 20mph speed limits across Wales – and in Scottish Borders’ villages – it’s a good time to consider our driving in built-up areas. Firstly, we must stay legal. Failure to comply with speed limits falls into three categories: lapses, errors and violations. Awareness helps with the first two, but only changing our attitude can control the third.

4. MIND THAT CHILD

Watch out for school signs. Sometimes speed limits reduce at certain times of the day and flashing lights will tell you – but if you see the sign, there’s no harm in a bit of self-imposed restraint as children can be coming and going from schools at any time. Children can be unpredictable, especially with their friends; anticipate the worst and you can’t go wrong.

2. PLAN THE GAP

What does 20mph look like? The two-second gap is about 18 metres/four car lengths, but in stop-start tra c, we can reduce this around a metre for every 3mph. To keep tra c moving, move with the car in front and then extend your gap to it – if we waited two seconds, by the time we move our gap would be three or four seconds and the result is apparent gridlock.

5. PARKED VEHICLES

Ideally, we leave a door’s width when passing a car, but if we can’t, we must slow down – even 20mph is quick when a door flies open. Watch the gaps in between cars, too; pedestrians will step through them to cross the road. Even in stationary tra c stay alert to people crossing, but be wary of facilitating it, as that could cause a problem with other tra c.

3. CONFIRM SPEED

Be alert to signage and infrastructure. In most areas, unless you’re in Wales, lamp posts mean it’s still 30mph, but you also should search for a possible 20mph limit. A well-designed and planned 20mph zone will have tra c calming, too. It’s designed to make you stay slow in areas where conflict with other road users is possible.

6. UNDERSTANDING ROAD USERS

The Highway Code updates should’ve encouraged all road users to make sure each is aware of the other. Those likely to cause the most harm have the greatest responsibility to take care. Cyclists and motorcyclists may be filtering, for example, and the Code mentions this at least three times and cautions us to be careful doing it and be aware of it.

ILLUSTRATIONS ROUGHCOLLIE

ASK THE EXPERTS

HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT LIFE ON THE ROAD? OUR TEAM ARE HERE TO HELP

Following driving in several countries, something I wish to be changed here is the sequence of our tra c lights. Other countries have a sequence of green, amber, red then straight to green for their tra c lights. In the UK, when approaching a green light, being ready for an amber but continuing if it’s dangerous to pull up (Rule 175) is ne. However, Rule 176 clearly states that the driver should only proceed when the green shows. So, what use is the red-and-amber phase? It would

avoid ‘amber gambler’ collisions!

Q Q A

e UK isn’t the only country to use this sequencing. e red & amber part means ‘prepare to go’, which gives drivers more time to put their foot on the clutch, put the car in gear and release the handbrake before checking it is safe to proceed. Drivers are taught to engage the handbrake at junctions where there are tra c lights, so the sequencing makes sense. Also, the ‘red, red & amber, green’ sequence lets drivers approaching tra c lights know that green is imminent, so it promotes smoother driving on approach. NL

Having been very fortunate to get a F1rst a few years ago using my 15-year-old Ford Mondeo, I remain eternally grateful for the patience of my Observer as I’m often using much older vehicles. I ride a 1925 BSA, a 1955 Matchless, a 1971 or a 1976 Honda, and drive a 1975 MGB. While all of IPSGA is more than relevant when driving older vehicles, there are a number of aspects of driving and riding classic and vintage vehicles which don’t align with much of the excellent advice from IAM RoadSmart. Is there advice tailored for older vehicles, less blessed with the more modern standard of brakes, steering and suspension?

Ae purpose of the IPSGA system is to encourage us to create time to deal with a hazard e ectively and it was originally written for the vehicles you describe. Whilst IPSGA in its modern incarnation allows for the progress of technology and acknowledges driver assistance aids, in its purest form, it’s about separating brakes and gears, making sure we’re slow before turning and allowing the suspension to settle. A good, advanced driver should relish the challenge of an older vehicle. Knowing your vehicle will always help, braking earlier, allowing time for a gear change (with a double declutch if required) and letting the suspension normalise before steering are all skills that will work well in an older vehicle. RG

ALAMY

OUR PANEL OF EXPERTS

If you have a question to put to our panel of IAM RoadSmart experts, then please get in touch. We’re all ears!

roadsmart@iam.org.uk

@IAMRoadSmart

QHow can you dress to ride a motorcycle in high temperatures and still have the necessary protection without overheating? I’ve moved from the UK to Italy where it’s regularly 35–40°C in the summer. I have a light mesh jacket which has the minimum ‘A’ rating and is still too hot. I’d like to use AAA-rated gear but they’re of a much heavier construction.

AYou’ve taken the steps I would recommend; in the summer months I ride in a mesh suit that has CE-approved armour but is only certi ed as A rating, I have seen riders using o -road armour in a mesh jacket but of course this would o er minimal abrasion resistance in the event of a spill. I would advocate a wicking T-shirt underneath the kit – this does help. Staying hydrated, planning your route with stops and keeping daily mileages sensible will all mitigate the e ects, but it will always be a balancing act in extreme temperatures. RG

ON THE ROAD

QAdvice on ‘blank signs’ please! We were driving on the M25 when the electronic signs displayed 50mph. We were then informed of an accident; the left lane closed and the speed limit was reduced to 40mph. The tra c owed past the accident but afterwards there was no indication that the restrictions were lifted. Everyone should’ve continued at 40mph using only the lanes on the right until the signs told them otherwise. In reality, drivers soon started to accelerate. Should we interpret a blank electronic sign to mean there are no restrictions in place?

ANational Highways is responsible for variable message sign management on all motorways in England. ey have published a ‘variable message signs and signage’ policy document which can be viewed online by searching for Variable_Signs_and_Signal_Policy.pdf. It states that the end of a restriction is indicated by displaying the national speed limit symbol but on older matrix signs it may say ‘end’. ere are exceptions to this though, such as: a FOG signal is set, so no ‘end’ signal is required, an incident has occurred up to 2km further along the motorway, or it could con ict with roadworks signing which has mandatory speed restrictions. Perhaps one of these situations was the reason for no ‘end’. NL

QUICK FIXES

I believe to disengage cruise control you’re meant to brie y touch the brakes. This, however, tells cars behind that you’re slowing signi cantly, causing everyone to brake. If, in a manual car, you touch the clutch pedal instead you slow more gently, which doesn’t give an exaggerated message. Which technique is preferred?

The only time I would advocate using the brake pedal to cancel the cruise control is if I needed to show brake lights to the following tra c; the system is designed to cancel when the brakes are applied as a failsafe, likewise when declutching. Cruise control will be fitted with a cancel button that pauses the system which remains at the set speed but inactive – this is the best way to disengage it.

The advantages are that you can release pause and reactivate the system without adversely a ecting tra c behind or disengaging the drive at an inappropriate moment. An active cruise control system is a useful aid to safety but it’s no substitute for concentration and e ective planning. RG

ALAMY

Katrina Lowe IAM RoadSmart Ambassador

Richard Gladman Chief Examiner

Nick Lyes Policy and Standards Director

ALAMY

THE OF THE SH CK NEW?

The transition to electric cars is the biggest change to the motoring landscape in the history of the car. So are we, as advanced riders and drivers, ready for it?

Change can bring about many emotions –it can be exciting, challenging, worrying. And the impending transition to electric cars is certainly one of the biggest upheavals to the automotive world since the pioneering days of the car.

Yet it must come: climate change is real, it is happening now and society must adapt. And motoring is one area where we can de nitively reduce our emissions. at means – in the mediumterm at the very least – switching, eventually, to battery-electric vehicles, o en known as BEVs.

WORDS MATT RIGBY & PAUL HORRELL PHOTOGRAPHS JONNY FLEETWOOD & GETTY

Ready for electric

Our roads will be seeing more and more EVs, regardless of changes to government policies

At the moment, the electric vehicle market is still very much in a edgling state. Less than a h of new car sales in the UK are currently all-electric models, and overall, of all the private cars on the UK’s roads, only around 3% are BEVs. Yet despite the government pushing back the ban on sales of non-electri ed new

cars until 2035 (see p14), car manufacturers in the UK will, by law, have to sell an increasing percentage of fully electric new cars or face nes, with this ‘ZEV [zero-emission vehicle] Mandate’ ratcheting up to 80% by 2030.

e question is, are we ready for the change, and what does it mean to advanced drivers and riders? We headed to the Tesla showroom in Bournemouth to nd out.

Our hosts at Tesla had laid on examples of their Model X large SUV, in high-end super-fast ‘Plaid’ trim, as well as their two most popular models – the Model Y SUV and Model 3 saloon, with some test drives for attendees (see p42).

Aside from certain brand-speci c idiosyncrasies, a Tesla is pretty much like any other electric car to drive –and therefore like an automatic combustion-engined car. In fact, the only signi cant di erence is the regenerative braking aspect, which uses resistance from the car’s electric motors to feed power into the traction battery, so you don’t need to use the service brake as much.

As Shaun Cronin, IAM RoadSmart’s Area Service Delivery Manager for the south of England, puts it: “Cars have been constantly changing ever since they were invented, and as drivers we always adapt.

Below and inset Tesla welcomed IAM RoadSmart and all ages of attendees

Behind the wheel of a Tesla… and a Porsche

As a motoring writer I’ve driven plenty of EVs, but it had been a few years since I’d driven a Tesla. My quick run around the A-roads and dual carriageways around Bournemouth reminded me that Teslas ride and handle well – there’s more than a hint of sportiness and the ride is firm but never jarring. All Teslas are also e ortlessly rapid – with torquey electric motors delivering instant go. This, of course, is a potential safety advantage because you have a more responsive vehicle at your disposal that doesn’t need to be in the correct gear or in its ideal rev range.

There are still niggles with Tesla’s designs, however: the panel gaps aren’t as uniform or tight as you’d get with, say, an Audi, and the minimalist interior design won’t be to all tastes. Perhaps most significantly, the vast majority of controls operate via the large

central touch screen –and IAM RoadSmart’s research very much suggests that’s not a good thing.

Above and right:

Bournemouth,

If you’re a keen petrolhead, the switch to an EV might prove a little more challenging, but if you’ve got a fair bit of cash at your disposal, you can get behind the steering wheel of a Porsche, in the form of the Taycan.

Porsche kindly lent me the keys to a Taycan Sport Turismo for an afternoon and, although this is a long-and-low estate, it’s still clearly got Porsche sports-car DNA running through its electrons. And I honestly barely missed the absence of a tuneful flat-six engine. It felt grippy, balanced, tied-down and set up to deliver just the sort of driver-centric focus that sports-car buyers dream of.

And where most EVs have a singlespeed transmission, the Taycan has a two-speed set-up, making it

more comfortable and e cient at motorway speeds.

It’s almost a ordable – relatively speaking, of course. I drove the ‘basic’ rear-wheel-drive version, but even that’s got 408hp and can sprint from 0–62mph in 5.4 seconds. And it’s available from around £80,000. Not pocket change, granted, but even the cheapest 911 starts at £95,000. In that context, the Taycan almost seems like a bargain…

Below The sporty Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo

Below This electric Porsche has a twospeed transmission

Tesla

where our writer enjoyed handling one of their EVs

ere are new things we have to get used to, but that’s the case with all sorts of automotive technologies.

“With electric cars, the fundamental process of driving still applies, such as the IPSGA system –although the ‘G’ for ‘gears’ isn’t quite as relevant if, as with an EV, a car has only one forward gear!”

ough you do lose the settling e ect of the pause between gear changes in an EV.

e members visiting the showroom on the day seemed

Why our electricity is getting greener

An enduring myth says that as electric cars use carbon-fuelled electricity, they deliver the same greenhouse e ect as combustion cars. Actually, gas power stations are e cient, so an electric car driven on entirely gas-generated electricity produces about half the CO2 per mile than a petrol or diesel car. What’s more, our grid is now mostly zero-carbon: renewables and nuclear. In 2012, total CO2 from UK electricity generation was 166 million tonnes. In the past rolling 12-month period, it has fallen by three-quarters to 44 million tonnes. In 2012 42% of UK electricity came from coal. Now the use of coal to generate electricity is close to zero.

Because the grid is getting greener, the CO2 embedded in the electricity for every mile your EV travels next year will be less than it is this year.

But will all those plugged-in EVs melt the grid itself? No. They mostly recharge at night,

equally ready to embrace the future (though perhaps by being at an electric car dealership in the rst place, we were selfselecting a naturally positive crowd).

NEW TO ELECTRIC

We spoke to Chloe Unwin, 30, who’s now an Observer, a er rst doing her Advanced Driver course in 2019.

“I don’t really have any experience of EVs – other than a test drive just now,” she told us. “But I like the Tesla – it’s certainly quick; probably quicker than my bike.

e interior set-up is very di erent though, especially with the huge screen. And that’s potentially a bit of a distraction. I quite like the new indicator buttons on the steering wheel, though.”

But while many of us are warming to EVs as customers, what about the question of maintenance? Here, there is more of a problem. e Institute for the Motor Industry (IMI) reckons

when other demand for wind energy is slow. However, the grid will need investment to ensure that electricity generated o the east coast can be sent westwards, and also because grid operators expect small-scale local projects to grow significantly.

However, overall UK electricity demand has fallen by one-sixth over the past decade.

The needs of even 10 million EVs – which would be a third of all cars – would be less than that drop. So our grid has capacity. And it’s a greener grid than ever before.

Right: Observer Chloe Unwin drove an EV for the first time with Tesla

“BY 2032 IT’S ESTIMATED THAT THE SHORTFALL OF TECHNICIANS WHO CAN SAFELY WORK ON EVS WILL BE 25,000”

there’s a signi cant skills shortage when it comes to vehicle technicians trained to work on high-voltage systems.

For example, in spring 2023, the total number of technicians trained to work safely on electric vehicles was 42,400 – or just under a h of all technicians in the UK. But by 2032 it estimates there will be a need for 139,000, and a shortfall of 25,000.

ere is at least a fairly even spread of trained technicians in the UK but there are EV technician deserts – in particular Kent, Essex, South Wales and Yorkshire.

e same slightly patchy picture emerges when it comes to charging networks – for example, despite the government committing to providing every motorway service area (MSA) with at least six rapid charging points by the end of 2023, the majority of MSAs still fall short of that number. ough during the course of 2023, the proportional growth in charging points outstripped the growth in new EV sales.

So, while it seems that there are aspects of the EV experience going through growing pains, as a society we’re slowly gearing up for a motoring future with more EVs in it.

The EV bike examiner

As well as Brand Ambassador, Katrina Lowe is an IAM RoadSmart Examiner, National Observer Assessor and a Master’s Mentor. And she does a lot of her assessment work on a fully electric motorbike – an American-made Zero SR/S.

“They’re Californiabased and kind of like the Tesla of the motorbike world,” she says. “And although electric motorcycles are still a long way behind electric cars in terms of numbers on the road, I feel it’s important that, if somebody comes to do a test on an electric motorcycle, I understand how it operates. So when I heard that Zero was doing a test-drive roadshow in early summer last year, my husband and I booked a test

advantages from a motorcycling point of view. Its green credentials are good, but then my husband and I do have nine combustion-engined bikes, so I probably can’t claim to be eco-friendly! No, the real key for me is how smooth and easy it is to use.”

“BECAUSE THE ZERO IS SIMPLE TO OPERATE, IT’S MUCH EASIER TO MANAGE AT LOW SPEEDS”

As with most electric cars, it’s only got a single-speed transmission, so there’s no need to change gears – and that brings several benefits, according to Katrina: “This is what makes it so easy to ride – you’ve got all the power all the time. With an internal combustion engine bike, you have to be at a certain rev range to get the most torque. In the Zero, you have 140lb-ft torque available straight away.

“And because it’s so smooth and

Katrina enjoys how smooth the ride is on her electric Zero SR/S

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Psychology of road safety

The driving simulator at the University of Southampton, which helps track driver decisions

TSIMULATION THEORY

How can driver psychology be tracked and used to make our roads safer? We visit the University of Southampton and Dr Katie Plant to talk about her work with the university’s advanced driving simulator lab

WORDS MATT RIGBY PHOTOGRAPHS STEVE SAYERS

he phrase ‘human factors’ doesn’t sound that exciting. But it’s a fascinating and an important discipline, because it represents the intersection of people, the environment in which they operate and the equipment they use.

It is, according to the University of Southampton’s Dr Katie Plant, “the bridging discipline between engineering and psychology”. e role of human factors engineers, she says, is about how you engineer the world to be usable for people, optimising people’s interactions with systems around them.

And when it comes to tra c, transport and road infrastructure, making things as simple and safe as possible is quite a complex task.

We’re at the Boldrewood Innovation campus to take a look around SUDS –the Southampton University Driving Simulator – and to chat with Dr Katie Plant about her work.

Katie uses SUDS as part of her research work and although that also involves a lot of desktop modelling and numbercrunching, the driving simulator is de nitely one of the most exciting-looking aspects of what she does. SUDS uses a full-size Land Rover Discovery Sport as a platform, for a start. Yet here we are, in a university campus basement room with four solid-looking walls.

So how did they get a car in here? Katie smiles and points to the wall behind her. “ at actually folds back and there’s a vehicle-sized garage door at the other end of the building. Mind you, there’s a lot more clutter on this oor now than there was when we rolled it in – we probably couldn’t get it out now!”

at’s how you get a car into a building, then, but how did Katie end up here?

“I’m a psychologist by training, and I was all set to go into clinical practice – like most people do – then in the nal year of my undergraduate degree I discovered tra c and transport psychology,” she says. “And I was just sold on it. Because it’s all about behaviour change – just as in clinical – but in a di erent application, a di erent context. And it felt like a real opportunity to make a di erence.

“I am a tra c policeman’s daughter, though, so maybe I’ve been brought up to think about tra c and transport, having had birthday parties with police motorbikes coming along, that sort of thing! So, I think I’ve always been around tra c and been intrigued by it.

“What really interests me is that, while psychology is much more about the individual, human factors is looking at the socio-technical system interaction, and for that you need to know about the individual humans. You can’t understand them in isolation though, you have to understand how they behave in context.”

USER EXPECTATIONS

Katie’s rst job at Southampton University was in aviation (see box opposite) and it was during this time that she undertook a part-time PhD, which allowed her to delve more deeply into human factors.

“My PhD was about pilot decisionmaking in critical instances – why they make the decisions they do. And it’s about what’s in their mind and their experiences, their expectations, but also about what we present them within the environment.”

“A LOT OF CONFLICT ON THE ROAD IS ABOUT INCOMPATIBLE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS – NOT APPRECIATING WHAT THE OTHER ROAD USER NEEDS”

It’s work like this that informs what Katie does now with tra c research.

“For example,” she says, “one of my most recent projects was developing a training programme for cross-mode training – in this case drivers and cyclists – and educating one group in being the other to see if we get a better outcome.

“We know that if you’re a driver and a cyclist, or a driver and a motorcyclist, you behave better to the other road user when you’re in the opposite mode. And lots of con ict on the road is about having incompatible situational awareness. Not understanding or appreciating what the other road user needs or focuses on. We called it CRITICAL –CRoss-modal Intervention to Improve Cyclist Awareness Levels. My boss always used to say that you need to get a good acronym, and then you’ll get approval for the project!

“But the serious point is that the CRITICAL project looked at training people who identi ed solely as drivers or solely as cyclists. It was a mixture of classroom-based training and practical work. ose who identi ed as drivers would train with a cycling pro ciency expert, and the cyclists would come in here [to the simulator] to drive. Unfortunately, that was peak Covid so we couldn’t get people in here and we had to switch it to more of an e-learning self-directed course. ere were really good indicators that this worked, but it’d be interesting to see if any behavioural changes have stuck, two years down the line.”

While we’re on the subject of driver training, I ask Katie about her thoughts on the subject of driver education – a matter no doubt close to the heart of every IAM RoadSmart member.

Dr Katie Plant talks the writer through how the simulator records data

Above The simulated journey has to be sent to the door mirror

Psychology of road safety

Up close with SUDS

As well as a full-size Land Rover Discovery Sport (without its drivetrain so it can’t move) that was originally donated by Jaguar Land Rover, the simulator includes three projectors that combine to deliver a 135-degree forward field of view, simulated door mirrors using mini-LCD screens and even a rear projection screen, so ‘drivers’ can use the rear-view mirror.

The results of drivers’ simulated runs is then recorded on webcams, but the data is also captured at 100Hz. This includes all the control inputs the driver makes and almost every conceivable simulation variable, from speed to headway distance to lane position. That’s all then crunched by a whole bank of servers.

“I’m massively in favour of a graduated driving licence, which was being talked about but has now been scrapped. I read a news story that pitched this as good news for drivers. is is the language we have around road safety –it’s very much seen as a right to drive and that the car is king. And I don’t think people appreciate the power they have in their hands as drivers, the potential for damage.”

DRIVER BEHAVIOUR

e fact that the driving test is not really re ective of real-world driving is also an issue for Katie: “ ere’s a phrase we use in human factors: ‘work as imagined versus work as done’. Driving as prescribed has very speci c rules, but in reality it’s turning around to check on your kids in

the back, putting on the radio or opening the window. is is the reality of driving ‘as done’ and there’s no further training for most people a er they’ve passed their test. I wouldn’t be opposed to asking people to retake their tests every 10 years or so. But ultimately behaviour change is really hard. People won’t do it without a perceived bene t to themselves.

“Advanced drivers and riders will have a much higher situational awareness, but I o en think people who do advanced driving are probably not the ones who need it. It’s a self-selecting pool and they’re probably the safer drivers anyway.

“What we really need to do, then, is to design safer systems. And not only physical infrastructure but also how we design legislation. Cars are getting much more high-tech, for example, so when you can buy a car with all-singing and alldancing touchscreens, you may be at fault if you misuse it and succumb to the secondary distractions the car o ers. But actually, does the responsibility for that lie further up in the system? Has the manufacturer put that technology there with safety in mind, or simply to sell you the car?”

The path to road safety

After graduation, Katie went to work for Dorset County Council on the road safety team, doing data analysis for accidents that came in from police reports. “That was like the human factors work I do now,” she says.

“It’s the same sort of multidisciplinary activity, working with the engineers and the Road Safety Team on things like target priorities and awareness campaigns.

“It was a great graduate position. But then I saw a job advert at Southampton for a research assistant in human factors, which I’d never heard of, in aviation. So I applied, got the job and started in 2009. And I’ve been here ever since.

I was primarily on aviation projects initially but since becoming an academic, I work across all transport domains, really.”

Above The collected data supports Katie’s tra c research work

Katie thinks more driver training could create safer behaviour but car manufacturers have a responsibility too

Trained in Vegas. Ready for the world.

The driverless IONIQ 5 robotaxi.

INSIDER

The very latest from IAM RoadSmart

First and proud

Firstly an admission: when celebrating the 40th birthday of Bournemouth and Wessex Advanced Motorcyclists back in issue 11, in a t of excitement we declared them ‘the oldest IAM RoadSmart motorcycle Group’. is is not true, as the Kent Advanced Motorcyclists Group (KAMG) rightly and emphatically pointed out.

ey, in fact, are the oldest and will have been going for almost 44 years by the time this magazine goes to print.

So it was with a rm sense of mea culpa that we headed over to Brand’s Hatch’s famous Kentagon restaurant last autumn to meet up with some of KAMG’s members, both old and new.

When we met them, the Group was still mourning the recent sad loss of club president and founding member Terry Friday who, along with Lord Strathcarron (the rst IAM RoadSmart member to pass a motorbike test), had been instrumental in the creation of this rst motorcycling Group – and by extension paving the way for other Groups in its wake.

“KAMG IS CLEARLY STILL A THRIVING CLUB AND SHINING EXAMPLE OF WHAT IAM ROADSMART IS ABOUT”

And it’s surely a tting tribute to the man who remained president of the club, right up until his passing, that we were warmly received by all – especially by the red-shirted ‘welcome committee’ whose speci c job it is to make new members feel at home. KAMG is clearly still a thriving, vital club and a shining example of what IAM RoadSmart is all about. Here’s to the next almost-44 years!

Many thanks to KAMG. If you want to read more about them and Terry Friday, you can nd its own club magazine at www.kamg.org.uk/riders-magazine

Top left:

Brenda Vickery

With the Group since the beginning; Brenda was in the Group’s original publicity photograph

Middle left: Sarah Livingstone

A member on and o for over 30 years, Sarah has recently rejoined and has been Group Night Coordinator since April 2023

Bottom left: Nigel Clibbens

A born-again biker who had been out of biking

for 25 years but is now a national Observer and Group Treasurer

Top right: John Lemon John has been part of the Group since 1985 and has held most of the committee jobs at some point

Bottom right: Cathy Hoskins

A rider for 19 years, but a KAMG newbie – Cathy hasn’t yet had her first observed ride

FIA Best Young Driver Final

IAM RoadSmart were in Austria to support the UK entrants to the competition

The 2023 edition of the FIA international Best Young Driver reached its climax last October near the small Austrian town of Teesdorf. e UK representatives

– IAM RoadSmart member 23-year-old Bradley Cross and 21-year-old Formula Student competitor Ben Jude – were selected following a challenging semi- nal at ruxton race circuit last year. ey then headed to Austria to test their driving mettle against challengers from across the world: this competition saw entries from Botswana and Kenya for the rst time.

e UK contingent put on a good show, but ultimately had to give out to the winner, ÖAMTC Austria’s Timo Svetina.

Open to young drivers from 18 to 26 years old, the contest itself feels like a rm xture in the motoring calendar, despite the rst event being held as recently as 2019. is year, though, praise must go to the punning geniuses behind partnering with giant Chinese EV manufacturer BYD to supply cars for the event. BYD… Best Young Driver… superb!

We hope to be part of the 2024 FIA Best Young Driver, and will share updates when we can. Find out more about our 2023 involvement here: www.iamroadsmart. com/ a-best-young-driver-2023

Top: The UK semifinalists line-up for a photo on the start-finish straight at Thruxton. We presume the track was closed to tra c for this…

Above: 2022 UK BYD winner Izaak Southwood (centre) hands the baton to Ben Jude (left) and Bradley Cross (right)

Left: Wet-road tests formed part of the competition at Thruxton last August

Far

Left

Left: Austria’s Timo Svetina took overall honours in this year’s competition, which covered all countries in FIA Region 1

Top left: Entrants’ handling skills were a key part of the competition, but the cars were tested to their limits, too, as the shot of this BYD electric saloon car shows

left, middle: As well as on-road handling, challenging o -roading tests were also part of the final competition

and bottom left: Kenyan and Botswanan teams joined for the first time, being part of the same FIA region as the UK and continental Europe

The lucky finalists in attendance at the final outside Teesdorf in Austria got to sample a variety of vehicles

IAM RoadSmart were represented at the event

Antony Kildare

“We’re helping your views on road safety to be heard”, says IAM RoadSmart’s CEO

Here at IAM RoadSmart, we believe one of our most important responsibilities is to project your voices in national conversations surrounding advanced road users and road safety. Which is why we’re delighted to have joined the new Road Safety Panel that’s been set up by National Highways. Not only does National Highways manage the Strategic Road network for England and Wales, but it also sets the standards for road building throughout the whole of the UK, so it’s fantastic to be able to partner up to help amplify your voices.

Our first meeting was held back in September, with a round-table leadership discussion focusing on reducing casualties on motorways and high-speed A-roads.

In the future, we’ll also be contributing to discussions in five key areas, all with a view to reducing unsafe road behaviours. These include talking about safer vehicles, post-crash response, safe roads and roadsides, safe speeds and safe road use. So if you have any thoughts about these areas, please do get in touch…

Talking of your opinions, we’re also pleased to be launching our new Opinion Panel, where you can sign up to have your say on policy and safety issues –and help shape our policy and communication plans with government and the media. Find out more in our news section on page 9.

One thing you won’t find in our news section –because sometimes we’ve just got too much to talk about and only 68 pages in which to do it – is a piece about our new e-learning platform for professional

DID YOU KNOW?

National Highways work with police partners to ensure road offences are spotted and drivers are prevented from causing serious harm. For example, they supply unmarked HGV camera cabs to police forces so officers can use the cab’s elevated position to spot and record unsafe driving and riding behaviour. They can pass details to other police cars for follow-up action.

“WE’RE PLEASED TO BE LAUNCHING OUR NEW OPINION PANEL, WHERE YOU CAN SIGN UP TO HAVE YOUR SAY ON POLICY AND SAFETY ISSUES AND HELP SHAPE COMMUNICATION PLANS”

drivers. It’s part of our online risk management portal for businesses that employ professional drivers and is called, simply, RoadSmart. The new app offers risk assessments and e-learning modules to carry out on mobile devices on the part of employers, making it much easier to ensure that drivers carry out risk assessments. These include hazard perception exercises, attitude-based questions and knowledge quizzes. Created in partnership with developer RoadHow, the app will be available in both Apple and Android versions to professional drivers whose employers have signed them up to the system as part of their fleet risk management programme.

An area where we perhaps all need education is etiquette at charging points. We’ve been talking about electric cars a lot in this issue (page 14 and page 38), but we haven’t touched on ‘charge rage’ – when motorists get frustrated by long queues to plug in their cars. Queues will happen, however, and it should go without saying that advanced riders and drivers wouldn’t let their frustrations boil over. As ever with these sorts of things, the key to success is planning: if you’re going to stop for a charge, don’t wait until you really need it. Instead, leave a good percentage of your battery in reserve so you can make it to a different charging point and hopefully sidestep those whose planning was poor and whose patience has worn thin.

Finally, with the new year now in full swing, it’s also my pleasure to introduce our new Trustees –Sarah Whiteside-Jones, Angela Bell, Mark Armitage, Rupert Newman and Mark Powell. I’d like to welcome them into their new roles, and if you’d like to know a little more about them you can do so on page 66.

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HAVE YOUR SAY

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE DRIVING AND RIDING ISSUES THAT MATTER

STAR LETTER

Life-long learner

Antony Kildare wrote in the Summer 2023 issue of RoadSmart that you are looking for ways to grow IAM RoadSmart’s in uence. e key reason I became a member was that I found it ridiculous that anyone could drive for 30 years without additional training or testing. As a regular driver and cycle commuter through central London I see the most appalling behaviour. Five people a day are killed on our roads and the majority are caused because a driver failed to look properly. We need an advertising campaign to move public opinion round to understand that your rst driving test is only the beginning. For example: hate bad drivers? When did you last have your own driving skills checked. Have kids? Advanced training will keep them safer than buying an SUV. Could mistakes be creeping into your driving? Find out with next-level driver training.

Mike Gould

Our Star Letter wins a £100 voucher to spend on IAM RoadSmart merchandise

Not-so-easy driver

I passed my motorcycle test in 1956 and my car test in 1957, when I was just a few weeks over 17. In those days we drove in the old way, as per police methods, which was a smooth style. In 2003, because younger people were telling me how driving was easier back when I learnt, I decided to take my (successful) Advanced Driver test. My wife remarked how less smoothly I drove and I had to agree, so I reverted to my old-style driving. Other aspects of the training remain valid, of course. As to driving being easier in the 1950s? Not so. Wipers were awful, brakes not good, heating non-existent, no heated rear screens, semaphore signals and few tra c lights to help negotiate junctions. Modern cars are much easier to drive.

Peter Mathison

Too close for comfort

e Summer 2023 issue of RoadSmart raised the issue of how to deal with approaching emergency vehicles. One thing missing from the advice about creating an emergency corridor is to do with when queueing tra c moves aside to make room for emergency vehicles. All too o en, one sees cars at lights stopped so close to the car in front that moving anywhere but backwards would be impossible. Good advice I

ALAMY

A motorcycle club meet in 1956. One reader isn’t nostalgic for old vehicles

ALAMY

received was always to leave enough space between you and the car in front so that you could see their rear tyres. is leaves adequate room to manoeuvre should the car in front break down, or to allow you to move aside to create the corridor.

Robert Gray

Sound advice and still part of the Advanced Driver course today. RG

A waste of energy

I have to somewhat agree with the comment by R Liversidge in the 2023 Autumn/Winter issue. How can governments and TfL repeatedly warn us about pollution, introducing charges to reduce it in cities, then try to bribe us into buying new vehicles by scrapping perfectly good older cars? e energy used in producing new cars is going to take some time to recoup. Time and e ort would be better spent researching and developing fuels for the current ICE vehicles. ey are out there; they just need commitment and support from politicians who know what they’re talking about.

Paul Carter

Promote new rules

IN BRIEF

It takes two

Antony Kildare expressed an interesting point in his Autumn/Winter 2023 issue article about the road regulation regarding giving way to pedestrians at junctions. I walk to my local shops and o en encounter drivers that don’t give way to me when I cross. I saw recently that 60% of drivers are not aware of this rule. I read about new rules on social media or online news bulletins, but perhaps the government, who set the regulations, should be encouraged to advertise them on TV. Is this something that IAM RoadSmart can encourage them to do? e chances of drivers getting caught on any of these new rules is minimal anyway, due to the shortage of tra c police.

Christopher J Allen

Safe storage

As a mature driver I’m o en carrying passengers who have walking sticks and

Judging by the number of cars that tailgate me, the two-second rule is either unknown or ignored. Most people I asked had never heard of it. I explained that it’s the distance you allow to the vehicle in front. It’s not always easy to measure two seconds by noting a landmark and counting to two. Maybe it’s more simple to see the gap in feet as it’s roughly three times your speed. At 30mph the gap is 44 feet per second multiplied by two seconds, which is 88 feet, or roughly 3 x 30 = 90 feet. Most people were surprised by the distance, so I think it needs publicising more. I wonder if insurers could share what proportion of accidents are nose-to-tail to highlight the issue.

Dr Colin Mynott

Somepeoplecan’t accuratelyestimate90 feet so the two-second ruleiselegantinits simplicity.RG

“MOST PEOPLE I ASKED HAD NEVER HEARD OF THE TWO-SECOND RULE AND WERE SURPRISED BY THE EXPLANATION”

some hold the stick between their legs whilst I’m driving. I always point out that in the unlikely event of an accident and air bag deployment, the instant pressure of the bag against their walking stick may break their ribs or hit them with considerable force in the face. I ask them to put the stick on the seat or give it to me to stow away safely.

Vic Attwood

Ageing assumptions

I recently booked my motorbike in for work at the main dealer where I bought it from. I arranged a loan bike with them for the day, only to be told upon handing over my licence that I was too old for their group insurance! is meant I had to get a taxi – at a cost of £75. I am an advanced rider and Blood Bike volunteer; there are many people of my age still riding. is is discrimination. Has anyone else experienced this? To give the dealership due credit they did deliver my bike back and refund the £75 but it was an unpleasant experience overall.

Colin Dawson

“IT’S ABOUT PLANNING, OBSERVATION AND KNOWING THE HAZARDS”

Combining a wealth of professional cycling experience with his Masters motorbike skills makes marshalling cycle road races an obvious choice for Darren Tudor

The love of all things two wheels started early with Darren Tudor. e head coach at Welsh Cycling, and National Escort Group (NEG) member, was born in the Welsh Valleys in 1977 and developed a passion for two wheels while riding pillion on his dad’s Honda 400 Four.

It was only natural that Darren would be swept up by the BMX craze in the early ’80s, with a touch of inspiration from the 1983 lm BMX Bandits.

He would become an early adopter of mountain biking, riding his trusty Alpinestars, a bike whose o -road credentials amounted to raised chainstays, a beefy frame and knobbly tyres. A far cry from the huge disc brakes and endless suspension travel of a modern mountain bike.

Mountain biking soon morphed into road cycling, with Darren representing Great Britain in under-18s before applying for a cycling coaching job at the age of 21.

Initially part-time, Darren’s coaching became a full-time career working for the Great Britain Cycling Team from 2005. Promoted to head coach in 2011, he’s now director of performance for Welsh Cycling, fostering young talent to go on and win the Cycling World Championship and Olympic medals.

Darren passed his Advanced Rider test in 2012 and completed the Masters soon a er its launch in 2014. He’s just refreshed the quali cation, picking up a distinction which he was “chu ed with” when he renewed it a few weeks ago.

As you’ll have gathered, combining his love of cycling and motorcycling while giving back to the sports he loved made complete sense, and he would join the NEG Wales in 2007. e NEG is responsible for marshalling cycle road races; the Association of Chief Police O cers recognises it, and the organisation o en works alongside police riders.

“ e main thing about advanced motorcycling that helps with NEG work is forward planning and observation,” says Darren.

“You might be overtaking the main group, the peloton, which could be 100 riders, and it’s got to be done safely. So it’s about making a plan; it’s about observation and knowing the hazards, not just the hazards you pick up for motorcycling but for cycle racing as well.

“Doing your riding quali cations, what you’re taught in terms of advanced planning and expecting the unexpected,

is really important in bike racing. If the front of the peloton hits a rise, the chances are it’s going to slow down, everyone is going to bunch up and widen as well. For me, it’s all about planning, looking as far into the distance as you can and predicting what might happen.”

Darren continues: “ e other scheme run in Wales is the CSAS [Community Safety Accreditation Scheme]. It’s run by Gwent Police on behalf of all the other forces and it gives either the NEG or standing marshalls the responsibility to stop tra c for short periods of time for the cycle races to go past safely.

“Obviously, before that there’s risk assessments for the courses, how many motorbikes are needed, how many static marshalls are needed, etc. ere’s a lot of work that goes in prior to the weekend, and then a debrief a erwards.”

What are the most signi cant problems Darren faces? Road wars between competitors and the road-going public?

No, says Darren: “ e biggest challenge is when the races start breaking up into smaller groups, spread out over a couple of minutes. en it’s quite di cult to keep everyone safe and informed.

“And that’s where it comes back to organisers, budget, the amount of marshalls that we’ve got in Wales. It would be great to have more people involved. A little bit like doing advanced riding, it gives you that purpose to go out riding your bike as well; you’re o ering something back to a sport, which is really important,” says Darren.

WORDS RUSSELL CAMPBELL PHOTOGRAPHY JOBY SESSIONS

Darren would like to see more people becoming involved with cycle-race marshalling in Wales

IAM ROADSMART NEWS

This issue, we introduce you to some of the great people joining our organisation

A warm welcome to our new Trustees

WE’D LIKE TO introduce the newly appointed Trustees joining the IAM RoadSmart team. Sarah WhitesideJones works as Head of Membership and External A airs at the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) and has held senior positions within the industry since 2015. Angela Bell, meanwhile, took her Advanced Driver test in 1996 and quickly became an Observer and Group

committee member. She’s a National Observer, a member of the Regional Training Team and a Masters mentor.

Mark Armitage joined the IMI in 2015, and is now Group Commercial Director for Autotech Group. Rupert Newman runs his own coaching and consulting business, and is a volunteer Blood Biker.

Last but not least to welcome to the team is Mark Powell, who brings more

than a decade of experience as a trustee in non-pro t organisations.

We’re pleased to have new Trustees on board – they’re vital as the governing body of the charity, and help shape everything we do, from policy to product.

Separately, Je Willcox (previously Vice Chair) and Elizabeth Coyle-Camp stepped down in 2023. We thank them for their work and commitment to the cause.

Meet our newest Ambassador

AS WE CONTINUE to grow the number of Ambassadors for the charity, we’d like you to meet our latest member of the fold: Sophie Lyden, Ambassador for Young Campaigning. Sophie is the depot manager for her family’s tyre business in Lancashire, and she sees her fair share of unsafe vehicles. is disheartening realisation has driven her to become a campaigner for road safety, particularly among young people – she’s the founder of FreshDriversUK, a motoring group

for new and young drivers. It’s aimed at inspiring those starting out in motoring to become more con dent both on the road and in a garage environment and to prevent people from neglecting potential issues on their cars.

Sophie has made it her mission to help people stay safe on the

roads. Via her social media channels she shares tips and advice to empower individuals to be able to make safer choices behind the wheel.

A very warm welcome to IAM RoadSmart, Sophie!

Sarah Whiteside-Jones

Angela Bell

Mark Armitage

Rupert Newman

Mark Powell

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