IAM Driving Tips

BrianD3

I was browsing the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) site looking for info on overtaking. Didn't find what I was looking for but found lots of other info and tips. A lot of this stuff is really simple, obvious and common sense. One tip that I like is "Accelerator Sense: A Light Right Foot". Basically it tells you to avoid going straight from the accelerator to the brake when driving if possible. The result is you save fuel. I've always done this and get good economy from my car and the brake pads on my current car have lasted well over 100k miles.

Anyone else want to discuss any of the tips and whether you agree with them or not
http://www.iam.org.uk/pressroom/drivingtips.htm
http://www.iam.org.uk/pressroom/factsheets.htm

Silvera

A tip I don't see listed (after a quick look) .........

Use Dipped Headlights during daylight hours and reduce your chances of being in an accident by 36%

Hotblack Desiato

Oh FFS. Do you actually have anything to back this up with?

More lights during daytime just means those with the biggest lights 'win'. Hard luck for pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists lost in a sea of unnecessary car lights.

TBH if you need headlights to see a flipping car in daylight your guide dog needs retraining.

Slinky>

ninja900 wrote:

Oh FFS. Do you actually have anything to back this up with?

More lights during daytime just means those with the biggest lights 'win'. Hard luck for pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists lost in a sea of unnecessary car lights.

TBH if you need headlights to see a flipping car in daylight your guide dog needs retraining.

A large amount of Irish daytime driving is done in far from ideal conditions, A grey car on a grey day with no lights on could be 'overlooked' with fatal consequences

A lot of driving is also on single carriage ways which require overtaking having day time running lights allows you to be seen from further away,

Unfortunately we dont live in an ideal world and although you may have perfect twenty twenty vision but some people dont and drive without correction (ive never seen a Guard check this) so by having your lights on your making yourself more visible to them.

We often see reports of fatalities from head on collisions due to poor overtaking ? Could this be helped if vehicles were more visible? Day time running lights again!

In Sweden its law that all cars sold there are wired to have the headlights come on when the car is started and cant be turned off , You can see this on Volvos in Ireland, AFAIK all Eircom vehicles are wired the same way for safety,

Do you drive your self how do you manage the "sea of lights" at night time?? Is it confusing for you?

With our current road deaths anything that improves safety should be encouraged not slagged off

I cant think of one reason not to have them on,

Drive Carefully anyway you dont know whats around the next bend

_Kaiser_

This came up a few weeks ago so I'll say again what I said then.

I always have my dipped lights on, regardless of time of day. I've a silver car so it very easily can be missed in the distance with the sun behind it and do a lot of driving at speeds of 100kph on N-roads.

I didn't do this when I started driving, but since I have, find it definitely reduces the amount of stupid chances other people take - like dangerous overtaking, pulling out from side roads in front of me, and pedestrians just crossing the road regardless.

Now I can't provide a link for this (not everything - especially in this country - is on the internet folks :rolleyes:) but that's been my first hand experiences and so I'll continue to do so as it's not costing me anything and it does seem to make a difference.

nialler

If the swedes do it to their cars that's good enough for me. I've driven with my lights on since day one.

Trampas

I must have missed the tip in there that you should drive with front fog lights on 24/7 as about 50% of cars do it.

Vegeta

Slinky> wrote:

With our current road deaths anything that improves safety should be encouraged not slagged off

i agree 100%

One of my mates crashed late saturday night, with the combination of speed and no seatbelt he is very very lucky to be alive. He needed 18 stitches on his head and had to have glass removed from his skull.

He was doing about 100kph on a regional road he didn't know came to a bad bend went up the ditch and rolled the car onto its roof and scalped himself. He's prob going to have a big bald patch after it but as i said he's just lucky he can walk.

Be careful out there lads. After seeing the accident my brother is getting a roll cage!

Slinky>

Vegeta wrote:

i agree 100%

One of my mates crashed late saturday night, with the combination of speed and no seatbelt he is very very lucky to be alive. He needed 18 stitches on his head and had to have glass removed from his skull.

He was doing about 100kph on a regional road he didn't know came to a bad bend went up the ditch and rolled the car onto its roof and scalped himself. He's prob going to have a big bald patch after it but as i said he's just lucky he can walk.

Be careful out there lads. After seeing the accident my brother is getting a roll cage!

Off topic sorry but be careful with the roll cage idea I belive they can do more harm than good if your not wearing a helmet, as in a 'minor' accident you can easily whack your head off them which is not good!

Vegeta

Slinky> wrote:

Off topic sorry but be careful with the roll cage idea I belive they can do more harm than good if your not wearing a helmet, as in a 'minor' accident you can easily whack your head off them which is not good!

well no-one in my family really drives nuts or anything, my dad is in the fire brigade and has us scared sh1tless with the stories he brings back about road traffic accidents.

So my brother would be wearing his seatbelt, the roll cage would be padded and it would not be obstructing an air bag in the pillar as their isn't one on his car.

PauloMN

Vegeta wrote:

i agree 100%

One of my mates crashed late saturday night, with the combination of speed and no seatbelt he is very very lucky to be alive. He needed 18 stitches on his head and had to have glass removed from his skull.

He was doing about 100kph on a regional road he didn't know came to a bad bend went up the ditch and rolled the car onto its roof and scalped himself. He's prob going to have a big bald patch after it but as i said he's just lucky he can walk.

Be careful out there lads. After seeing the accident my brother is getting a roll cage!

A roll cage? Surely after seeing this accident, the safer (and cheaper) options for your brother would be to:

a) Ensure he wears his seatbelt at all times.
b) Slow down when approaching bends.
c) Slow down further when approaching unknown bends.

Slinky>

d) Drive a volvo, My father in law had one and you could see serious looking roll over support under the roof lining, There built like tanks!

Vegeta

PauloMN wrote:

A roll cage? Surely after seeing this accident, the safer (and cheaper) options for your brother would be to:

a) Ensure he wears his seatbelt at all times.
b) Slow down when approaching bends.
c) Slow down further when approaching unknown bends.

he does all of the above but an accident is exactly that an accident, its not something you plan. If taking all the precautions you mention he still might crash and he'd rather have a roll cage after seeing what happens to a small car when it rolls

Hotblack Desiato

Slinky> wrote:

A large amount of Irish daytime driving is done in far from ideal conditions

Headlights are required in poor visibility during the day.

A lot of driving is also on single carriage ways which require overtaking having day time running lights allows you to be seen from further away,

In daylight that's simply not true. There should be no difficulty in seeing far enough ahead to overtake, if there's insufficient visibility then don't overtake. Wouldn't it be better to train drivers how to overtake safely?

Unfortunately we dont live in an ideal world and although you may have perfect twenty twenty vision but some people dont

They shouldn't be on the road, and whether lights will help much or at all if their vision is poor is pretty debateable anyway.

In Sweden its law that all cars sold there are wired to have the headlights come on

Wrong. They have specially designed daytime running lights, which are less intense, less obtrusive and less potentially dazzling. And we don't live near the Arctic Circle.

Do you drive your self how do you manage the "sea of lights" at night time?? Is it confusing for you?

No. But during the daytime when I'm riding my bike I want to be the only thing lit up out there. Car drivers have a hard enough time seeing us, if everyone else is lit up as well we have little chance.

With our current road deaths anything that improves safety should be encouraged not slagged off

You might be interested to learn that road deaths were far higher in the 70s and 80s with far fewer vehicles on the road. But that doesn't sell newspapers.
In the current climate a lot of silly ideas have come to the fore, none of which address the real and fundamental issues: training, testing, enforcement.

I cant think of one reason not to have them on,

I can think of several. They waste fuel. Can cause dazzle (especially the ****wits who use fogs in daytime, but sometimes the dips do too), distract the eye away from unlit pedestrians and cyclists, remove the advantage of motorcyclists using headlamps.