Skip to main content

UK’s Institute of Advanced Motorists launches Wheels in Winter road driving campaign

European skiers may be praying for snow but city dwellers and highway users likely want the white stuff at bay for as long as possible. To help drivers be ready for the inevitable snow, the UK’s Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has launched its national winter campaign Wheels in Winter well ahead of 21 December, the official first day of winter. London’s winters can be milder than for many other major northern European cities, such as Paris, Warsaw and Berlin. But the UK capital’s rainy weather with t
October 14, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
European skiers may be praying for snow but city dwellers and highway users likely want the white stuff at bay for as long as possible. To help drivers be ready for the inevitable snow, the UK’s 5125 Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has launched its national winter campaign Wheels in Winter well ahead of 21 December, the official first day of winter.

London’s winters can be milder than for many other major northern European cities, such as Paris, Warsaw and Berlin. But the UK capital’s rainy weather with temperatures hovering just above freezing means a drop of only 3°C can result in dangerously icy roads, warns IAM, an independent road safety charity.

The UK’s 5432 Department for Transport reported 57,260 cars across England and Wales were involved in accidents as a result of wet, flooded and icy roads in 2013.

Skidding alone resulted in 11,614 major road accidents. Also in the same year, more than 5,000 motorcycle accidents took place.

South East England – the area with the mildest temperatures -- reported 6,675 accidents, the highest for any area in England and Wales.

“The Wheels in Winter campaign is part of a national effort to cut the number of road traffic collisions and incidents,” said IAM chief executive Nick Stonard.

IAM will be issuing weekly advice, reactive weather forecast updates and social media notices to keep safe driving in the minds of road users.

IAM’s commercial division operates through its occupational driver training company IAM Drive & Survive. Its policy and research division offers advice and expertise on road safety.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • High-tech, high places: 3M in US and MetService in New Zealand
    August 1, 2017
    The US state of Michigan sets up a high-tech test road while New Zealand’s transport officials buy in some high-tech weather forecasting. The road safety division of 3M will provide the US state of Michigan with lane markings and retroreflective signs for a connected vehicle technologies trial along the I-75 highway. Around 5km of the Interstate 75 work zone in Oakland County will be transformed over the next four months to improve safety for drivers and test advanced vehicle-to-infrastructure technologie
  • UK sees road safety gain in 2020
    January 29, 2021
    The UK has seen a road safety gain in 2020.
  • ERF Position Paper calls for more road markings to boost road safety
    December 13, 2013
    The European Union Road Federation (ERF) has today launched a Position Paper that makes the case for a more widespread use of road markings on Europe’s roads as a means of increasing road safety and reducing the socio-economic impact of accidents. Entitled ‘Marking the way towards a safer future’, the ERF is calling on EU Member States to establish intervention and maintenance policies to guarantee that road markings on Europe’s road remain visible for road users and, at same time, optimise the interaction
  • Poor marks for UK’s white lines
    June 19, 2012
    The UK’s road markings are said to be vanishing rapidly, according to a new survey by a leading highways organisation. A snapshot survey of nearly 500 miles by the Road Safety Markings Association (RMSA) revealed that well over half of white lines in Scotland and Wales are almost non-existent, and England’s fare little better. On average, the RSMA survey found that 50.6% of the UK’s surveyed road markings are barely visible. And almost a quarter (23%) of roads are classified as needing ‘emergency repairs’.