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

  • Yotta offers efficient winter maintenance
    August 18, 2015
    Yotta has developed sophisticated tools for winter highway maintenance. This technology can help local authorities to make better use of the Horizons visualised asset management software to assess potential winter maintenance works. The system provides a proactive approach that allows highways departments to address assets that are at risk from rain, snow and ice. The firm claims that this can help highways departments to deal with wet and icy conditions. Winter road damage is a great concern to Coun
  • Tackling India’s road safety will reduce crash rate
    February 19, 2013
    India’s road safety record is the world’s worst but there are plans to tackle the problems. Patrick Smith reports from New Delhi. A speeded up video of a short section of road in the Indian capital Delhi was followed by a question. “How many infringements did you count in that 25-second clip on a typical day in Delhi,” asked Dr Rohit Baluja, a question that brought understandable silence. It equated to hundreds of millions of infringements each year, said Dr Baluja, president, Institute of Road Traffic Educ
  • Easing temporary highway danger
    February 22, 2013
    Some of the latest speedometer technology has been successfully trialled in French highway work zones, while tireless work continues across Europe and the United States to reduce the number of work zone deaths and serious injuries involving road workers and motorists. Guy Woodford reports The number of roadworkers being killed and seriously injured on England’s motorways and major trunk roads more than doubled between 2007 and 2010 – from no deaths and 14 serious injuries. This rise has led to to major camp
  • Major safety gains have been achieved for UK roads
    October 19, 2012
    A series of safety improvements have made major gains in reducing accident numbers and severity on roads in the UK with a bad record. The use of safety features such as high-friction surfaces, repainted white lines and road markings have reduced crashes on a number of the UK’s worst roads for accidents. The Road Safety Foundation’s 2012 Tracking Survey shows that for nine out of the UK’s 10 most improved roads lining, signing and safety surfaces delivered both safety and economic rewards. Safety engineering