Two previous Top Gear hosts to take part in the IAM 6th Anniversary RoadSmart party next month.

Two of the longest serving presenters of popular BBC motoring show Top Gear have been confirmed as panel guests for the IAM/IAM RoadSmart 60th anniversary car party on 9 July. And they will be joined by one of the organisation’s youngest representatives on the panel, who is just 18.

Chris Goffey, who co-presented from 1981-2000 and Sue Baker, who co-presented from 1980-91, will be at IAM RoadSmart’s birthday event at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon.

They will be joined on the panel by Paddy Hopkirk, legendary rally and race driver; and winner of the 1964 Monte Carlo and 1967 Acropolis Rallies.

The trio will talk about their long and successful careers, share their views on current motoring and motorsport topics and take questions from the audience.

In addition, the viewpoint of the young driver will be given by our fourth panellist - 18-year-old advanced driver and IAM RoadSmart Young Driver Ambassador Eloise Peabody-Rolf.

The event will be a celebration of all things motoring, while looking at the many highlights of the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and now IAM RoadSmart’s 60 years. In that time, the charity has remained dedicated to promoting safer driving initiatives and making better drivers and riders through advanced driving and riding techniques.

Established in 1956, the Institute of Advanced Motorists came onto the motoring landscape at a time when there were more than 5,000 deaths a year on UK roads.

By 1994, 250,000 people had taken and passed their advanced test. Today the numbers of people killed on UK roads stands at slightly over 1,700.

To date more than 400,000 people have passed the advanced test for drivers and riders, which is delivered by over 200 local groups around the country. Those groups are ably manned by a network of more than 5,000 volunteers.

Chris said: “I am delighted to be a part of IAM RoadSmart’s 60th anniversary. I also look forward to meeting so many real enthusiasts who know so much about the UK motoring scene over the years. I’m sure myself and Sue sharing our tales of our Top Gear years will be a lot of fun.”

Added Sue, who takes her advanced test every decade to ensure her skills are up-to-date, said: “I really enjoyed my time on Top Gear, and alongside Chris and Paddy it should be a lively discussion with a lot of laughs. I am looking forward to celebrating IAM RoadSmart’s 60 years on the day.”

Eloise said: “I am happy to be a part of IAM RoadSmart’s birthday party. It’ll be great to bring a different perspective to the panel, and shows that the organisation welcomes the opinions of young people.”

New petition urges Schools to start teaching driving and driving standards in school - GREAT IDEA....

• Experts say 400 lives could be saved by teaching youngsters to drive from an earlier age
• People urged to sign the petition at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/104632

Major motoring organisations and experts are backing a petition urging the Government to include driving on the school curriculum. The petition has been launched in a bid to help cut the high number of accidents involving newly qualified drivers on the UK’s roads. 

Launched by Young Driver, the UK’s largest provider of pre-17 driving lessons, the petition already has backing from the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), the RAC, the Driving Instructors Association (DIA), the Association of British Insurers (ABI), the Motor Schools Association of Great Britain (MSA), Admiral, Goodyear and Quentin Willson, motoring presenter and expert.

One in five new drivers has an accident within six months of passing their test and road traffic accidents account for 25 per cent of the deaths of 15-19 year olds in the UK, compared to just 0.5 per cent of the overall adult population. Every year 400 people are killed in accidents involving young drivers.

The petition does not propose lowering the age at which people can take to the roads, but instead suggests youngsters should start to be taught about driving at school, via both practical and classroom based lessons.

Independent research undertaken on behalf of Young Driver showed that past pupils of the scheme, which takes students from age 11, are half as likely to have an accident when they do pass their test. Pilot studies in Europe have also shown a 40 per cent reduction among novice driver groups who trained at school.

Kim Stanton from Young Driver explains: “Driving a vehicle is potentially one of the most dangerous and responsible things a person can do. Learning to drive should be done over a long period of time, and from a young age, when pupils are more receptive to safety messages. Evidence-based research shows that road safety messages are better absorbed by children in their early teens rather than at driving age.  By having this take place at school it can be made inclusive for all. We urge people to sign this petition so we can get this issue in front of the people with the power to change things.”

Mark Lewis, Director of Standards for the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), added: “The high number of accidents and the sad loss of life as a result of unprepared young drivers urgently needs to be tackled. Quite obviously the driving education that youngsters are currently receiving is inadequate. 

At the IAM we can help prepare people for more advanced driving situations once they have passed their test, but there needs to be more done at an earlier stage. Learning such an important skill shouldn’t potentially be done and dusted in a few short months. That’s why I strongly believe people should sign this petition and get the subject debated in the House of Commons.”

Quentin Willson, motoring expert and presenter, added: “Both my son, age 16, and daughter, age 11, have started having driving lessons with Young Driver. I think it’s vital – it’s a road safety revolution in the making. If we could get this on the curriculum, so the opportunity was open to all, it would have huge ramifications in terms of the safety of our young people. And, as both a father and road user, that’s certainly something I want to back. 100,000 signatures could help save 400 precious lives every year.”

To add your signature to the petition visit: 

TMW THOUGHT

This is a really great idea, with the cost of driving going through the roof, and kids just doing the basics to pass a test, before getting cars, and not knowing how to drive properly, school participation would be an ideal place to give kids of 15/16 a start, getting them to learn the highway code, the rights and wrongs, forward planning and observation, as well as a couple of lessons, on private land of course.

These kids, are all vocal about how great they are at everything, and how they can drive like Alonso, but recently at an Experience day (I had purchased an event for my partner), there were this group of kids all gobbing off, about being so great and so expert, how they were going to drive around faster than anyone else, yet all of them, without exception, got in their car, and drove around at about 20mph.

At one stage, they were going sooooooo slowly, they pulled all the other drivers off the course, so that they could get a proper drive after the kids had been finished with, and as each one got out of their car, they all looked sheepish and heads down, whilst everyone else just laughed - Kids these days just try to "BIG UP" themselves, and do everything to look cool, and it is these idiots that end up crashing, injuring and possibly killing people, so early intervention would be a great idea.

SO, PLEASE SIGN.....

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/104632

Institute of Advanced Motorists call for changes to car interiors and complicated Electronics.

TMW THOUGHTS

I fully agree with these findings from the IAM, cars are getting more and more complicated, the miriad of button, dials, and knobs makes every journey that little bit longer, the Sat-Nav on the latest Citroen C4 Cactus is so confusing and not at all easy to use, makes you NOT want to use it, the touchscreens on some makes are so very complicated, and with buttons so very small, you have to take you eyes off the road for more than the two seconds that the IAM recommends.

I also agree that some of the tech should be "locked" once the car is in motion, to stop you from playing with them, it would be quite interesting to see what the percentage of accidents today are caused by people not watching the roads, and concentrating on iPods, Phones, tablet screens etc, either way, whilst we, the customer demand these things, they manufacturers will continue to supply them, until, of course, governments, dictate that they are either locked, removed or banned altogether.

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The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has warned that car manufacturers are building high-tech distractions into their new vehicles and have made interiors so comfortable they are being turned into living rooms.

The warning came from IAM chief executive officer Sarah Sillars, who said efforts to reduce distraction factors for motorists are being undone by the relentless pace of technology and eagerness of car makers to pack more gadgets onto dashboards.

She said the main areas of concern were highly sophisticated satellite-navigation and GPS systems, smartphones that mirror tablets and easy connectivity of internet and social media.

The IAM has suggested the UK should adopt guidelines suggested by the US Department of Transportation and National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA).

They say drivers should be restricted from using certain non-essential forms of technology while the vehicle is in motion, and car makers should not introduce any technological development which takes the driver’s attention off the road for longer than two seconds (reference 1).

These voluntary guidelines are to be phased in over the next three years to address this large-scale problem in the USA.

US Federal data figures showed in 2011 that accidents involving a distracted driver killed 3,331 people and injured another 387,000 (reference 2).

And for younger drivers the problem is worse. Car accidents are the main cause of death of teenagers (as it is for all people aged between five and 34), and a quarter of all teen-driving crashes in the US are attributed to distracted driving (reference 3).

Sarah said: “We cannot allow the same trends in the USA to happen here. While car makers work constantly to incorporate active and passive safety features into vehicles, making us safer than ever before, they are also guilty of making us too comfortable and making us feel more cosseted – like we were in our own living rooms.”

The IAM says as technology constantly changes, continued education campaigns are required to reinforce and update the current laws (reference 4).

Sarah concluded: “Technology could be a great way of helping to cut the numbers of people killed and seriously injured on our roads. It would be a tragedy if technology became a reason why more, rather than less, people lose their lives.”

Reference 1: 

http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/U.S.+DOT+Releases+Guidelines+to+Minimize+In-Vehicle+Distractions

Reference 2: 

http://www.cdc.gov/Motorvehiclesafety/Distracted_Driving/index.html

Reference 3:

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811737.pdf

Reference 4: 

http://www.iam.org.uk/media-and-research/policy/our-policies/mobile-phones

The IAM is the UK’s largest independent road safety charity, dedicated to improving standards and safety in driving and motorcycling. 

The commercial division of the IAM operates through its occupational driver training company IAM Drive & Survive. The IAM has more than 200 local volunteer groups and over 100,000 members in the UK and Ireland. 

It is best known for the advanced driving test and the advanced driving and motorcycling courses. Its policy and research division offers advice and expertise on road safety.