With a wide-ranging review of transport laws announced by the government today (19 March), IAM RoadSmart has warned that the rise in the use of electric scooters alongside vehicles on our roads is bad news for road safety.

The Department for Transport revealed its report 'Future of mobility: urban strategy' today, which is described as the biggest regulatory review in a generation to explore regulation around new transport modes.

The government plans to invest £90 million in towns and cities to test transport innovation, and the review will explore regulations around new types of vehicles including e-scooters and e-cargo bike trailers.

However IAM RoadSmart believes that e-scooters and their increasing popularity will lead to many people riding them on public roads alongside bigger and faster vehicles – and will put individuals, including the scooter users themselves, in great danger.

The charity welcomes a long-term approach to transport planning by the government, but new modes of transport need dedicated routes to be truly safe.

It added that there is a great need for users of e-scooters to embark on some level of basic rider training and awareness before they start.

Neil Greig, IAM RoadSmart director of policy and research, said: “Electric scooters are simply not safe enough to be on our roads alongside full size vehicles.

“Mixing with pedestrians is also potentially very unsafe in shared areas. As with cycling, the answer probably lies in dedicated safe infrastructure for vulnerable road users.  Allied to that there is an urgent need for more for rider training and clarification of their legal status.”

Neil added: “While we welcome this potentially useful announcement, transport changes and trends are happening far faster than the network is developing to accommodate them.

“This ought to have happened a long time ago, and so should be implemented as a matter of urgency.”

If you are a motorcycle traveler or rider, you must know the basics about how to wash your motorcycle gear. Motorcycle gear is not just the gear on the motor, but it also includes the safety gear, riding gear, specialized clothing and miscellaneous equipment. All of these serves a special purpose and make your motorcycle travelling a safe and amazing experience.

Whenever you go to the workshops for maintenance of your motorcycle, they clean and maintain everything on the bike including its motor, gear, chain, and checking tires etc.

But when it comes to wash your motorcycle safety gear such as motorcycle jackets, gloves, seat leather or helmet, you must use special care. Washing the motorcycle safety gear is very important as it saves you from a number of issues and make you germ-protected. This is because most of the germs grow inside the apparel e.g. jackets or gloves and attack on us.

Furthermore, the excessive use of motorcycle gears makes them dull and dirty. Sometimes, due to our body’s sweating, the motorcycle gears may start giving a stinging smell. Therefore, it is very important to carefully go through all the steps to properly wash your motorcycle gear. These steps are as follows:

• Before Washing

Before washing your motorcycle gear, it is highly recommended to empty the pockets, unzip any linings, and turn the inner side out. The purpose of turning the inner side out is that the inner side is sometimes creating the stinging smell due to body’s perspiration and sweating.

However, if inner side is not that messy than the outer side, then make sure you keep the outer side at the front. Turn the sides of the gloves so that they can be washed properly from the inside too. After that, proceed to the next step which is washing.

• Hand Washing 

In order to wash your motorcycle gears, always prefer the hand washing over machine washing. The major reason behind it is that the machine washing may affect the appearance of your gear. It may be hard on your motorcycle gear and could damage the soft leather material due to its fast spinning technology. Usually the motorcycle gear comes in the leather form, so special care is needed to wash them.

However, if your motorcycle gears are not in the leather material, then you may consider washing them in the washing machine. Whenever you go for using washing machine, make sure that you set the hand-wash manual settings. In the hand-wash manual, the machines wash the clothes in a careful and relatively slow manner as if we are washing them with hands. This hand-wash technology is common in latest washing machines where you can select the option of hand-wash among a number of options.

Another important thing to remember during the process of washing your motorcycle gear is the use of slightly warm water. This is because a slightly warm water has the tendency to soften all the dirt, oil and soil particles from the gear. If you would use the cold water, it would fail to meet the purpose of properly cleaning the motorcycle gear. The end results would not be satisfying if the cold water is used. However, a slightly warm water assists in deep cleaning and removing all the stains and dirt.

• Detergents

For washing your motorcycle gear, it is very important that you take special care in choosing the detergents. Always use a good brand detergent that can effectively clean your motorcycle gear. There are many types of detergents into the market, some of which affects the colors of the clothes.

They have some sharp activators that are harsh on the delicate clothes. Such types of detergents should be avoided for washing the motorcycle gear. Always choose a detergent whose PH level is around 7 or close to 7. These are natural and not highly acidic or alkaline.

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Join our 11-25 July 2019 Route 66 Original tour and get a FREE pre-tour night in Chicago and a FREE day's motorcycle hire! We can escort you up to the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee or you can take your own ride in the Chicago area.

Come with Orange & Black on a ride that will take you across a slice of America like no other! Follow the route of the early motorists of the 1920s and 30s where every mile is steeped in automotive history. Experience the genesis of popular culture and enjoy breathtaking scenery along the way. If you've still not planned your 2019 ride this could be for you! 

Orange & Black...... for your ride of a lifetime, every time!

YOUTH CLUB, Museum of Youth Culture are looking to tell the story of UK youth culture from the '50s Teds to the present day, and need your photographs, ephemera and stories to help build the most accurate picture of what it was and what it is like to be young in Britain.

Whether you have one photograph or a whole archive, bring them along to the Scooter Day at the Ace Cafe on Sunday March 31st, from 12pm-5pm. They will scan your photographs while you wait and you will walk away with a high-res digital copy and become a historic part of the Museum of Youth Culture.
 
YOUTH CLUB is a Heritage Funded non-profit organisation working to preserve, share and celebrate youth and subculture history, working towards opening the Museum of Youth Culture.
 
Youth Club Archive

Scooter Sunday 31st March at the Ace

Some 11 of the talented young racing drivers who passed their IAM RoadSmart advanced driving tests at the charity’s #FormulaDriveSmart event late last year have announced their motorsport programmes for 2019; many having graduated to new teams and exciting new series.

The drivers, all between the ages of 18 and 24, are part of the British Racing Drivers’ Club’s (BRDC) Rising Stars and SuperStars programmes, which supports the brightest young racing talent in the UK today.

At the end of last year the racers all took part in #FormulaDriveSmart, a two-day programme run by IAM RoadSmart and the BRDC at Silverstone circuit, where they were trained in the IAM RoadSmart advanced course to full test standards. At the end of the course they all passed their advanced driving test with flying colours.

The purpose of #FormulaDriveSmart was to demonstrate to young men under 25 years old (the biggest at-risk group sector on the roads; contemporaries to the professionals taking part in the exercise) that advanced driving was not only relevant to them, it could also be fun and could save a life one day.

Now the racers are not only taking their advanced skills only onto the public roads, but also onto the race track too for the new season.

Mike Quinton, IAM RoadSmart Chief Executive Officer, said: “The drivers did themselves proud in all passing their advanced tests. They all said how what they learned will not only help them drive safer and smarter on public roads, but also help their skills, planning and anticipation on the track too.

“Everyone at IAM RoadSmart wishes them the best of luck in their 2019 racing programmes. We look forward to them bringing home the silverware!”

This is what our new advanced drivers have planned for 2019:

Jordan Albert (Silverstone, Northamptonshire): McLaren GT reserve driver

Max Coates (Richmond, N Yorkshire): Renault UK Clio Cup with Team HARD

James Dorlin (Barnsley, S Yorkshire): British GT Championship with Tolman Motorsport in the McLaren 570S GT4

Raoul Hyman (Ealing, London): FIA Formula 3 Championship with Sauber Junior Team

Stuart Middleton (Ashington, Northumberland): European Lamborghini Super Trofeo Championship with Bonaldi Motorsport

Jack Mitchell (West Kingsdown, Kent): British GT Championship with Century Racing in the BMW M6 GT3

Sandy Mitchell (Forfar, Angus): Blancpain GT Series with Barwell Motorsport; Lamborghini Super Trofeo Championship with Wayne Taylor Racing

Seb Morris (Porthmadog, Gwynedd): Blancpain GT Series with Team Parker Racing; British GT Series with JRM; Spa 24 Hours, all with Bentley

Toby Sowery (Melbourn, Northamptonshire): Indy Lights debut with BN Racing

Bobby Thompson (Hornchurch, Essex): British Touring Car championship with Team HARD in the Volkswagen Passat

William Tregurtha (Milton Keynes, Bucks): VLN Endurance Championship in Germany with Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW plus Nurburgring 24-hour race.