Welcome to the latest edition of Driving Ambition, the e-letter that keeps you in touch with the IAM and the motoring matters of the moment between issues of our triannual glossy magazine, Advanced Driving. Inside you'll find stories on:

• How mobile phones are still causing problems on the road
• How to save that ever dearer fuel
• The ups and downs of parents teaching their children to drive
• The amazing cost of parking accidents
• Events especially for you
• What our cars will be powered by in the future
• The importance of leaving 12 hours between bottle and throttle

Remember, it is only by receiving your comments that we can ensure our e-letters continue to strike the right chord, so do put fingers to keyboard or pen to paper.

Happy motoring!

Bob Hinchliffe
Director of Membership and Group Support
members@iam.org.uk

PHONES STILL IN THE FIRING LINE We are told some 30 road deaths a year are linked to mobile phone use. The true figure may be higher, however, as some of the drivers who fail to stop after an accident and remain untraced may well have been on the phone at the time of the incident concerned... more

GOING THE EXTRA MILE As we write, a slow down in the major economies (including that of China) has been the primary cause of the reduction in the price of crude oil and therefore, slowly but surely, fuel on the forecourt... more

PREVENTING PARENTS PASSING ON PROBLEMS! It is an established fact that much of a child's learning is achieved by watching and copying others – not least its parents... more

PARKING PRANGS Apparently, 700,000 of us shunt, scrape or crash into parked cars every year, leaving their innocent drivers with a combined repair bill of –1.25 billion! more

EVENTS ESPECIALLY FOR YOU Back by popular demand is a visit to the Lakeland Motor Museum at Holker Hall in Cumbria. The event will take place on Saturday, September 13 and cost a mere –15 per ticket for members and their guests... more

ELECTRIC, HYBRID, HYDROGEN – WHERE DOES THE FUTURE LIE? The first electric vehicle was built in 1839. The first of what we now call hybrid cars was arguably developed by none other than Ferdinand Porsche in the late 1800s... more

LEAVE AT LEAST 12 HOURS BETWEEN BOTTLE AND THROTTLE As summer finally warms up and the thirst for alcoholic drinks increases, the IAM is reminding drivers of the perils of accidentally drinking and driving... more