How the new law affects driving lessons in Bedford

As driving instuctors, we are all aware, on the 1st July England join the ranks of the banned smoking countries, and in the UK we are the last to join.

If, as we are told, the spirit of the Regulations banning smoking in England is to reduce exposure to second hand smoke i.e. passive smoking, why have the powers that be, taken the extra step over Scotland by banning smoking in cars used primarily for work at all times.
Does this cigarette smoke last, in the enclosed atmosphere of a car, for ever? would it have been more sensible to have a caveat in the relevant section of this draconian part of the law to only ban smoking when others are in the car.

The very fact that we, as Driving School Car owners are dictated to just how we can use our own property is a despicable attack on our human rights, and it is a sad indictment of the way this country thinks right now.

Also, how is this law going to be enforced?

I am sure you have mixed feelings, across the Bedford region, about this subject and we would love to hear what you think about learning to drive in a smoke free zone. However we must be aware that a No Smoking sign must now be displayed in our Driving School cars from Sunday although this is only when we are teaching.

For your information the Law states the following:

Smokefree vehicles will need to display a no-smoking sign in each compartment of the vehicle in which people can be carried. This must show the international no-smoking symbol no smaller than 70mm in diameter.

When carrying persons, smokefree vehicles with a roof that can be stowed or removed will not be required to be smokefree when the roof is completely removed or stowed.

Finally

It is the legal responsibility of anyone who drives, manages or is responsible for order and safety on a vehicle to prevent people from smoking.

Failing to display a no-smoking sign is a fixed penalty notice of £200 on whoever manages or occupies the smokefree vehicle. Or a maximum fine of £1,000 if prosecuted and convicted by a court.

Failing to prevent smoking in a smokefree vehicle a maximum fine of £2,500 imposed on whoever manages or controls the smokfree vehicleif prosecuted and convicted by a court.

Drivers who have not passed the test are more likely to crash

Many thousands of people could be paying fraudsters to sit their driving test for them, the BBC has learned.
The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) says impostors have been charging up to £500 and can have taken more than 200 tests each.

The scam works when the fraudsters pass off as the person in the photo on the provisional licence that candidates must bring to their test.

The DSA described the problem, the scale of which has only recently become clear, as serious.

Difficult to spot

The head of the DSA’s fraud team, Andy Rice, said: “It is quite common for them to do over 100, sometimes over 200 tests, before we’re in a position to arrest them. It potentially could be into the tens of thousands.”

Read more here……

Source BBC…

Every day, nine people are killed and nearly ten times as many are seriously injured on UK roads.

Road Safety Week is for everyone and everyone can get involved! Help raise awareness about road safety issues that are important in your community. Schools, colleges, companies, community groups and road safety professionals are encouraged to get involved in this year’s Road Safety Week 5-11 November 2007. Use the website (click here) to help prevent deaths and injuries in your community.

Road Safety Week 2006 took place 6-12 November 2006. The main theme for 2006 was young driver and passenger safety. We aimed to raise awareness about the horrifying number of road crashes that involve young people and offer essential, practical advice to young people about staying safe on roads.

Road Safety Week is organised by Brake, the national road safety charity, and supported by headline sponsors 3M, Direct Line and Green Flag Motoring Assistance.

Source: Road Safety Week website by Brake 20/06/07

Members of the Bedford and District Driving Instructors Association (BADDIA) or indeed any driving instructors are welcome to help this worthy cause.

YOUNG drivers have pledged to take more care on the county’s (Northamptonshire) roads by joining the Evening Telegraph’s Don’t Be A Victim campaign.
Sixth-formers at Montagu School in Kettering signed up to our pledge to drive with care and became the first school to support our road safety campaign.

Last year 43 drivers aged between 17 and 24 were killed or seriously injured on the county’s roads.

According to road safety campaigners Brake, road crashes are the biggest killer of 15 to 24-year-olds nationwide.

One in eight car licence holders is aged under 25, yet one in three drivers who die on UK roads is under 25. Of convictions for causing death by dangerous driving, 26 per cent are under 21.

Now we are calling for schools across the area to sign up to our pledge to help safeguard the future of our young people.

Learner drivers and students from Montagu School who have just passed their test spoke about the difficulties authorities face in curbing the number of young people involved in road accidents.

Worryingly, they said the only thing that would change people’s driving habits is if they were involved in an accident.

Katie Suckling, 18, of Timpson Close, Kettering, said: “One of the problems is that some people start driving too fast.”

The group said they were not aware that road accidents are the biggest killer of young people in the UK, but said it did not surprise them.

Sonny Somal, 17, of Cleveland Avenue, Kettering, admitted he could take more care on the roads. He said: ” What would make me slow down is if I had an accident, although some of the adverts on the television at the moment are very good.”

Alcohol consumption also plays a part in road accidents. Government ministers are looking into lowering the drink drive limit from 80mg to 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood – the equivalent of about half a pint of strong beer.

By Monique Cleaver.

Source: Northampton Evening Telegraph website 19/06/07

Any comments from members of the Bedford and District Driving Instructors Association (BADDIA) or any young learners or newly qualified drivers?

By RAY MASSEY, Daily Mail

Britain’s 40 million motorists face a new ‘green’ stealth tax that will send petrol prices soaring and force up the cost of a car by thousands of pounds.

The pay-as-you-pollute plan by the EU and Government will add a new charge, called a ‘carbon price’. The aim is to help the country hit strict pollution targets by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide - the so-called greenhouse gas blamed for global warming - pumped out by cars and lorries. A system for an additional green tax could be in place by 2013, says a Department for Transport report. It says the levy could ’sit alongside other forms of direct intervention such as fuel duty’. The aim is to force motorists to change their behaviour - in other words to drive less, or more carefully to save fuel, or to buy cleaner cars.

But petrol retailers warned there was no limit to how high the tax could climb. Ministers could simply ‘turn the screw’ if they feared that a target was going to be missed. With petrol and diesel both now hovering around an average of 97p a litre, motorists already pay 70p in the pound in tax at the pumps and up to £300 a year in road tax, depending on their car’s emissions.

The paper sets out two ways in which the new green levy could be administered. The first option is an additional tax on fuel. Petrol companies would be given an allocation of CO2 allowances based on how clean the fuel is. The report says: “Fuel producers could respond by switching to fuels that have lower CO2 emissions or buying allowances and passing the cost on as a new ‘carbon price’ passed to the price of fuel.

“Motorists and hauliers may then choose how to respond to that carbon price. Possible responses could be through driving less, taking more care over fuel consumption while driving, or buying more fuel-efficient vehicles.”

The report says the duty could be increased to give drivers an ‘incentive’ to switch to cleaner cars or drive less. Translated, that means ministers can increase the green carbon price, and force drivers to slash their motoring or switch to smaller cars. Another option is to target drivers directly. Motorists could be given a set level of EU carbon allowances, the overall number of which would be strictly rationed. The ‘rations’ could be swopped and traded. So motorists with the cleanest cars - who do not use up their allocation of allowances - would be able to sell them on to the drivers of gas-guzzling cars who need extra credits.

Details are not clear, but it is likely that every time a motorist buys fuel, this will be taken off their allowance. Once that allowance is exceeded, they will have to buy more credits to continue driving. In practice, retailers at filling stations would be forced to act as a clearing house - buying and selling the credits from drivers. In addition, car buyers will also be hit because manufacturers will be forced to calculate how much CO2 a vehicle is likely to emit in its lifetime and add the green cost to the showroom price.

The report notes: ‘The carbon price would have an impact on human behaviour, with more consumers choosing to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles.’ Ray Holloway, of the Petrol Retailers’ Association, said: “Petrol prices could soar. It could be anything from a few pence to an unlimited sum. There is no limit on how much higher the price of fuel could go under this new green tax. If the Government falls short of their environmental targets they simply give another turn of the screw. And it is the industry that will bear the cost of administering this.”

Source: Daily Mail website 18/06/07

Any comments by members of the Bedford and District Driving Instructors Association (BADDIA)?

· Crackdown on alcohol-related road deaths
· European safety figures show UK falling behind

Dan Milmo, transport correspondent
Friday June 15, 2007
The Guardian
Drivers face a drastic reduction in the drink-drive limit and the introduction of random roadside breath tests in a government crackdown on alcohol-related road deaths.
Stephen Ladyman, the roads minister, said a cut in the alcohol limit for motorists from 80mg to the European average of 50mg could be introduced, limiting drivers to a half pint of beer or small glass of wine.

Speaking after the publication of a Europe-wide study which showed the UK falling behind France and Sweden in reducing road deaths, Mr Ladyman said a public consultation this year would propose a reduction in the drink-drive limit.

At the same time, the government will consult on increasing police powers to enable officers to stop drivers at random. At present, police are limited to stopping motorists who are driving erratically or who have committed a moving traffic offence.

Mr Ladyman said the government was “minded” to slash the alcohol limit to 50mg per 100ml of blood once the current limit of 80mg is enforced adequately. He added: “Once we have achieved a very high level of conformity at the 80mg level, that will be the point to go to 50mg.”

Mr Ladyman said road policing should be stepped up to enforce the current limit. “Not that many years ago, you would be standing in a pub and the word would get around that the police were out targeting pubs. That level of enforcement seldom happens any more.”

There are growing concerns that a new generation of drivers do not regard drink-driving as taboo.

The UK was criticised for falling behind other European countries in road safety performance yesterday, amid a rise in the number of young motorists involved in accidents while under the influence of alcohol.

Road safety campaigners have urged the government to introduce random breath tests, which they say will heighten drink-drivers’ fears of being caught. The introduction of roadside tests in New South Wales, Australia, halved the drink-drive death rate. Figures from the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) showed France had reduced road deaths by a third between 2001 and 2005, compared with a 7% drop in the UK.

Mr Ladyman said the figures did not take into account the fact that the UK had cracked down on road safety decades earlier than many countries, but he said tougher action was needed. “We need to be more ambitious and aggressive in trying to reduce casualties on the road.”

A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: “We would be delighted if the drink-drive limit was lowered. Between 50mg and 80mg, you are six times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident than someone with no alcohol. Reducing the limit from 80mg to 50mg would save around 65 lives and 230 serious injuries on the roads each year.” According to the ETSC, drink-drive deaths have fallen sharply in European countries apart from Britain and Spain. Drink-drive deaths in Germany and the Netherlands have fallen by more than 50% since 1998, but Britain has seen a 17% increase over the same period, from 410 in 1998 to 480 in 2005.

According to figures from the Department for Transport, 1,050 17- to 19-year-olds were involved in drink-drive accidents in England and Wales in 2005, compared with only 810 in 1995. For 20- to 25-year-olds, the figure increased from 2,170 to 2,280 in the same period.

Richard Allsop, an ETSC board member, added: “Much road safety policy and practice in the UK is good, but these comparisons with our fellow Europeans come as a wake-up call to anyone tempted to acquiesce in present levels of death and injury on our roads.”

A spokeswoman for the Department for Transport said: “We plan to explore ways drink-driving enforcement might be made easier for police.”

Source: The Guardian website 17/06/07

Any comments from members of the Bedford and District Driving Instructors Association (BADDIA)?

Brake (the road safety charity) has launched an online petition, calling on the UK Government to pledge ring-fenced funding for 20mph safety zones around children’s schools and homes. Brake hopes to gain as many signatures as possible before Road Safety Week 2007, on 5-11 November, which will highlight the risks facing children on foot and bike on our roads. In February, the Government published its Child Road Safety Strategy 2007, which strongly encouraged Local Authorities to ‘consider’ wider use of 20mph zones and traffic calming measures in areas where children use roads. However, many face restrictions in implementing 20mph zones due to lack of funding. To find out how Portsmouth Council is rolling out city-wide 20mph limits click here.

Your support is vital, please sign the petition today and, if you think you can help promote it for us, contact Zoe Ward at Brake on 01484 559927 or email zward@brake.org.uk.

Source: International Road Safety News from BRAKE 14/06/07

Comments from members of the Bedford and District Driving Instructors Association (BADDIA)?

Research is needed to assess whether older drivers are able to accurately decide for themselves whether they are safe to drive, recommends a report by MONASH University in Australia. ‘The Elderly and Mobility: A Literature Review’, looks at international research into: factors that may affect crash risk among older drivers, such as health and experience; the effects of physical vulnerability on severity of injury; and effectiveness of licence removal procedures in reducing elderly driver crashes.

Other recommendations include:

Ensuring affordable, accessible and safe public transport is available and developing mobility services tailored to the needs of older road users.
Considering the safety of older occupants when improving vehicle crash-worthiness, and adding a relevant component to vehicle testing programmes.

Source: International Road Safety News by BRAKE

What do Bedford and District Driving Instructors Association (BADDIA) members think?

It makes sense that young drivers pay more for car insurance. After all, Government statistics show they are five times more likely to crash in their first 250 miles of motoring, and that one in five has an accident in their first year of motoring.

Despite this, there’s a real risk we’re pushing youngsters into less-safe cars, and that they’re increasingly risking driving without insurance because they cannot afford to pay high premiums.

A recent survey by Flux Insurance has picked out the 10 cheapest cars for which newly licensed drivers can get cover - but all of them have sparse safety provisions, particularly the older, cheaper models that are more likely to be within a younger person’s price range.

In addition, Government figures suggest that one in 20 people are driving without insurance in this country - but when the small fines for those caught for this offence are less than the premiums demanded by the insurance companies for young drivers, that seems less of a surprise.

Source: whatcar.com 16/06/07

Any comments from members of the Bedford and District Driving Instructors Association (BADDIA)?

By David Bartlett

HIGH-SPEED unmarked police cars are to be deployed on the M65 in a bid to curb a craze of young drivers filming themselves at speeds over 150mph.

The crackdown comes as officers launched an investigation into shocking new footage of a car travelling at 154mph on the motorway at Blackburn that has been posted on internet video sharing website YouTube.

Earlier this week Nathan Campbell, 18, of Fenwick Street, Burnley, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving after filming himself travelling at 140mph on the M65.

And on YouTube there are scores of videos which have been uploaded by young drivers showing their speedometers reaching upwards of 120mph.

Sergeant Mick Young, of Accrington-based road policing unit, said the force was to use three high-powered unmarked cars in a bid to deter any more copy-cat stunts.

Edmund King, head of campaigning motoring group The RAC Foundation, said the craze needed to be stamped out.

Mr King, who had described Campbell’s antics as “probably the most appalling and dangerous driving that I has ever been witnessed”, said he did not know whether the craze was new or whether it was just because people upload it onto the internet that it was coming to light.

He said: “It shows that we need to do more to get the message across that this is the most likely way they die - on the road and disregarding the rules of the road.”

Andrew Howard, head of road safety for the AA, said it was a reflection of the “showing off” attitude of many young drivers.

He said: “We not only have to tackle the people doing these things but also the people they believe they are impressing by doing it.”

Sgt Young said such “irresponsible and dangerous” driving was putting other drivers at risk and was “verging on the suicidal”.

He said: “We will be putting on extra patrols from the motorway department to discourage other people from doing this.

“People will never know when these unmarked patrols are out, and offenders will be rigorously pursued and prosecuted.”

The new video on Youtube shows the speedometer of the car recording speeds as high as 154mph.

Titled Astra Turbo Coupe doing silly speed’, a young man can be heard saying “oh yeah, what a beautiful ride it really is” as the car speeds along the road at night.

Campbell, who had also posted footage of his speeding on YouTube, faces up to two years in prison at crown court.

Magistrates were told that he had passed cars on the hard shoulder as he reached speeds of up to 140mph.

Campbell, who had had just eight driving lessons before passing his driving test, rested the phone on the steering wheel and filmed the speedometer to record the speeds he had reached, the court was told.

He was caught out after complaints were made to police about the footage on the internet.

Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans has said the cases highlighted the need for the Lancashire Telegraph’s Wasted Lives campaign which aims to cut the carnage caused by young drivers through increased education and tougher legislation.

Source: Lancashire Telegraph website 15/06/07

Any comments from members of the Bedford and District Driving Instructors Association (BADDIA)?