Drivers could be prosecuted for smoking at the wheel, according to a warning in the latest version of the Highway Code.

New code targets smoking drivers

Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick described the new code – the first update for eight years – as a “crucial tool for all road users“.

However the AA said the new code, which contains 29 more rules than the previous one, would be harder to decipher.

AA spokesman Andrew Howard said: “After an eight-year gap since the last edition, it would have been helpful to have had the changes marked out, as they were in the draft, and allow experienced drivers to skim through this 307-point version.

“A major change is the code’s inclusion of smoking at the wheel as behaviour that police may interpret as a distraction and failure to be in proper control of the vehicle. This addition will polarise drivers’ opinions both for and against.”

Among the changes is a new safety code for novice drivers.

It tells those new to the road: “If you are driving with passengers, you are responsible for their safety.

“Don’t let them distract you or encourage you to take risks. Never show off or try to compete with other drivers, particularly if they are driving badly.”

The code has also been updated to include new legislation that has been introduced on vehicle emissions.

It also includes the provision of new stopping/directing powers to traffic officers from the Vehicle & Operator Services Agency and the Highways Agency.

Mr Fitzpatrick said: “The Official Highway Code is for life – not just for passing your driving test. It is a crucial tool for all road users and applies to every stage of your life.

“Everyone should have a copy of the code to keep their knowledge up to date.”

Source: Sky News Website 29/09/07

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

Bohmte, a town in Germany, is abolishing traffic signs, signals and divisions between road users in a bid to reduce collisions and congestion. Pavements will be removed and cobblestones will replace asphalt on roads. Cycle lanes and pavements will be distinguished from the road only by coloured markings. The project is costing €2.35million, half of which will be funded by the local authority and the rest by the EU and other sources. The scheme is based on a ‘shared space’ concept developed in Drachten in the

Source: Brake International Road Safety News 27/09/07

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

Researchers at the University of Granada (UGR), Spain, have developed a microchip that improves night vision for drivers. The system complements the illumination of the car and will alert drivers to obstacles on the road, the scientists explain. The device was invented in the framework of the EU-funded DRIVSCO (Learning to emulate perception action cycles in a driving school scenario) project, in which the UGR participates.

The new system will extend the field of vision beyond the range normally illuminated by conventional headlights by using information extracted automatically from night visors. Information about movement or depth is provided in real time by two infrared cameras installed on the car, so that, for instance, bends in the road, pedestrians and other cars will be more easily detected. The new microchip facilitates the extraction of information from the cameras. In addition, it can be used to set off an alarm – by visual, acoustic or other means – to alert the driver.

The system could, in the future, help to reduce road deaths: Four out of ten fatal car accidents occur at night, although there is about 60% less traffic then than during the day. This is due to reduced visual acuity and field of vision, as illumination is usually insufficient for ideal vision. ‘Dipped headlights only illuminate about 56 metres when the breaking distance at 100 km/h is about 80 metres,’ says Eduardo Ros Vidal from the UGR, the researcher who carried out the study.

DRIVSCO is a project funded under the Sixth Framework Programme. It investigates real-time vision and its application to the car industry. Researchers are focusing, first and foremost, on night-vision scenarios with infrared illumination as the commercially most relevant application domain, they say. DRIVSCO brings together universities and industry from Spain, Lithuania, Germany, Italy, Denmark and Belgium in a joint effort to design intelligent cars that could make driving easier and safer.

The central idea is that cars should learn to drive autonomously by correlating information about the environment and the actions of the driver. Starting on the basis of a fully operational human-machine interface, such a system should be largely independent after learning, using a variety of predictive mechanisms. ‘We envision a system that can learn to drive a car during daylight and apply the learned control strategies in an autonomous way to the system’s augmented field of infrared night-vision,’ the DRIVSCO researchers say.

For further information, please visit:
http://www.ugr.es/
Data Source Provider: University of Granada

Source: CORDIS news website

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

Based on a claim that ‘Elderly’ drivers are three times more likely to crash, a silly government quango is promoting a “new test at 70 to stay on the road”. Some 3,000,000 drivers would be affected.

The Association of British Drivers (ABD) believes that this latest threat is based on incompetent and incomplete research, similar to that which claimed that “one third of accidents were caused by speed”. As we all know, that was untrue, with the DfT forced to withdraw it and substitute 7%, which is probably true.

It was only recently that we heard of mooted attacks on young drivers by the authorities. One has to ask: “Have they given up trying to cut accidents and instead turned to reducing the number of drivers in order to improve their abysmal record on road death figures – a situation caused by their total lack of understanding of accident causation?”

ABD Chairman Brian Gregory said: “Mass retesting aimed randomly at sectors of drivers is not the way to go. It must be remembered that the great majority of the 3,000,000 older motorists are safe, experienced and able drivers. Many elderly people have disabilities which makes their car essential to them. They should be encouraged to be aware of the dangers of failing faculties but should not be subject to blanket testing. Forcing them en masse onto public transport just will not do.”

ABD spokesman Nigel Humphries said: “The government are missing the target here. There would be a strong argument for targeted retraining aimed at drivers of any age whose driving shows clear deficiencies. These could be drivers who have been involved in crashes or those spotted by trained traffic officers (who could be given the powers to recommend training). Experienced drivers see such drivers every day who are clearly unaware of what is going on around them and the effects of their driving upon others.”

Such courses should run along similar lines to the assessment and advice courses offered by the Institute of Advanced Motorists, and via schemes such as “Sage” run by Wiltshire County Council. Rather than just retesting novice driving skills, programmes should concentrate specifically on hazard awareness and anticipation skill building.

There are also some excellent schemes in the US where elderly drivers who are no longer competent to drive safely can exchange their car for vouchers entitling them to use of a community taxi service.

Unfortunately if the government are involved it is more likely they would concentrate pointlessly on compliance with numerical speed values and CO2 reduction, and on arbitrary reaction times shown by older people at unfamiliar test centres miles from their homes. After failing an inappropriate and irrelevant test, they would be dumped back in their homes to become a premature burden on social services and relatives.Source: Easier.com Website 25/09/07

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

By Jennifer Hill

LONDON (Reuters) – Drivers who fail to disclose who was behind the wheel when caught speeding will now face stiffer penalties.

Motorists convicted of failing to give information about the identity of a speeding driver will receive six penalty points instead of the previous three after changes brought in by the Driving Standards Agency on Monday.

The government is concerned that drivers are using the loophole of claiming they do not know who was driving a vehicle when clocked speeding to avoid fines and points on their licence.

Former Conservative MP Neil Hamilton and his wife Christine avoided a speeding fine four years ago after they said neither of them could remember who was behind the wheel when they were flashed by a speed camera.

Most speeding offences are detected by speed cameras, which cannot always identify the driver.

But critics say the change will unfairly penalise those who genuinely do not know who was driving a car when a speeding offence was committed and further devalue the points system.

Paul Smith, founder of anti-speed camera campaign group SafeSpeed.org.uk, said: “This change has absolutely nothing to do with road safety - it’s just spiteful.

“The authorities have forgotten that driving licence points were supposed to help identify risky drivers.

“Giving extra points to people who simply fumble the paperwork will further devalue the licence points system.”

Motorists whose cars are stolen will escape the penalty as long as they can prove that the vehicle had been taken without their permission.

Source: Reuters website 24/09/07

What do members of the Bedford & District Driving Instructors Association (BADDIA) think?

By Ben Webster, Times Transport Correspondent HAVING the assistant chief driving examiner of Britain as a passenger would make any driver nervous. This may explain why I drove through a red light 12 seconds into my test drive yesterday.

But Bob Millard was surprisingly calm. “Eco-safe driving means looking well ahead, but don’t miss the lights in the foreground.”

He assessed my driving on a 20-minute run through West London, then gave me a lesson in how to be a greener driver.

I don’t claim to be world’s greatest driver, but was a little crestfallen by his verdict. “To put it politely, that was rather rough and ready,” he said. “You were hammering the pedals and using the gearstick as if you were wringing a chicken’s neck. Why did you keep racing up to the car in front and then braking? If you had anticipated how the traffic was moving you could have saved fuel by coming off the accelerator.”

Then I received my lesson in the art of smooth driving. The eco-meter on the dashboard showed how much more fuel-efficient it was to allow the engine do the braking while staying in the same gear. I had thought it necessary to move down through the gears while using the engine to brake.

After the lesson, I drove back to the starting point along the same route, getting tips all the way. The eco-meter showed what a dramatic difference eco-driving had made. My fuel consumption fell by a third, although my average speed slightly increased. And I stopped only half as many times because I anticipated hold-ups. The most surprising result was saving two minutes on the journey time, despite encountering more traffic.

My only problem was the tendency to be too competitive in trying to reduce fuel consumption. I was reluctant to stop, even when approaching a junction, for fear of the eco- meter flashing up the symbol of a petrol pump dripping fuel.

For most of the return trip it displayed a piggybank with money dropping into it.

“That was much better,” said Bob. “I even took my eyes off the road for a second.”

Source: The Timesonline website 14/09/07

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

Whilst working at DSA I had the opportunity to go out in one of their Astra estates which had this device fitted and was given a short demonstration by Paul Collis, an SE at Cardington. This driving method certainly does save fuel. John

From The Times 12/09/07

Accelerating smoothly and turning off your car’s air conditioning could help to save the environment, according to a government report published today.

The Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT) outlined a set of recommendations which propose that driving techniques can be as important as the carbon dioxide emission of cars themselves.

One of the commission’s proposals is for drivers to have state-sponsored lessons in “eco-driving”, suggesting that practices such as accelerating evenly, not braking sharply and not over using air conditioning should be incorporated into the driving test.

The report also recommends that the government should seek to promote greater adherence to the 70mph speed limit on the roads. The CfIT said 56 per cent of drivers exceed the 70mph limit on motorways, with 19 per cent of them going at speeds of more than 80mph. Such enforcement, they suggested, could save around one million tonnes of carbon (MtC) a year.

Source: The Timesonline website 14/09/07

What do members of the Bedford & District Driving Instructors Association (BADDIA) think?

Here’s a thought.

If you are 16 years old, (That’s the youngest a person can get on the road in a powered vehicle I think), you are legally old enough to drive a scooter on the road. (In my day they were called mopeds. Engine size 49cc. Weight, (I don’t know, not much though!), Top speed, 30mph, down-hill with the wind behind you, if you’re lucky! Legal requirements? Well, a provisional driving licence to start with. Valid insurance (That will cost about £200 -£300), a crash helmet, road tax, possibly an MOT, working lights, oh, and the rider must have a CBT certificate (COMPULSORY basic training).

So, how is it that a 5 (Yes I said FIVE), year old child can legally, ride a means of transport that; – Weighs as much as a small car, (and is bigger), goes at speeds of up to 40mph, (and has no brakes!) requires NO INSURANCE, needs no licence, no number plate, no tax, no MOT (even if its 10 years old or more!), NO TRAINING!! No lights, in fact NO NOTHING!!! Alright, I exaggerate; the ONLY law is that if the child is under 14, they have to wear a crash helmet.

So, to what do I elucidate?… HORSES.

I am so sick and tired of horses on the road, well, frankly.. I can’t even write this without my blood boiling.

What is it with horse riders that they seem to think they have some god given right to plod along the public highway, holding up the poor beleaguered motorist, who pays for the road in the first place, they leave piles of dung in the middle of the road, which is more dangerous than a diesel spill to a motorcyclist, they are usually ridden by……. No, I must shut up; I’m just working myself into a bad mood.

As usual, it seems to me that the Rules of the Road, only ever apply to the Poor old motorist. Anybody else can do just about anything they like without the fear of prosecution of even a disapproving glance. Crikey, you can’t even blow your hooter at a horse rider!

There is one simple universal truth in my opinion. Horses are not designed to be ridden on the road. If that were so, horse shoes would be made of rubber, not Iron. Iron horse shoes do not grip the road as well as rubber tyres. Horse shoes and hooves are actually quite good at gripping grass, muddy fields and soft ground. So, why not keep horses OFF the roads and in the fields and Bridleways that are provided for them. If horse riders want to ride on the roads, then they should be subject to the same stringent training and laws that pertain to drivers. Full stop!

In the interest of fair and balanced argument, these are points I put to Dianne Parkinson of the British Horse Society, this is her reply,

“There is no legal minimum age for riding a horse on the public highwayHorse riders are not required by law to undertake any test or to hold a licenceThey are not required by law to undertake and formal trainingYou could, if you wished to, go out and buy a horse and ride it on the road legallyIt is not a legal requirement to have 3rd party insuranceAt the moment the only LAW pertaining to riding on the roads is that ”Children under the age of 14 MUST wear a helmet” However, all of the above is something that we would not recommend or promote. Included with the British Horse Society membership package is Public Liability Insurance up to £10 million for any one claim, for all of the horses the individual member may own, look after, and ride. We have hundreds of Approved Riding Establishments who offer training for the new & experienced rider, having over 2000 qualified instructors We hold approximately 4,500 Riding & Road Safety Tests per year from Shetland to the Isle of Wight, with some 700+ Riding & Road Safety trainers and have some 500+ trained Riding & Road Safety examiners We work closely with the DfT, DTLR, MOD etc., etc. to promote safer riding.” Di ParkinsonR & RS Test AdministratorSafety Department

And it’s not just when the horse is on the road. Even when the horse is in a trailer, the person (in the 4X4) seems to have left their Brain cell, in the mucking out yard.

Really! This is a true account of something which occurred a few weeks ago.

I was driving along the Arlsey By-Pass at night at about 9:30pm. It was dark. Well, my learner was driving because, yes, I do take my pupils out at night. We followed a car towing a trailer with 2 horses in the back, along the by-Pass from Henlow to the A1. At the A1 it turned left and joined the A1 north. At that point it is where the A1(M) ends. So, as you would imagine, the traffic is moving pretty fast!. We followed in astonishment.

Oh, I forgot to mention, the trailer had no number plate, the indicators didn’t work, in fact it had no rear lights working at all. Only one of the brake lights worked and that was the off side one. The only problem with that was that the break light had a broken lens cover, so every time it went on, it showed a white light to the rear.

I would have thought that if this person could afford a big land rover 4X4, horse box and 2 horses, they could at least afford to have their lights fixed. As we followed in bemusement, (at a safe distance) I demonstrated to my learner that the only time you should use a mobile telephone while on the move is to contact the emergency services. I informed the police of a dangerous vehicle travelling north on the A1. They had not intercepted it by the time we pulled off at Biggleswade.

Di Parkinson of the BHS responded to my comments and earlier points thus,

“I quite agree with a lot of what you have said here, but that is my personal opinion. There will always be the ‘bad’ element in any walk of society and often we only remember the bad ones. Unfortunately very often it is necessary for riders to use the roads to access the bridleways, we wish that it was not the case but then we do not live in an ideal world. Incidentally, horses’ hooves would probably suffer much more from soft ground than road use surprisingly, and for the most part, if they are shod regularly, the shoes do give a good grip on the road surface, providing the road is not excessively worn or shiny. There are also many reasons why riders may be riding 2 abreast, it may be that the inside horse is youngster and needs an older more experienced horse on the outside, or it may be that the inside rider is a child being escorted by a parent. It is not illegal to ride side by side and most riders only do this when it is absolutely necessary, but again, there will always be those who will do as they please with no consideration for others. We fully understand the frustrations of being held up behind horses, but with so many drivers using the quiet lanes and roads as extensions of motorways, sometimes it is safer to keep the hands on the reins and not wave a thank you to the driver, a nod of the head as an acknowledgement is sometimes the safer option, unfortunately this can easily go unnoticed by the driver. Having been a horse owner/rider for some 38 years now (heavens!!) I assure you that we are not all tarred with the same brush and reassure you that we here in the BHS Safety Department are doing our utmost to try and make sure the roads are safe for all users so that hopefully, we can exist happily side by side. Thank you again for your enquiry and comments, we appreciate that you have taken the time to put your questions and views to us.” regardsDi ParkinsonR & RS Test AdministratorSafety DepartmentD.Parkinson@bhs.org.uk01926 707782

My thanks to Dianne Parkinson for taking the trouble to enter into this debate with me. If only ALL horse riders were as sensible as her!

So, there you have it.

As usual, all you are getting here is my personal view. It DOES NOT necessarily reflect the views of BADDIA or its membership.

Come and have a go. I’m up for it.

Paul Burchell…NEXT TIME,.. Pedestrians.They should be locked up, for their own safety?

Yipp Films is making a documentary about modern marriage and would like to speak to women who have been married several times. Jan Hawkes, a driver instructor from Luton, was in a BBC 1 documentary in August 2002 called ‘I Do, I Do, I Do’, in which she spoke about her marriages.

If anyone knows Jan and can help Yipp Films make contact with her, please call Kathryn on 020 7749 3147 or email kathryn@yippfilms.com as soon as possible.

3rd September The new Theory test starts in Bedford today

When learner drivers think about the driving test it’s the practical aspect which springs to mind.
Who could forget the sweaty-palmed angst of having an eagle-eyed examiner judge them on their lane discipline? Or the fear of mounting the kerb when reversing round a corner?
But these days succeeding in the theory test is just as an important part of getting your full licence as passing the practical one and is a hurdle that needs to be cleared before you can even apply to take your practical test. This wasn’t always the case however. Before 1996 candidates were just required to answer a few questions on the Highway Code at the end of their practical test. ‘Most people thought they were part of the test and if you got them wrong you’d fail, says Graham Fryer, managing director of the Driving Instructors Association. ‘But that wasn’t actually true – you could have answered them all incorrectly and it still wouldn’t have influenced your overall test result.’
In July 1996 the separate theory test was brought in, with the aim of ensuring that new drivers had a grasp of the Highway Code and road safety issues. It originally consisted of a number of multiple-choice questions (drawn from a bank of about 900). In 2002 it was expanded to include the hazard perception test, which involves watching video clips of everyday road scenes and identifying potential ‘hazards’. Candidates now have to succeed in both sections during the same exam in order to pass their theory test. However the theory test does have a higher pass rate (average 68% in 2006-07) than the practical test (average 43%).
New changes to the theory test

Today the multiple-choice part of the theory test will change in the following ways.
The number of possible questions is increasing from about 900 to over 1000.
The number of questions in the exam will increase from 35 questions (pass score 30) to 50 (pass score 43).
The percentage pass mark remains the same at 86%.
Candidates will have 57 minutes rather than 40 in which to answer the questions.
The cost of the test is going up from £21.50 to £28.50
‘The increase in the questions allows us to cover additional areas such as insurance and licensing issues and eco-friendly driving,’ says Paul Butler of Policy Research and External Relations at the Driving Standards Agency. ‘It will also ensure that students prepare more thoroughly across the whole of the syllabus.’
The latter point is an interesting one. Anyone flicking through the Driving Standards Agency book of multiple choice questions for the theory test will see that there are plenty that don’t appear to need much revision. For example -

How does alcohol affect you?
1: It speeds up your reactions?
2: It increases your awareness
3: It improves your co-ordination
4: It reduces your co-ordination

Of course there are far more specific questions about road-markings and speed limits that candidates will have to commit to memory. But on the whole many people see the theory test as something to cram for and then forget most of it the minute they get their pass certificate. Others find learning the facts and figures difficult as they’re not of an academic bent but they often redress the balance by finding the practical side much easier than their bookish peers! A sample Department of Transport Study in 2004 showed that the average amount of time spent studying for the theory test is 15.3 hours for women, 12.2 for men.

Do these changes go far enough?
But most driving professionals think it should be much longer. ‘Students should start learning the rules of the road at primary school,’ says Dr Peter Russell, Professor of Road Safety at the Driver Education Research Foundation. ‘They should commit their Highway Code to memory and start identifying road and traffic signs as passengers, cyclists and pedestrians, long before they get behind the wheel. That way they’ll develop a proper understanding of what’s going on rather than just learning by rote. I also believe that there should be specific questions about red lights and other essential road safety knowledge where if someone fails on one of them they should fail the whole test.’

If the increased number of questions leads to increased time spent revising, that can only be a good thing. However, some driver training professionals feel the theory test is due for a more radical overhaul. ‘A better approach would be to have driving test candidates also attend a minimum of six hours classroom training where driving instructors can give tuition, and involve learners in discussions to help them develop more responsible attitudes towards driving,’ says Professor Russell. ‘Every country in the EU apart from the UK already does this and I believe it would help us reduce road accidents among new drivers.’

Driving test trivia
1893 – France was the first country in the world to introduce a driving test.
1900 – Vera Hedges Butler was the first British woman to pass a driving test. As they hadn’t yet started in Britain the keen-as-mustard Miss Hedges Butler went all the way to Paris to take the French test.
June 1935 – Driving tests began in the UK. They cost 37p and the pass rate was 63%. The first person to pass was called Mr Beene.
Britain’s road signs were designed by graphic designers Jock Kinnear and Margaret Calvert in the mid-1960s to replace the confusing mix of signs that had existed beforehand. The system has become a template for signage all over the world.
Margaret drew on her own experiences for the images; for example the school sign in which a girl leads a little boy is drawn from a photograph of herself as a child, and the cow in the farm animals warning sign was Patience, a cow on a relative’s farm.
Formula One Racing driver Jensen Button only passed his driving test at the second attempt.
When 17 year old Theo Walcott emerged from sitting his theory test he discovered that he’d not only passed – he’d also been selected for the 2006 England World Cup Squad. The decision was made when he was in the examination and switching on his mobile afterwards he picked up a message from his father giving him the life-changing news!

These extract were taken from:
Maria McCarthy is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Losing Your L Plates – how to pass your driving test published by Simon and Schuster at £7.99 .

Source: MSM