The Government is failing children by not having mandatory road safety lessons in schools, the Driving Instructors Association (DIA) has said.

More time, money and effort must be put in to making national road safety part of the school curriculum, thus reducing child road deaths, the association added.

The DIA said that, at present, road safety education in the UK is not compulsory but forms part of the personal, social and health education programme.

It is up to each individual school and local council to support its own road safety scheme for its pupils. There is no mandatory requirement for schools or local council to protect children, the association said.

It added that there had been some success with the Kerbcraft scheme, funded by the Department for Transport and the Scottish Executive, but that funding had now been withdrawn.

The DIA said all children from the age of five should be taught road safety awareness. Also, some of the revenue from speed camera fines should be put back into road safety education in schools.

Road deaths among children under the age of 16 in Britain have increased by 20% since 2005.

DIA chief executive Eddie Barnaville said: “I would like to see the balance of targeting drivers and educating children in road safety realigned. The Government need to act fast or the child road death figures next year will be even worse.”

He went on: “The Government’s recent call for 20mph speed limits in built-up areas and on roads around schools is a fix to only part of the problem and aimed solely at drivers. It will not prevent children crossing roads in unsafe places.

“The idea that literature and posters are enough to teach children how to cross roads is complete nonsense.”

Source: The Press Association website 11/11/07

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

The recently revised Highway Code does not include a single one of the 18 suggestions put forward by the Association of British Drivers, despite the group being invited to contribute to the Driving Standards Agency’s consultation.

The suggestions were intended to improve road safety for all road users and included the following:

Advice to cyclists and pedestrians against being distracted by mobile phones or personal stereos when riding along or crossing roads.

Advice to drivers to leave a gap to the vehicle in front to permit overtaking, if they do not intend to overtake themselves, and to use main beam headlights on unlit roads when it is safe to do so.

Greater clarification of the difference between single and dual carriageways, as many drivers are confused and may break speed limits unintentionally.

Strengthening the advice to new drivers to take further training after passing the standard driving test.

The full list of suggestions and the reasoning for them can be found on the ABD’s website.

ABD spokesman Nigel Humphries comments: “None of the ABD’s suggestions for improving the Highway Code would be considered controversial by any reasonable person, but they have all just been dismissed out of hand. It is clear that the government is not interested in using the pool of knowledge about real-world driving that exists within the ABD, simply because we campaign against its dogmatic anti-car policies.

“The ABD has many advanced drivers and former traffic police officers among its members. I suggest we are better able to contribute to improving road safety than most of the Whitehall desk jockeys responsible for the failed strategies of the last decade.”

Source: Easier Motoring website 09/11/07

Any comments from members of BADDIA (Bedford and District Driving Instructors Association) in Bedford and surrounding area? Are these fair comments by the Association of British Drivers (who….?) and could our pupils learn to drive better in Bedford if they adopted these suggestions? Comments from any ADI or PDI working in the Bedford area are welcome, even non-BADDIA members.

Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent, The Times

Motorists face being banned from driving for only two speeding offences under a government plan to double the fixed penalty for exceeding the limit by a wide margin, The Times has learnt.

Those caught driving at 45mph or above in a 30mph limit are likely to receive a higher-rate fixed penalty of six points and a £100 fine, up from the existing flat rate of three points and a £60 fine.

Ministers want to send the message that excessive speeding will lead more quickly to an automatic six-month driving ban for totting up 12 points within three years.

More than 1.1 million drivers have six or more points on their licences and, under the new law, could be banned immediately for one more offence.

The higher penalty is also likely to apply to drivers caught at 57mph or above on a 40mph road and 94mph or above on a 70mph road.

But the Government is planning to drop a previous proposal to introduce a lower fixed penalty, of two points and a £40 fine, for driving only a few miles per hour over the limit.

The Department for Transport had proposed, in a discussion paper in 2004, that drivers caught at speeds up to and including 39mph on a 30mph road would receive the lower penalty.

This could have meant that drivers repeatedly caught just over the limit would not have been banned until their seventh offence.

At present, drivers are given up to four chances: they can take a speed awareness course to avoid the first penalty and then commit three more before being one camera flash away from a ban.

Jim Fitzpatrick, the Road Safety Minister, told The Times that introducing a lower penalty of two points would undermine the Government’s message that even small breaches of the limit can kill.

Research has shown that a pedestrian who is hit by a car at 35mph is twice as likely to be killed as one hit at 30mph.

Mr Fitzpatrick said: “It would be counter-productive and against everything we are saying to tell someone ‘you were doing 35mph so you should only get two points’. The big message we are putting out is that it’s 30 for a reason.”

But he said those caught well in excess of the limit should be punished more heavily than at present. “There is a very strong argument for saying that the more you speed, the more the penalty should be.”

The Department for Transport will publish a consultation document before Christmas which will invite comment on options, which may include a lower penalty for a slight breach of the limit on faster, nonresidential roads where there are few or no pedestrians and cyclists.

But Mr Fitzpatrick made clear that the Government did not expect much support for a lower penalty. He said: “I think there will be a strong body of opinion which will say there should not be a reduction in the number of points.”

He said he was particularly concerned by the 20 per cent increase in child road deaths in Great Britain last year, from 141 in 2005 to 169 in 2006. This included a 55 per cent increase in child cyclist deaths, from 20 to 31.

The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety welcomed the Government’s retreat from the idea of a lower penalty.

Rob Gifford, the council’s director, said: “Lowering the penalty for any speeding offence would encourage drivers to take more chances.”

He also called for police to be given more discretion to enforce even minor breaches of the limit. Under current Association of Chief Police Officer guidelines, drivers are given an allowance of 10 per cent plus 1 mph over the limit. This means they will not be fined at speeds lower than 35mph on a 30mph road, 46mph on a 40mph road and 79mph on a 70mph road. Mr Gifford said: “Police need the flexibility to enforce any breach of the limit, even 1mph over it.”

Acpo guidelines also state that drivers should be sent a summons rather than a fixed penalty if they are caught at 50mph or above on a 30mph road, 66mph on a 40mph road and 96mph on a 70mph road. Magistrates can impose up to six penalty points or a ban for a very serious breach.

Just over half (51 per cent) of drivers admit to speeding but 62 per cent accept that it is a serious offence, according to a survey of 2,000 motorists by the RAC. It said the figures revealed “a disconnect between what drivers think is serious and their own driving habits”. The survey also found that 16 per cent of drivers had been caught breaking the limit in the past five years.

When asked what steps they would accept to reduce speeding offences, 64 per cent said more traffic police, 59 per cent said speed cameras that photographed the driver (to prevent points swapping), and 49 per cent said in-car speed limiters.

Source: The Times Online website 09/11/07

What do members of BADDIA (Bedford & District Driving Instructors Association) in Bedford think? What can driving instructors in Bedford teach in their lessons to educate drivers about the dangers of inappropriate speed?

Three-quarters of youngsters want 20mph zones to slow down cars.

The finding, from a poll by road safety charity Brake, also found four out of five teachers fear a child in their classroom will be killed in a crash.

To highlight the danger, children handed in a petition to 10 Downing Street demanding 20mph zones in residential areas.

Among them were seven who had either lost a sibling or were injured in a road smash – the same number of children killed or hurt on UK roads a day.

Chelsea Warner, 17, who was injured with two pals outside her London school said: “One man’s decision to drive dangerously changed our lives forever.”

Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick said MPs will look into the request.

Source: Mirror website 07/11/07

Any comments from members of BADDIA (Bedford & District Driving Instructors Association) in Bedford and surrounding area?

Menacing motorists are not bothering to stop for school crossing patrols, according to a new, local campaign.

To highlight this problem, Luton’s SCP’s and local road safety officers have launched a ‘Stop Means Stop’ campaign in the East of England.

The campaign, developed by the Eastern Region Local Road Safety Officers Association, is reminding motorists that not stopping for the school crossing patrol when ordered to do so is illegal.

Luton’s road safety officers and school crossing patrols will be giving out leaflets in St George’s Square on 3 November to remind road users to stop when required.

They will be advising all road users that every school crossing patrol officer reports vehicles that fail to stop. Officers will be helped by a new member of the team, ‘Spike the Hedgehog’.

Bedfordshire Police are advised of the most serious incidents and further appropriate action is considered.

A failure to stop and remain stationary until the patrol has returned to the pavement can result in drivers ending up with a £1,000 fine, three penalty points or a disqualification.

Cllr Don Worlding, who has responsibility for road safety, said: “School crossing patrol officers have a legal right to stop traffic to allow children, adults and in fact pedestrians of any age to cross the road safely.

“Drivers who ignore the patrols request to stop are a danger to all and are breaking the law.

“We want this event to help raise the awareness of motorists to the fact that ‘Stop Means Stop’.”

For more information on road safety: www.luton.gov.uk/roadsafety

Source: Luton Borough Council website 01/11/07

Any comments from members of BADDIA (Bedford and District Driving Instructors Association) in Bedford? We could do with a few ‘Spike the Hedgehogs’ here in Bedford and surrounding areas!