STIRLING MOSS explains that his suggestion that elderly drivers retake their tests was not a slur on their abilities.By Sir Stirling Moss

1958 French Grand Prix Reims

When I suggested, in an interview for the BBC, that elderly motorists should have to retake their driving tests, it stirred up a hornet’s nest.

Some people insisted that we pensioners are a menace to ourselves and to others, pointing to recent stories about a 90-year-old in a mobility scooter who strayed on to a dual carriageway, or a 78-year-old who crashed her Vauxhall Corsa after driving the wrong way down the M65. Others announced that they’d been driving for more than half a century without having an accident – it was the young hooligans and boy racers you had to watch out for, they said, not respectable members of society.

Certainly, if someone tried to take away my licence simply because I’ve turned 79, I’d be spitting with rage. My focus when I’m at the wheel hasn’t slipped with age – if anything, I pay more attention to the road. All that’s changed is my fear threshold: when I’m racing, I know that I don’t go as fast as I did when I was younger. Yet my vintage Osca and I still hold our own – and more – against the other contestants at rallies and hill climbs, even though they’re in their thirties and forties.

Competence, then, isn’t the issue. Nor is it the case that having a licence is proof that you’re a decent driver. Back in 1945, I didn’t even take a test – I just turned up with five shillings, and another five shillings for a racing driver’s licence, which allowed me, despite my utter lack of qualifications, to race on any track in the world. The only thing I’ve ever had to take a test for is my scooter.

So why do I support the idea of tests for the elderly? Partly, it’s because so many things will have changed since elderly people started driving: road signs have been changed and added to, and the density of traffic has risen enormously, especially in the cities. We don’t need to give people the full driving test again, just have a simple test of competence every five years – at 70, 75, 80 and so on – to check whether they’re going to go the wrong way at a roundabout, and whether they’re hesitating too much, which is the main problem with elderly drivers. Bear in mind, you don’t have to have been in an accident to have caused one.

1956 Italian Grand Prix

In New Zealand, they insist on this kind of test every 10 years, no matter your age or ability. It’s a good idea – as is the notion that doctors should certify people as safe to drive once they reach 70. At the moment, you’re asked to inform the DVLA of any medical conditions, but even if you’re prone to blackouts, you’re hardly going to admit it if it means they’ll take you off the road.

Yet there’s a broader problem with who we let on to our roads, which affects drivers of any age. At the moment, the initial driving test isn’t as difficult, or complete, as it should be. They keep adding more questions, but don’t demand any more ability. And once you’ve got your licence, that’s it – you might take a course with the Institute of Advanced Motorists to lower your insurance premiums, but otherwise you’re allowed to drive when you’re only moderately competent.

What I’d like to see instead is a system of graded licences. When you start out, you’d be given a novice’s permit, but could then work on improving your level as your skills and experience grew. It would almost be like a golf handicap – the lower your score, the lower your insurance. The truth is, people in this country just don’t drive that well. Whether you’re 17 or 77, that needs to change.

Source: Telegraph website, by Sir Stirling Moss

THE DRIVING Standards Agency and The Caravan Club have joined forces to advise British motorists returning to caravanning to brush up on their driving and towing skills before taking to the roads this summer.

The credit crunch is encouraging holiday makers to return to caravanning as a more cost effective alternative to their usual summer breaks. Figures released by The Caravan Club indicate bookings are up 40 per cent this year.

“Anyone who has not towed a caravan for a number of years should make sure they are familiar with any changes that may have taken place before they get in the driver’s seat. Handling, manoeuvring and vision is different for a driver when towing,” said DSA’s Chief Driving Examiner Trevor Wedge.

The Caravan Club offers both caravan and motorhome training courses for drivers who want to brush up on their skills before they set off on holiday. They are welcoming new members and people returning to the activity but recommend – along with DSA – that some things need to be checked:

• if you passed your test before 1997, you will be allowed to drive any car, and tow any caravan (weighing up to a combined maximum allowable mass of 8250kg). But for drivers who passed their test after January 1997 there are additional restrictions and they may need to take a further driving test in order to tow the largest car/caravan outfits
• caravans have tended to become heavier over the years. Make sure your car and caravan are an appropriate match or your combination could be unsafe or even illegal
• make sure you are familiar with new technology features, such as stability control systems
• check your car and caravan electrical connector and find an adaptor if the connectors are not the same at each end

Source: DSA website

CLICK HERE to find a BADDIA driving instructor for towing lessons

THIS AWARD, which has been developed in collaboration with the Driving Standards Agency (DSA), stems directly from recent initiatives by the UK Government to bring about changes in driving attitudes in the UK.

On Monday June 22, the first students to complete the Driving Standards Agency’s Safe Road User Award (SRUA) will be presented with their certificates by Transport Minister Paul Clark MP in England and by Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson MSP in Scotland.

The award is aimed at road users before they begin to learn to drive.

The aim of the Safe Road User Award is to build positive attitudes to road use and to help young people to take responsibility for using the roads safely. Young people who become proficient road users at an early stage will be able to carry these attitudes and behaviours throughout life. This, in turn, should result in fewer deaths and serious injuries among road users.

Being a safe and proficient road user is a significant life skill which this award will contribute to developing.

This Award is currently undergoing a limited release under strictly controlled conditions, and is available to selected centres only during this phase. It will be generally available from January 2010 to all qualifying centres. Further details, including Course Arrangements, Units and Assessment Exemplars, will be available by the end of 2009.

The group award consists of 2 Units:

• Understanding How To Use The Roads – This Unit focuses on developing the knowledge and understanding of safe road use
• Developing Positive Road User Attitude – This Unit focuses on developing a responsible, careful and considerate attitude toward road use.

Candidates who successfully complete the Award will be eligible for a partial credit towards the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) Theory Test.

The award has been endorsed by the following Sector Skills Councils: GoSkills and Skills for Logistics.

Sources: SQA website and DSA Operational Notice

 

 

 

 

THE ROYAL Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) is addressing concerns that young people are not equipped for driving at work by developing free workshops to tackle the issue.

The safety charity, which has undertaken a major of study of the problem, is now looking for 10 organisations which employ drivers between the ages of 17 and 24 to pilot the Driving for Work workshops interactive workshops, which are designed to be delivered in-company to groups of 10-15, from next month until October.

The study concluded that more than 60 per cent of employers felt the current system of learner training and testing did not adequately prepare young people to drive as part of their work, whether to make deliveries, as part of a sales team or simply to drive passengers around a site, it showed that they face, and create, a higher risk than other drivers.

After the pilot workshops are completed, RoSPA will use feedback from the sessions to develop free training guides so that employers can run similar events for their own staff. The workshops will cover issues raised by employers who took part in the Young Drivers at Work project survey, including the differences between driving for work and what is covered in the learner test.

Duncan Vernon, RoSPA road safety manager, said: “It is clear that further support is needed for young drivers at work, and employers have indicated they prefer face-to-face workshops as a way of giving that support. The Driving for Work workshops have been developed to go some way towards bridging the clear skills and training gap highlighted in our report, which was published earlier this year.

“Many young drivers are currently required to drive in a context for which they are not adequately prepared, and these workshops offer a chance to address some of the issues they face. Journey planning, hazard awareness and the causes of work accidents will be examined, as will ways of influencing the attitudes of young drivers.”

RoSPA is also offering opportunities for smaller businesses to send their young employees to workshops, so that firms with one or two young drivers can also benefit from the training.

Duncan Vernon added: “We want to empower employers to better equip and protect their young driving staff. Making these free resources available fits in with our charitable mission to save lives and reduce injuries.”

Organisations interested in taking part in the workshops should contact Duncan Vernon at dvernon@rospa.com or 0121 248 2078. See www.rospa.com/roadsafety/youngdriversatwork/ for full details of the Young Drivers at Work project, which is being funded by the Department for Transport.

Source: Fleet Directory website by Amanda White

THE NEW Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy is set to revolutionise the way British teenagers learn to drive, with the aim of encouraging safer driving on Britain’s roads.

With young drivers amongst the most vulnerable on the roads (nearly 1 in 3 car drivers who die or are seriously injured are under the age of 25), the Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy promises to coach its students to become good drivers, not to just pass the test.

Launching at Mercedes-Benz World in June, the Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy offers three main modules:

Pre-road module (age 12 – 16yrs),

Provisional Licence module (age 17+yrs)

and Post-test module (for those who have already passed their test).

With the handling circuits at Mercedes-Benz World, in Weybridge, Surrey, students as young as 12yrs can enroll in the Academy and start mastering driving skills in a safe environment off the public roads, under the expert tuition of certified personal coaches. This allows them to get familiar with the car, gain confidence and focus on controlling the car before they have to deal with traffic situations out on the public roads. Concentrating on one thing at a time in a stress free environment eventually leads to more effective learning and better driving habits.

From left to right: Jevon Race, Jess O’Halloran, Harry Chaudry, Iqra Tahir, Lewis Hamilton, Waqar Tahir, Harry Clarke, William Nash and Will Porter

The positive impacts of learning to drive at a younger age have been demonstrated in Sweden where the introduction of the Swedish Young Drivers initiative reduced accident rates by 40 per cent in the first year amongst drivers who started behind the wheel 18 months earlier – at 16yrs3.

Mercedes-Benz has been working with Dr Mika Hatakka (Turku, Finland), an internationally acknowledged expert of driver education, to develop an innovative curriculum-based programme. The structure of this programme takes into account recommendations from a series of EU road safety research projects that look at the benefits of learning to drive younger and earlier, as well as best practice tuition techniques.

With over 190 different skills, the Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy takes a holistic approach to learning to drive. Passing the driving test focuses on two key areas – basic vehicle control and mastering traffic situations. The new research-based Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy curriculum goes far beyond car control with two completely new ‘psychological’ modules covering journey planning, dealing with peer pressure in the car, personal motivations, time pressures, health and wellbeing and social influences – all of which are adapted according to relevance, age, module and ability. Example tasks also include practical lessons in car maintenance, first aid and the best ecological and economical ways to drive.

As well as coaching students to master driving skills, the Driving Academy will also teach risk assessment and prevention via practical experiences and role playing exercises. These exercises will include training on how to avoid losing control of a car, the importance of eliminating distractions and what to do with a car full of noisy friends or loud music. Using a variety of techniques from practical tuition on the handling circuits and on the public roads as well as classroom seminars and peer group discussion sessions, students will be tasked with actively thinking about driving as well as learning to drive. Self-evaluation and effective use of feedback are given extra emphasis in the programme via in-car cameras and post-session interactive discussions. In addition, a web-based skills tracker will allow both students and parents to monitor progress throughout the different levels of the Driving Academy curriculum, and to see exactly what has been achieved in each lesson.

The Academy’s holistic approach also offers ‘Parent-Partner-Sessions’ where parents are given practical advice (on the handling circuits) on how to become the best possible in-car advisors when they are with their children outside of the Academy.

The Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy also recognises the importance of supporting young drivers after they have passed their test as their driving experience in traffic develops. The Post-Test Module offers students a series of refresher courses which go beyond ‘Pass Plus’. It includes practical simulations of emergency situations as well as discussion seminars to review and self-evaluate driving experiences in traffic.

Peter O’Halloran, Managing Director Mercedes-Benz World commented: “Learning to drive should be like learning to play an instrument. The more practice you have the better you master it and the more confident you become. With Mercedes-Benz, students start learning to drive at a younger age, which removes the stress of passing the actual driving test. In addition, the Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy provides young people with the skills and thought based experiences that go beyond the requirements of just passing the driving test and prepares them for the actual demands of driving on the public roads, making them better and safer drivers when they have their licence.”

Surrey Fire and Rescue Service welcomes initiatives that attempt to raise driving standards in the local area, Area Manager Leslie Dodd said ” Last year 14 young people died on our roads and 10 of their passengers were killed. Any scheme which equips drivers with the skills and knowledge to stay safe on our roads deserves our support.”

Source: Honest John website

MOTORING experts have called for a fundamental review of the way road accidents are investigated.

The RAC Foundation said that future road deaths might be prevented by setting up a road accident investigation branch.

It pointed out that over the past 11 years, 337 people died in UK air accidents, 114 were killed in train crashes and 53 people died in UK territorial waters or on UK-registered ships.

The deaths also led to the launch of investigations by air, rail and marine accident investigation branches.

But despite as many as 36,781 people having died on the roads during the same period, there is no similar body to investigate road collisions.

The foundation’s director, Professor Stephen Glaister, said: “Historically, road accidents are analysed by individual police forces with the emphasis placed on finding out if anyone has broken the law. Identifying the underlying causes of crashes seems to be of secondary importance.

“We’ve been locking up drivers for a century and yet motorists still die in their thousands on the roads each year. The focus on solely penalising individuals rather than also identifying systemic safety failings is a serious flaw in current transport policy. Road safety should be driven by prevention as well as punishment.”

Copyright © Press Association 2009

Source: RAC News website

GETTING DRIVERS to take more responsibility for their actions behind the wheel is the key to reducing a fleet‘s risk exposure.

“Fleets have got to think carefully about driver training. After all, driving is the most highly-skilled thing a member of staff will do all day.

“Distraction is the biggest killer on the roads, so looking at behaviour which leads to distraction is the key.

“When drivers are stressed, such as being under time pressure, they are not hazard aware and won’t use their mirrors or look further ahead on the road.”

Drive & Survive managing director Seb Goldin agreed, saying: “Driver training is much more than learning driving basics in a blanket approach. An overall driver risk management programme is tailor-made and can assess an individual’s attitude to driving situations, the environment they drive in, and the risk this combination poses, even before they even step into a vehicle.

“Driver training is provided on the basis of this assessment, using a range of online and on-road training products. A risk management programme not only ensures a safer driver, but also leads to many environmental and economic benefits for a business as well.”

Dr Dorn is currently working on the EU’s Hermes project, designed to develop more efficient coaching for driving instructors. As a result of this, the group will be putting together free modules for the industry to help instructors develop some of the skills they need to ensure drivers self-reflect and develop a better understanding of how their personal characteristics influence their risk.

She is also part of the team that put together Cranfield University’s DriverMetrics scheme and its driver risk index – a psychometric risk assessment which identifies behaviour and attitudes that increase the risk of at-work crashes, and then suggests targeted education.

DriverMetrics is operated in the UK by multi-Fleet News Award winning company Peak Performance and is used by some of the largest leasing companies.

For more information, go to www.drivermetrics.co.uk

Source: Fleet News website

 

 

 

Comments please from driving instructors and driving schools who are BADDIA (Bedford and District Driving Instructors Association) members giving driving lessons, Pass Plus, a2om BTEC in Driving Science, advanced lessons, automatic lessons, disabled lessons, towing lessons, refresher courses, motorway lessons, fleet training, instructor training, in preparation for driving tests or driver improvement in the Bedford area.

A MAN has been banned from driving because he was using his mobile phone – while in the passenger seat.

       PLUS           =  MINUS 

Martin Hughes was supervising a learner driver as he travelled along Lowther Street in Carlisle city centre last October.

He was caught using a hand-held mobile as they drove.

Hughes, 29, of Winterhope Road in Annan, was found guilty in his absence of breaching traffic regulations at Carlisle Magistrates’ Court earlier this month.

He returned to court to be sentenced and was disqualified for six months and ordered to pay a £100 fine, £60 court costs plus a £15 victim surcharge.

Source: Cumberland News website

Comments please from driving instructors and driving schools who are BADDIA (Bedford and District Driving Instructors Association) members giving driving lessons, Pass Plus, a2om BTEC in Driving Science, advanced lessons, automatic lessons, disabled lessons, towing lessons, refresher courses, motorway lessons, fleet training, instructor training, in preparation for driving tests or driver improvement in the Bedford area.