THE NUMBER of claims for whiplash injuries following road accidents is soaring, say British insurance firms.

Whiplash causes soft tissue injury

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) says that its members receive almost 1,200 claims of this type every day, worth £2bn a year.

The injuries themselves cost the NHS an estimated £8m a year, it says.

The AA said that drivers could reduce the risk of whiplash injuries by adjusting the head restraints in their cars to the right height.

Britain faces whiplash epidemic

Whiplash happens when soft tissues in the neck are damaged by sudden movement, and are often linked to road accidents in which the patient’s car has been hit from behind.

While many cases involve relatively mild pain and soreness for a few days afterwards, in a small number of cases, it can lead to permanent disability.

The ABI’s report on the injury names the UK as the “whiplash capital” of Europe, accounting for three quarters of personal injury claims related to motor accidents.

In 2007, more than 430,000 people claimed for whiplash, a figure which had risen by a quarter over the preceding five year period.

Stephen Haddrill, the director general of the ABI, said that it was now an “epidemic” which produced “unacceptable costs” for the state, individuals, and businesses.

“Insurers want to reduce whiplash, provide fast care and compensation and tackle fraudulent claims.

“We call on the Government, road safety groups, the medical and legal professions and other stakeholders to work with us on a campaign to reduce this problem.”

Too close for comfort

One of the biggest causes highlighted by the ABI was “tailgating” - driving too close to the car in front, and it called for the government’s proposed new framework for learner drivers to emphasise safe following distances.

In addition, it wants car retailers to show buyers how to adjust the head restraint on their new vehicle.

The AA said that whiplash claims were putting increasing pressure on insurance premiums.

It said the cost amounted to £66 for every UK car insurance policy - twice the cost for claims for accidents involving uninsured drivers.

Edmund King, its president, said that most drivers who suffered a whiplash injury could have prevented it themselves, even if they were at no fault in the accident.

“Drivers and passengers can help prevent themselves becoming victims of whiplash by adjusting head restraints before they drive off.

“The top of the head restraint should be level with the top of the driver’s head, while the back of the head should be as close as possible to, and ideally touching, the restraint.

“Drivers can avoid inflicting whiplash on themselves and others by keeping a safe distance - at least two seconds - from the vehicle ahead.”

Source: BBC News website

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YOU can do whatever you want to do in Road Safety Week 10-16 November, 2008 - as long as it helps BRAKE save lives!.

Every year Brake, the Road Safety charity, chooses a theme that we promote to the media during Road Safety Week and this page explains that theme lower down. You can choose to do something on this theme, or on a different or more specific theme of your own that suits you better – lots of people do. For example, you could be an avid cyclist planning to raise awareness of cyclist deaths through a sponsored bike ride in aid of Brake during the Week that you promote to your local media. Or you could be a company training employees about winter driving during Road Safety Week, during which you have a ‘Brake Bright! Day’ in aid of Brake, when everyone comes dressed in something bright to raise awareness of pedestrian vulnerability during the winter months and funds for the charity.

Whatever you are doing, the important thing is to get planning now! Please try to incorporate some fundraising for Brake into your activity. You can click here for lots of fundraising ideas on the main Brake website. Brake is a charity and we desperately need your funds to support families bereaved by road crashes and continue to campaign for road safety measures in communities. Thank you in advance!

Once you have decided what to do, use this link to tell us about it. This really helps us to evaluate the effectiveness of the Week.

Brake’s chosen theme for 2008 is…

FAMILY SAFETY: STOP. IMAGINE. CHANGE.

Brake and our sponsors of the Week 3M, DHL, KWIKFIT INSURANCE and MASS (Motor Accident Solicitors Society) have chosen to focus on the theme ‘Family Safety – STOP. IMAGINE. CHANGE. The media launches we organise in cities across the country will focus on this theme.

In particular, we will be raising awareness of the following 3 key things:

• The vital need for parents to ‘protect the ones they love’. We will release a Brake research report about child car seats, cycling and walking safely, and speed when driving your family. This will be available in the newsroom of this website during the Week.
• The terrible devastation caused by death and injury on roads. Families affected in this way and representing Brake will tell the media about how their lives have been wrecked by death and serious injury.
• The need for drivers and parents to Stop. Imagine. Change. We are asking people to stop and imagine how horrendous it would be to lose a loved one in a road crash, or cause a fatal crash, take a long hard look at their behaviour on roads, and change their behaviour for the better. We can all make a commitment to improve our behaviour, whether that means taking more time to look twice at junctions, or committing to not ever overtaking unless it is totally safe, or simply always holding our children’s hands.

You can help us to promote the theme of family safety!

• Parents and community leaders can help to promote this theme through community events.
• Companies can give employees advice to ensure their families are safe: for example, information on child restraints, or driving slowly in communities; or wearing cycle helmets.
• Schools can work with parents to promote walking and cycling safely; using correct child restraints; and slowing down to 20mph in communities.
• Professionals working for local authorities, the police, fire brigades, the army, or other key agencies such as driving instructors, can promote the theme through publicity programmes and RSE activities.

Source: Brake website

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DRIVERS are at more risk of a serious accident by failing to regularly check their tyre pressures.

The stark warning by TyreSafe, the UK’s leading tyre safety organisation, comes as part of its Tyre Safety Month.

While many motorists understand that insufficient tread depth can hamper a vehicle’s stopping distance, many are unaware of the effect that tyre pressure can have on vehicle performance.

When a tyre is under-inflated, the tyre contains insufficient air to support the weight of the vehicle, which adversely affects acceleration, braking and cornering.

Rob Beddis, chairman of TyreSafe, said: “Without regularly ensuring that tyres are correctly inflated, motorists risk compromising the way that their car behaves on the road.”

New research conducted by TyreSafe highlights that reduced vehicle performance may be affecting half of motorists on the UK’s roads, as a result of not checking their tyre pressures.

“Checking tyre pressures is a simple maintenance activity that is free and takes only a few minutes each month to complete,” Mr Beddis added. “By following these guidelines, motorists can ensure that their vehicle continues to behave in the way it should and they can continue to drive safely on the roads.”

Source: RAC website

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LOWER speed limits and a tougher enforcement of drink-driving laws are needed to reduce road deaths, say MPs.

Around 3,000 people a year die on the UK

The Commons transport committee also queried whether road injury and death statistics were accurate, as police and hospital figures differ.

Chairman Louise Ellman said road deaths were “the major public health problem of our age” and said 3,000 dead on the roads a year was “too high a price”.

The government said it recognised “more can be done” to improve safety.

The committee said that, although last year saw a 7% fall in deaths on the roads to 2,946, overall progress since 2000 had been “disappointing”.

‘Particularly concerned’

Motorcyclist deaths had risen by 26% between the mid-1990s and 2007.

The committee said it was “particularly concerned” about high accident rates among male drivers, younger drivers and those using country roads.

It also heard evidence that the poorest children were 21 times more likely to be killed as pedestrians hit by cars than those from the richest families.

Less well-off drivers and passengers were also at greater risk of death than the more affluent.

Ms Ellman, Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, said if 3,000 people a year were killed in train crashes there would be a national outcry.

But because road deaths were seen as individual cases, they were seen as something separate.

She told the BBC: “We think this should be recognised for the problem it is, a national problem affecting people’s lives and affecting people’s families.”

Accuracy questioned

She said 3,000 deaths, and 250,000 injuries were “a staggering annual toll to pay for mobility”.

The committee queried the accuracy of the government’s data on serious injuries and deaths - while police figures suggest serious injuries are coming down, hospital statistics do not.

The committee said there was a “significant body of evidence to suggest that methods for recording road-traffic injuries are flawed” and urged an independent review of the way figures are collected.

The government says the number of injuries on roads is falling far more quickly than the number of deaths.

The MPs called for new road-death reduction targets, separate from those set for serious and slight injuries.

They also recommended that the drink-drive limit be lowered, roadside breath test devices approved and there should be tougher penalties for alcohol-related offences.

More 20mph speed limit zones should be in place, it added.

‘Should be ashamed’

Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Mark Hunter said: “It is a travesty that drunk drivers still kill as many people now as they did a decade ago.

“The government should be ashamed that it has failed to make a dent in this problem.”

A Department for Transport spokesman said road deaths and serious injuries had been reduced by more than a third since the mid-1990s, equivalent to almost 17,000 fewer deaths and injuries.

“But we have always been clear that one death is one too many and so recognise that more can be done to make our roads safer.

“We work continually to improve the way road casualty data is recorded and are now linking police and hospital data.

“However, criticism of our statistics is itself based on flawed comparisons with hospital admissions data, which are published with a warning about their reliability for monitoring trends over time.”

Source: The BBC website

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DAY Two of Britain’s most sensible car race started in the Peak District - ahead lay 200 miles of motorways, country lanes and mountain passes.

It was a route designed to challenge the eco-friendly driving skills of the 80 competitors taking part.

The BBC was travelling with the AA’s entry - co-driven by its president Edmund King, who believes more motorists are now willing to give this easy-does-it style of motoring a try, for financial and environmental reasons.

We arrived at the finish in Bristol and the organisers removed the seals placed on our fuel tank to prevent cheating.

The moment of truth. We had travelled 404 miles, used 25 litres (5.5 gallons) of diesel - and our total miles per gallon average? An impressive 73 mpg.

Fiat publishes what’s called a combined mileage figure for this car - 68 miles to the gallon. Most normal motorists come nowhere near this figure so we are pleased to have exceeded it.

We had been concentrating hard on being light of touch on brakes and accelerator. Keeping the car moving wherever possible and changing up through the gears as quickly as possible.

Eco-driving skills are now being assessed as part of the driving test, and increasingly taught to thousands of business drivers every year.

Fierce competition

But our 73 mpg may not be good enough. The results are still coming in but some of our rivals believe they might have managed more than 80 mpg - one team using less than two gallons of fuel to get from Bristol to the Peak District, at a total cost of about £10.

A former rally driver and Fuel Marathon champion - James Sutherland - has managed 83 mpg in previous events in his car, a perfectly normal, Toyota Aygo.

The secret, he says, is to keep things nice and smooth.

Other tips include driving in socks - which can help you feel how much pressure you are putting on the pedal.

There are two prizes in this challenge - for the best overall fuel consumption, and the best improved consumption above the manufacturer’s published figure.

The most difficult challenge has been the traffic jams. Get stuck in one and the last 10 miles of careful eco-driving are rendered useless as the mileage drops like a stone.

It has to be said that some of the jams have been encouraged by our fellow competitors, a few of whom have reduced their speed to eke out the fuel, regardless of the column of traffic behind.

Often though this has simply meant sticking to the speed limit, something many non-racers on the roads have been reluctant to do.

We’ve taken a more realistic approach - driving close to normal speeds. Which is probably why we haven’t won.

In the end this sort of driving does require concentration. Of course everyone knows they should concentrate harder when behind the wheel. But usually the pressures of life, and shortages of time, get in the way.

MPG MARATHON WINNERS

TEAMS of drivers have started a two-day motoring rally across the country - but the winner is not necessarily the first vehicle over the finishing line.

Four hundred miles of beautiful British countryside using as little fuel as possible: That’s the challenge for the competitors in the MPG Marathon.

It’s being held to show how much fuel people can save if they alter their driving habits.

We started out at 10.30am from Bristol, a shiny collection of mainly small cars with the odd police Cruiser and Corvette thrown in.

The BBC was travelling with the AA entry co-driven by its president Edmund King.

“When we asked motorists what they considered doing to help the environment, 60% said they’d consider eco-driving,” he said.

“I do think people are conscious of this issue and the price of fuel has brought it to the fore. People are already driving more slowly, particularly on motorways.

Expert secrets

One of our rival competitors, the former rally driver James Sutherland, is the man to beat.

In a previous fuel marathon he managed to get 83 miles to the gallon out of his car, a perfectly normal diesel Toyota Aygo.

The secret, he says, is to stay off the brakes and be as smooth as possible on the accelerator.

Instructors that teach eco-driving advise getting into a higher gear as soon as you can and being aware when you can ease off while going down hill.

They also recommend proper footwear for the job, thin-soled shoes through which you can feel the accelerator pushing on your feet.

Hill trouble

Our route takes us through the Wye Valley, across the midlands to the Peak District and Stockport before returning to Bristol via the Brecon Beacons mountains.

It’s not easy driving. We are finding it hard not to burn fuel as we labour up some of the steeper hills.

By 1500 on Day One our average fuel consumption was a not-embarrassing 71 miles per the gallon.

That is only a touch over what the manufacturers of our Fiat 500 say is possible and some way behind the 81 mpg claimed by a fellow competitor. But the race isn’t over yet.

Source: BBC News website, By Tom Symonds, Transport correspondent

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

YOU know the person we’re talking about.

The one who caused a two-hour tailback because they broke down in the middle of the road. Or the one who cut you up on the motorway because he almost missed his exit. How about the one who ran out of petrol in the middle of nowhere?

In some way or another we’ve all been the giver, or receiver of the disapproving headshake or the angry fist, and as the amount of traffic on our roads escalates, it seems we’re either one or the other on a daily basis.

We at the Highways Agency aim to help drivers with their journeys by reminding them of a few simple steps they could take before they leave to make their travels easier and less stressful.

And, in the event that you do come across a situation where a road is closed for a long period of time, we aim to provide you with as much advice as possible on the road through our traffic officers, radio, phone, internet and variable message signs.

The Highways Agency suggests that by performing three simple actions, you can be much better prepared for your travels.

1. Plan your journey

Check your car, weather reports and route planning sites before setting off. It sounds like a ‘no-brainer’, but you’d be surprised at how many people don’t. Which can lead to you getting lost, stuck in bad weather, caught in - or even causing - congestion. This could ultimately add hours onto your journey, and potentially everyone else’s.

We at the Highways Agency provide a range of free real-time live traffic information services for motorways and strategic A-roads in England.

Before you go

To find out what traffic conditions are like on your route before you leave, you can use:

• Traffic England, our website which allows you to view traffic conditions on your route.
• Our traffic radio service on DAB digital radio or online, a national and regional continuous traffic information service which covers most parts of the country.
• Our automated telephone service provides you with the latest traffic information over the phone on 08700 660 115*.
• CCTV - use the website to view images from our roadside traffic cameras. These pictures allow you to see live traffic conditions for yourself, helping you plan your journey more effectively.

As you travel

To keep up-to-date with the latest traffic information when you are out and about on our roads, you can use:

• Our variable message signs. These are the large electronic signs you see above or next to the network. We use them to communicate information and advice to you about roadworks, incidents, emergencies and events on our roads. 
• Travel time variable message signs. These display real-time travel and delay times, helping to give you a realistic indication of how long your journey is likely to take.
• Traffic Radio, if you have DAB digital radio, providing you with the latest regional and national traffic information. 
• Local radio if you have an FM RDS radio, set the TA/TP (travel announcement) button to receive local traffic news from radio stations in the area which you are travelling.

Taking a break

Making sure that you’ve allowed time for regular breaks on long journeys is an important part of planning your journey. When you take a break you can use:

• Highways Agency Information Points at selected motorway service stations. These terminals receive up to the minute traffic information from our National Traffic Control Centre and tell you what is happening on the road ahead.
• Our automated telephone service for traffic updates on 08700 660 115*.

We also have an information line where you can report any problems you see or for any questions or comments you might have:

• Highways Agency Information Line on 08457 50 40 30*

2. Get your car serviced regularly

Regularly servicing your car will reduce your chances of breaking down, which will reduce your chances of causing a hold-up, which will reduce other drivers’ desire to stick their heads out of their windows and shout at you. Put simply, getting your car serviced will make for a better day for everyone.

3. Always carry an emergency kit

If you haven’t got an emergency kit in your car, you’re tempting fate. Anything could happen at any time that could result in you being stuck in your car for ages, from a severe weather event, to a road closure due to an accident/police investigation. You need to be prepared for any eventuality.

An emergency kit should contain a map, battery jump leads, a torch, a warning triangle, a fluorescent jacket, a first-aid kit, relevant medication, food and water (such as cereal bars and other long life snacks), warm clothes and a blanket. How about you gather it all together, pack it in bag and put it in your boot today?

These things happen

Despite all the best-laid plans, things do go wrong. Roads can be closed for all sorts of reasons including accidents, police investigations or weather related incidents.

If you do find yourself on a stretch of motorway that has been closed for a long time, the Highways Agency has a number of ways to help you. Here are some of them:

• Radio broadcasts on our own dedicated Traffic Radio station available on DAB digital radio or via the information we give to local radio stations.
• To tune into the local radio station press the TA/TP (traffic announcement) button on your radio. These sources will provide you with up to the minute and reliable traffic updates, and can help you make an informed decision on the best way forward.
• Where there are variable message signs we will aim to provide appropriate messages to help.
• Traffic Officers and Incident Support Unit operatives will be implementing contingency plans that might have been put in place. Make sure you listen to their instructions to ensure you know what to do as they’re there to help you. It’s important that you don’t abandon your vehicle and cause further chaos once the traffic starts to move.
• It is an offence not to comply with directions from a Traffic Officer.
• And, if not driving, you could go on-line to get information from the Traffic Radio website.

Mobile Phone - Switch off before you drive off

Source: The Highways Agency website

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

ROAD crash stats out show shameful link between deprivation and deaths on roads say Brake.

Brake, the road safety charity, has urged a zero-tolerance approach to risk-taking on roads, and more investment in road safety measures in deprived communities.

Figures released this morning by the Department for Transport (DfT) show the Government is back on track to meet its 2010 casualty reduction targets, but also reveal…

…a shameful link between deprivation and death on the roads

People living in the 10% most deprived areas of England are almost one-and-a-half times as likely to be killed or injured on the roads as people living in the 10% least deprived areas. (table 5a)

The link between deprivation and death on the roads is strongest for child pedestrians: under-16s in the most deprived areas are almost four-and-a-half times as likely to be killed and injured on foot in a road crash as their peers in the least deprived areas. (table 5b)

Cathy Keeler, Brake’s deputy chief executive, said: “While the statistics show the Government is back on track to meet its casualty reduction targets for 2010, there cannot be any room for complacency. As a civilised society, we have a duty to protect the most vulnerable people on our roads and in many cases we are still failing them.

“Each figure represents families torn apart and devastating injuries, occurring violently and without warning. Ask these families, and they will tell you there is no room for the Government to sit back and rest on its laurels. It’s time we adopted a zero tolerance approach to risk-taking on roads and worked towards eliminating all needless deaths and injuries on our roads.”

Other concerns revealed by a closer reading of the statistics include…

…a widening gap between motorcyclist and car driver safety

After a long trend of steadily rising motorcyclist deaths, which have risen by a third over the last decade, there was a slight drop of 2%, from 599 deaths in 2006 to 588 deaths in 2007. (table 1d) However, motorcyclist serious injuries in 2007 were up 4% from 2006, from 5,885 to 6,149. (table 1h)

General improvements in road safety are having a far greater positive impact on car driver safety than on motorcyclist safety. Motorcyclists were 50 times as likely to be killed in a crash per mile driven/ridden as car drivers in 2007 (table 9). In 2006 motorcyclists were 37 times as likely to be killed in a crash per mile driven/ridden as car drivers, while they were 33 times as likely to die in a crash per mile driven/ridden in 2005. (Road Casualties Great Britain 2006, Table 6c, DfT, 2007)

…the need to step up drink-drive enforcement

Levels of breath testing carried out by police following injury road crashes remains low. While there are a fifth fewer roadside breath tests (21%) being carried out than in 1999, the failure rate has remained fairly constant suggesting that if more tests were carried out, more drink-drivers would be caught.

While drink-drive deaths increased from 1999 to 2004, they have now fallen for the third year in a row, from 580 in 2004, to 550 in 2005, to 560 in 2006 to 460 in 2007. This is the same number of annual drink-drive deaths as the previous low, in 1998 and 1999.

…a lack of knowledge about crashes involving at-work drivers

Figures published on the purpose of journey of drivers involved in crashes reveal that better training is needed for police on how to fill in the crash report form. For three-quarters of all crashes (72%) the journey purpose was recorded as ‘other/not known/undefined’. (Supplementary tables: Vehicles in accidents by journey purpose and by vehicle type: GB 2005 – 2007, Table c)

Brake, the road safety charity, is urging the Government to implement Sweden’s ‘Vision Zero’* approach to casualty reduction, with zero tolerance of drivers’ risk-taking on roads.

Other action being demanded by Brake includes:

• road engineering measures including a default 20mph limit in urban areas, with plenty of traffic-calmed zones, safe pavements, cycle paths and pedestrian crossings, which help protect kids when they use the roads on foot or bicycle, in particular children in deprived areas;
• investment in roads policing, to reverse the trend of falling numbers of dedicated traffic cops, increase enforcement checks such as roadside tests for drink and drugs and ensure effective enforcement of road safety laws;
• a lower drink-drive limit of 20mg alcohol per 100ml blood, in place of the dangerously high 80mg limit;
• tougher charges and penalties for ‘hit and run’ drivers, which can be brought regardless of whether their driving was ‘careless’ or ‘dangerous’ at the time of a crash;
• a coherent programme of safety education for road users, from compulsory pedestrian training and road safety lessons in schools, to a graduated driver licensing system and increased investment in effective publicity campaigns aimed at drivers.

Source: Brake website

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

ALL new models of cars and vans should be equipped with special daytime lights from 2011 to improve road safety, the European Commission says.

 Volvo is among manufacturers who already use DRL

The EU directive - not yet law in all 27 member states - means vehicle lights will also be more environment-friendly, the commission says.

The Daytime Running Light (DRL) comes on automatically when the driver starts the engine.

Industry executives have backed the proposal, the commission says.

It speaks of “very positive” results for road safety in EU countries where DRL is already mandatory, such as in Scandinavia.

The directive envisages that from 7 February 2011 all new types of passenger cars and small delivery vans will have to have DRL. Trucks and buses will follow from August 2012.

When it is dark, the driver has to switch on the headlamps manually - in that case, the DRL goes off automatically.

“This will make a positive contribution to our goal of reducing fatalities on European roads whilst being more fuel efficient then existing lights,” commission vice-president Guenter Verheugen said on Wednesday.

The DRL’s energy consumption is just 25-30% that of the normal driving light and when using LED (Light Emitting Diode) technology for DRL, the energy consumption is only 10% of the current average, the commission says.

It argues that DRL makes vehicles more visible to all road users.

But the Conservative transport spokesman in the European Parliament, Timothy Kirkhope MEP, warned that too much light could distract drivers and put cyclists and pedestrians at greater risk.

He called for an independent assessment of the technology before any EU-wide approval of DRL.

Source: The BBC website

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

THE government has launched the biggest review of British road signs for 40 years.

Transport Minister Rosie Winterton called on fleet managers, company car drivers, private motorists, cyclists, pedestrians and road organisations to have their say in how Britain’s streets will look in the future.

 Rosie Winterton  

The review is aimed at ensuring that traffic signs use the latest technology, help to cut congestion and emissions and keep traffic moving safely and efficiently.

It aims to provide authorities with new powers to reduce street clutter and ensure out of date signs are removed.

New sign technology will also be considered that provide better road information, such as up-to-date travel news.

Road conditions have changed dramatically over the years - and road signs need to keep pace with that change to provide the best information possible to all road users,” said Ms Winterton.

“It is vital we help motorists, cyclists and pedestrians understand how to use our roads - improving road safety and helping reduce congestion and CO2 - without cluttering our streets with unnecessary signs.”

AA President Edmund King welcomed the review, saying: “Clear, concise, relevant road signs help reduce congestion, CO2, frustration and accidents.

“Confusing signs do the opposite so we welcome a root and branch review of the UK’s traffic signing system and will seek the views of AA members to help the Department for Transport come up with signs fit for the 21 Century.”

The review will begin by the middle of next year.

The Department for Transport will then work directly with specialist working groups to develop policy proposals for consultation.

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, advanced lessons, automatic lessons, disabled lessons, towing lessons, refresher courses, motorway lessons, fleet training in preparation for driving tests or driver improvement in the Bedford area.