Category - DSA

An email alert from the DSA:

Plans to take driving tests closer to candidates

Driving test candidates could benefit from a more local service as the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) carries out a trial exploring a new approach to test delivery.

As well as using conventional driving test centres, DSA is looking at whether tests could also be delivered from other venues such as local authority buildings, hotels or leisure centres.

The trials will provide practical car tests in selected areas that no longer have a local test centre, but still have a significant demand for tests. The aim is to provide a service for the local community and ensure that candidates are able to take their test at convenient locations.

Road Safety Minister Mike Penning said:

“I want us to be more flexible and innovative in delivering driving tests to make sure that we are offering people the best service possible wherever they live.

“Our aim is to provide a more local service that is both convenient for candidates and cost effective.

The trials are due to take place in seven locations across Britain: Ashford, Ayrshire, Dumbarton, Louth, Warrington, Wiltshire and one location in Wales that is still to be decided. The trials will be monitored to assess any impact on levels of customer service and the cost of delivery, as well as making sure the integrity of the test is maintained.

DSA will then decide whether the trials can be rolled out to other areas without a test centre where there is a significant demand, and where suitable routes and venues can be identified.

The trials will only involve practical car tests; theory test centres will not be affected.

You can find copies of the local press releases on the Department for Transport website.

It’s interesting that many of the listed locations correspond to places where test centres have recently been closed (and which I’ve written about on here due to the antics of local ADIs and wannabe politicians).

Also funny is how one forum already has some joker labelling it as a moneymaking scheme by the DSA. I guess he can be forgiven his crass ignorance over the kerfuffles surrounding test centre closures in these areas, and the fact that this is obviously something the DSA has HAD to do after being leant on by the government, rather than do through choice.

The Glaswegian reports that a driving instructor was caught behind the wheel while more than THREE TIMES the legal drink-drive limit for alcohol.

The 43-year old was one of 57 drivers caught in a police crackdown on drink and drugs.

Four people were repeat offenders in the first week (five in the second) of the operation and the courts may seize their vehicles. May.

We have way too complicated a system over here. If you’re over the limit behind the wheel there should be no escape hatches you can use.

Mind you, the instructor’s career is now gone for good. There’s no way he’ll be able to remain as a driving instructor now. Or if he does, then the ADI Register is a complete joke.

However, as the Montrose Review clearly shows, there is a hell of a lot wrong out there (and it isn’t just in Scotland).

This story in the Sunday Mirror reports that driving examiner sick days are costing the taxpayer £500,000 a year.

Just for the record, the number of tests carried out every year is somewhere around 1.8 million. The number of tests cancelled last year was 113,177 (presumably obtained from yet another freedom of information (FOI) muck-raking exercise). That’s less than 6% of all tests booked.

Just doing a bit of scouting around, and there is information suggesting that out of around 1.5 million hospital appointments in Northern Ireland in 2010, 80,000 were cancelled because a consultant wasn’t available. That’s just over 5%. In 2009, the NHS sickness absence level was 4.1% – ranging from 3.4% in London to 4.6% in the North East. Healthcare assistants averaged 6.2%, whereas medical and dental staff averaged 1.1%. Ambulance trusts averaged 5.2%. Strategic health authorities averaged 2.1%.

A look on the Office for National Statistics website shows that national average sickness levels fell from 3.5% in 2000 to 2.5% in 2010. It is obvious that the actual sickness rate for specific professions and jobs varies widely (the NHS ones were those I could find easily).

All you can say is that driving examiners are at the higher end, but nothing dramatic.

The DSA spokeswoman has it right when she says:

Driving tests are ­notoriously stressful for any learner. But this sickness record suggests that even the examiners are feeling the strain.

I also wonder how many tests are cancelled or not attended by the candidates themselves.

This one just won’t go away. I’ve mentioned on three occasions (here, here, and here) that the DSA had planned to close the theory test centre in Workington, and that practical tests were absolutely not affected.

Well, it turns out that another councillor (Eddie Martin) anxious to make a name for himself is threatening judicial proceedings if the DSA doesn’t back down. Well, he doesn’t actually say “back down”, but when you see what he does say it amounts to the same thing:

It’s [a document which says the public has to be consulted before services are moved away] a powerful weapon and will be used if we can’t come to a voluntary agreement.

This is democracy at work. By “voluntary agreement”, he means “what WE want”.

Public consultations are a joke because a large proportion of the public – especially that part which usually wets itself to take part in the things – is not a full shilling. Ask one of them if something – anything – should be moved away and they’ll say “NO”, whether they understand the question or not. But that doesn’t mean, of course, that the proposed change is wrong. All it proves is that certain people will automatically oppose things at public meetings!

The story gets better and more confusing:

Mr Woodburn [actually, that’s Elaine Woodburn of Copeland Council] said: “We have thousands of records that are kept safe. We have Sellafield, one of the most protected structures in Britain so there’s no worry about security.”

Aren’t you glad that national security isn’t her responsibility? Apparently, just because you have a nuclear power station near you then you don’t have any security problems to worry about if you have to keep personal records in your own premises. Great logic, eh?

Elaine Woodburn added: “I’m sick and tired of fighting for services in West Cumbria that everyone else across the country takes for granted.”

More brilliant logic. A library closes down, therefore the DSA is wrong to want to relocate its testing centre. Or a bus service is cut, so that means the DSA shouldn’t attempt to relocate. There truly is a problem with the intellectual capability of some of these councillors.

More than 15 driving instructors attended the meeting…

Hallelujah! The DSA MUST be wrong, then.

The PCS Union has worked hard this last year to have its members go out on strike at all costs. It has finally succeeded. Its officials must be wetting themselves with glee now they have finally accomplished what they have been trying to do for at least the last 12 months.

Originally, they were egging on actual DSA staff to strike concerning proposed office relocations. Unfortunately, the relocation plans were shelved and the chance to strike was lost. Unfazed, they simply waited for another opportunity – this time, that old stalwart: teachers.

Sarah Robinson, a PCS branch secretary, has obviously been practising that special rhetoric that makes them sound like a bad Japanese-to-English translation, but which they nevertheless thrive on within unions:

Never before since the 1940s have workers been asked to defend our public services in the way they will in the coming months.

They’re an olive short of a pizza. Always were, always will be.

Anyway, assuming that you live in an area where union membership is more important than food, cigarettes, booze… even life, itself… then you need to keep an eye on the dates these comedians are earmarking for action when you book driving tests.

Oooooh! This one will get the little DSA-hating rads out there wet about their nether regions!

According to this press release, the DSA has signed a 4-year deal with Interserve for the servicing and maintenance of their sites – a total of 439 properties across the UK. The Dft and VOSA is also included in this deal.

The deal apparently reduces costs by up to 40 per cent of their current value.

The only part which worries me is the fact that it includes switchboard and helpdesk answering services. I hope this doesn’t include bookings.

The reason I say that is that I have direct experience of one such management service provider (Capita) taking over tech support for a large technical product supplier (PC World). In the end, it was like buying a fox to guard your chickens – it seemed cute, but it got ugly very quickly.

This is a very old article. DSA is now DVSA.

Here’s an interesting article from Tiger.co.uk (site no longer exists), reviewing the cost of getting on the road for new drivers.

It points out the following:

The Driving Standards Agency suggest that it is very unlikely that anyone except an approved driving instructor will have the knowledge and experience necessary to teach learner drivers properly. Research conducted by the agency shows that the average number of professional lessons required to pass a test is 47, along with 20 hours of private practice with someone who has held their driving licence for at least 3 years and is over the age of 21.

According to the AA driving school the average cost of a driving lesson in the UK currently is £24, which makes the prospect of having to afford 47 quite expensive; particularly among a group who are already being hit by increased education fees and a pressurised job market.

Tiger (now defunct)

It goes on to say that there is a “worrying trend” to ignore the DSA’s advice and to try to learn without “professional” help in order to save money.

Tiger then summarises typical costs involved in going from novice to on-the-road (likely to be higher for some males, and assuming first time passes):

• provisional licence – £50
• lessons – £1,128
• learner insurance – £256
• test fees – £106
• used car – £1,350
• road tax – £130
• insurance – £2,431

This amounts to £5,451, of which driving lessons represent 20% of the overall outlay.

What the article fails to mention, though, is that if someone is given poor training then they won’t usually pass. Some will, but most won’t – so they end up having to take lessons anyway, make multiple attempts at the test, and the overall cost usually ends up higher than if they’d done it properly in the first place.

And there is something else that Tiger (and the DSA, and the AA) has missed. Not all instructors are equal – in more ways than one.

I’ve just picked up a new pupil. When I enquired about her driving experience, she told me she’d had 14 hours with an instructor, but she wasn’t happy with how well she was progressing so she wanted a new trainer. She told me she hadn’t done any of the manoeuvres, and had just driven around on lessons. I concluded that she could probably drive quite well, so I’d begin introducing a couple of manoeuvres once I’d checked out her driving.

On her first lesson she couldn’t even get the car moving without stalling. She’d never had the clutch explained to her, never done any clutch control exercises, and – it turned out from the look of terror on her face when I moved out on to a main road – never driven on proper roads!

When I questioned her on this, it seems that her instructor often turned up late, picked her up and drove her to a location, let her drive for an hour, then drove her back home – usually finishing early. She was paying for 2 hour lessons, but getting little more than 1 hour of driving much of the time. Seven lessons of this – and around £300 of her money – she’d gotten wise. But many don’t.

The thing is, there is nothing wrong with her driving. In one 2 hour lesson I got her doing a turn in the road to the point where all she has to do is practice it, discovered that she is a natural reverse steerer for the corner reverse exercise, and introduced the parallel park. On her second lesson, which was just an hour, we did clutch control exercises on a hill and she was able to drive in slow traffic and move off at junctions without stalling.

After 14 hours, she should have already covered most of that, and definitely how to move off properly, because she was easily capable of learning it. Instead, she’d been taught to find the bite before/without gas and work the rest out for herself (she doesn’t know if she’d been using diesel or not, but I have my suspicions).

So Tiger (and the DSA, and the AA) need to be careful not to gloss over these sorts of problems. They’re far more common than many would like to believe. Not all “professionals” are professional, and some parents are capable of doing an infinitely better than some instructors.

As of February 2015 this old story is getting a lot of hits through Twitter. Remember: it IS originally from 2011, and VOSA combined with DSA to form DVSA last year.

An email alert from the DSA:

Car MOT text reminder service

The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) has set up a new MOT text reminder service for customers. By registering, you’ll get text messages telling you when your MOT is due.

How the MOT text reminder service works

To benefit from the MOT text reminder service you will need to register your details with VOSA. Once registered, three text reminders will be sent to your mobile phone to remind you of your MOT date.

They will be sent:

• five weeks before
• two weeks before
• the day before

The text message reminders will include the vehicle registration number and MOT due date.

To use this service there is a one-off charge of £1.50 (including VAT). This charge will be collected through your mobile phone network provider once your registration has been accepted.

If you do subscribe for the MOT text reminder service, you will still be responsible for ensuring your vehicle has its MOT test by the due date. This is regardless of whether you receive the MOT reminder texts.

Find out more about how the service works and how you can register on Directgov.

• MOT text reminder service : Directgov – Motoring

The May issue of Despatch is now available. Click the logo to download a copy.

In this issue there’s an article about better enforcement and penalties for dangerous drivers, an update on the motorcycle test review, a bit about the crackdown on uninsured drivers, some complete gobbledegook about CIECA (I wonder if Paul Butler realises what a load of crap that “Point of View” article is?), a bit about the new theory test and how autism sufferers are being catered for (though undoubtedly this will not satisfy some self-styled “experts” out there on the forums), and a round up about theory test centre closures, independent driving pass rates, etc.