The Suffolk Free Press reports that a driving instructor, Philip Devereux, was on a lesson with a pupil and the car was involved in a collision with another vehicle. When breathalysed, he was found to be almost twice the legal limit! The incident occurred on 5 October 2013.
He was banned for 12 months, and fined a total of just over £300.
The story doesn’t mention whether or not his ADI badge will be revoked or not (nor does it mention if anyone was injured). But going by the book, it probably will be. What a way to end your career.
This story has been covered in the press and in a DSA email alert, Apparently, the government (I’m not sure if they mean Mickey or Donald) has decided that drivers need their help. According to The Mail, this means freezing the MoT charge until 2015, erecting signs along motorways to warn motorists of rip-off prices, and “reviewing” the cost of the driving test and provisional licence. Oh, and some stuff about stopping liars and lawyers cashing in on whiplash claims.
The one about road signs is already the only issue that matters as far as The Mail is concerned.
But in all honesty, it is just a joke. The MoT costs nearly £55, and if I remember correctly that went up from the previous price of £38 about four years ago. An MoT is only required for cars older than three years, and it has to be renewed annually after the first one, so if the price went up now it would only jump by £10-£20. That would equate to a massive additional outlay equivalent up to 5½ pence per day.
I think we’re all grateful to the government for freezing that one until 2015 (even though it will then go up by a larger amount to make up for lost time)!
Then there is the plan to erect illuminated price signs along the motorways so that you know how much it costs to fill up at the services en route.
Ministers hope it will highlight the sums being charged by some garages that believe they have a ‘captive market’, and encourage them to compete for custom.
So, these would be illuminated signs like the ones you get outside garages on non-motorway routes? Fantastic idea, and well worth the hundreds of thousands of pounds of MPs’ time which were no doubt required to come up with it!
Returning to Planet Earth, there is then the “review” of the cost of the driving test and a provisional licence. The test costs £62 at the moment, and somehow I can’t really imagine the price going down. Of course, a lot of instructors out there – especially the ones who have recently been trying to get into politics themselves – believe that the test is too expensive on the grounds that the hourly pro rata rate is more than instructors can command for lessons. Some will even go so far as to mention how the test only cost about £5 back in the 70s – even though £5 in 1970 would be worth £65.50 in 2013 money! Even after decimalisation the equivalent today would have been £35 or more. Therefore, the test has not gone up by that much.
But above all that, the structure of the part of government that manages tests is far too bureaucratic to justify being able to cut the price, and the only possible direction – apart from freezing it artificially – is upwards.
Oh yes. And the provisional licence costs £50. It is paid for once by 99% of the population.
If the idiots really wanted to cut costs for motorists they could do two things:
cut fuel duty
prosecute Nottingham City Council for commencing protracted simultaneous road works across the City
I told you we hadn’t heard the last of this one. It’s going to run, and run… and then run some more. Especially with driving instructors like this opening their mouths.
In spite of almost every organisation welcoming the changes at least in part (though the AA’s spokesman and president is so far removed from reality his views are highly misleading), this driving instructor from Wigan is against it.
But Pat Caulwell, of Gidlow Motoring School, said the recommendations would be punishing the majority of young drivers because of the irresponsible actions of the few.
As I’ve pointed out many times, driving instructors are not usually the sweetest grapes on the bunch, and consequently Mr Caulwell appears incapable of understanding the concept of risk. Every single driver is a risk. Every single new driver is a bigger risk, and every single young new driver is a huge risk. The accident statistics prove it, and it’s why insurance premiums are higher for young new drivers.
Risk is a probability, not a certainty. If you look at something like a coin toss, where the probability (or risk) of a head or tail is 50:50, then this would equate to a young driver having the same risk of an accident as an experienced one. However, although they only make up 12% of the driving population, they account for 25% of all road deaths and serious accidents – just imagine how many they’d account for if they made up 50% of the driving population! If you compare that to a coin toss, you’re going to be coming up with tails a lot more than heads..
People like Caulwell need to get a grip and face up to the reality that young drivers are a huge risk. Even if the majority manage not to have accidents, they still could. A significant minority do – and since we’re talking about fatalities here, there is much more at stake than a paltry 5 minutes of fame in an obscure rag for someone who doesn’t understand what he’s talking about.
One in five young drivers have an accident of some sort within the first six months of passing their test. Carrying three passengers triples the underlying accident risk. With these fact staring you in the face, airtime should not given to people like Caulwell, who clearly haven’t got a clue. And to hell with namby-pamby nonsense like “working shifts” and “looking for a job”. No one should be allowed to endanger someone else’s life just so they can “work shifts”. When I was younger, I went through several periods of not being able to run a car, but I still got to work whenever I needed to.
A licence is a privilege, not a right. A car is a luxury, not a necessity.
The DSA is offering 35% off all practical test learning materials until 20 October 2013 to celebrate “Practical Test Week” (how come I hadn’t heard of that?)
Make sure you use the promotional code PT13 when you check out on the TSO website.
A mandatory requirement for 120 hours of lessons could leave learner drivers footing a bill for £3,360 of lessons before even taking a test.
Some amateur hack with a calculator must have worked that one out. Shame they didn’t have a clue in the first place.
To start with, the number the hack came up with is based on an hourly lesson rate of £28 – and that’s in spite of someone in the article being quoted as saying average hourly rates are £18 (which would add up to £2,160). If instructors are charging £28 an hour in some areas, that’s what the market will stand, and it has no bearing on the rate charged in depressed areas because people there will not be paying £28.
Secondly, the proposals do not say that the entire 120 hours has to be with a driving instructor. Most learners have access to a car for private practice – many who never actually do any private practice still have access to a car if their parents would insure them. If the system changes, then so will the parents have to.
And finally, it will cost more in order to stop people killing themselves – no matter how that is achieved. Is that really as much of a bad thing as the Express and those it is quoting are making out? These lowlife hacks spend their lives whingeing about road deaths, and then oppose any plan to try and change it with rubbish stories like this one.
Another hot story is the one about raising the age at which people can take their tests to 18. As I mentioned in this article, there are plans to introduce a graded licence system and to introduce various restrictions on new drivers. So it is a little surprising to hear what the AA president, Edmund King, has to say after casting doubt on the plan:
What we’d like to see is to teach people to drive more carefully before they pass their test.
I think Mr King is about as far above the actual process of teaching “people to drive” as it’s possible to get. In other words, totally out of touch with reality. No one down at the sharp end with an ounce of intelligence would believe it were that simple. It’s wishy-washy nonsense.
The fact – and it IS a fact, Mr King – is that new drivers have already been taught how to drive properly. They’ve already been taught how to drive carefully. The fact that they do not is down to their experience, maturity, and upbringing. It is impossible to reconcile the first two without the passage of time. Experience takes time to develop, as does maturity.
The most mature 17-year old in the world could still be involved in an accident because of inexperience. And the most experienced 17-year old (if such existed) could still have an accident as a result of immaturity. It is a basic Law of Nature. It has held true since the first written records of human history, and it has persisted until the present.
And still you get people who think that a few namby-pamby words can make it all all right.
New drivers need to be kept out of certain high-risk situations until they have developed experience and maturity. It’s not as if these new proposals want to wrap them in cotton wool or anything – the aim is just to keep cars full of immature prats off the roads, especially at night, in the face of overwhelming evidence to support it.
That previous (well, previous to the previous) story about tests only being carried out in English from next year is hot news at the moment. A follow up story from the Beeb tells how Allyson Ng cheated on tests she was acting as interpreter for by giving the answers to pupils. The licences of 94 people were revoked as a result. Her operation was mainly based in Cardiff, with a small number in Birmingham.
Ng was charging people £110 a time for her “services”. DSA staff became suspicious when there was a sudden upturn in those using her.
She was jailed for 12 months for fraud.
However, this story illustrates one big reason why it is important that foreign language tests are eliminated as soon as possible.
Much of it is a rehash of what has been said before. However, it is worth taking a look at the TRL paper it’s based on, because that is quite new and it outlines all the proposals to be considered. I just wish they’d talk in English instead of convoluted gov-speak. Attempting to sift out the important bits, we have:
graduated driving licence
minimum learning period
mandatory daytime and night time lessons
mandatory training log book
12-month probationary licence on passing the test at age 18+
mandatory P plates during probationary period
night time 10pm-5pm curfew unless accompanied by someone 30+ years old
ban on carrying passengers under age 30
lower alcohol limit
ban on use of mobile phones (including hands-free)
Let’s hope they get off their arses and do something before we all die of old age!
An email bulletin from the DSA states that from 7 April 2014, candidates will no longer be able to take Theory Tests with foreign language voiceovers, or Practical Driving Tests using an interpreter. This action follows the consultation carried out earlier this year, the results of which can be read here.
Note that Special Needs candidates will still be able to take their Theory Tests with English or Welsh voiceovers, and hearing-impaired candidates will still be able to take the Theory Test in British Sign Language (BSL) and use a BSL interpreter on their Practical Test. Other candidates will still be able to take their tests in Welsh (though Lord knows why they should have to, except in order to make some sort of political statement).
I fully support this action. However, I don’t think we’ve heard the last of it just yet…
And I also predict a rush of people hurrying to take tests before the deadline, so anyone learning to drive should bear this in mind as it is possible waiting times will increase.
Can I use an interpreter on my Practical Test?
Yes, until 7 April 2014. After that time you will have to do the test in English or Welsh.
Can I do my Theory Test with a voiceover in my first language?
Yes, until 7 April 2014 – and assuming that your language is one of those supported. After that time you will have to do the test in English or Welsh.
I’m a bit late putting this up, but well done Matthew, who passed first time on Friday with just 3 driver faults. He’s been a nice guy to teach – and we got that serious case of “bungee leg” under control, after all!
Anyway, he keeps my pass rate at 60% for the year to date, and he gets me back on track after two recent fails – one of which is unfortunately a serial failer, with 5 fails to date, always for something different (we’ll get there, though, no matter how long it takes).
that drivers need their help. 
thousands of pounds of MPs’ time which were no doubt required to come up with it!
understanding the concept of risk. Every single driver is a risk. Every single new driver is a bigger risk, and every single young new driver is a huge risk. The accident statistics prove it, and it’s why insurance premiums are higher for young new drivers.
voiceovers, or Practical Driving Tests using an interpreter. This action follows the consultation carried out earlier this year, the 
I’m a bit late putting this up, but well done Matthew, who passed first time on Friday with just 3 driver faults. He’s been a nice guy to teach – and we got that serious case of “bungee leg” under control, after all!