You can read the latest edition of Despatch here. In this issue they cover proposed changes to the route to becoming an ADI, the DSA/VOAS merger, a change to the situation regarding disabled ADIs, a report on a clampdown on illegal instructors, and the usual roundup of other stuff.
I still wish that Despatch was about 10 pages longer – the articles really need more space. Then again, the attention span of 21st century readers probably wouldn’t be able to cope.
This came through on the newsfeeds. It says that from next year, VOSA (or Vosa) and the DSA will merge into a single, yet-to-be-named organisation. Both agencies will continue in their current forms for at least the next 12 months.
There is mention of the possibility of “[reduced] fees” – and I take that to mean the possibility of cheaper driving tests and cheaper ADI licences. We’ll have to see.
Rosemary Thew, the current DSA Chief Executive, is leaving at the end of the month. No mention is made of why.
The merger appears to have come about as a result of the consultation on motoring services strategies which ran for 3 months from December 2012.
Edit: This DSA Alert just came through with the announcement. The alert says that Rosemary Thew is “stepping down and leaving the Civil Service”.
There’s no mention of Alastair People’s (the new joint Chief Executive) comment about possible lower costs.
This came through via the DSA newsfeed, although it has been covered by all the main media today. The problem is that no one in the media (or 
anywhere else) seems to quite understand what it is they’re getting themselves all excited about. The BBC headlines the story by referring to “middle-lane hoggers” only, but tailgating is also involved.
Let’s just clarify what “middle-lane hogging” is, because the Audi drivers out there have already convinced themselves that this is going to keep at least two lanes open for their sole use in future. If you’re driving at 70mph on the motorway in the middle lane you are not hogging it if there is traffic to your left, or if you are likely to get boxed in behind that traffic if you were to move over into every gap. Unnecessary lane changing is probably more dangerous than moving steadily past slower traffic – and what motorway these days carries so little traffic that the left-hand lane isn’t fully occupied by slower-moving lorries and other vehicles most of the time? Let’s face facts here: if you’re driving along at 70mph, anyone who is travelling faster and catches up with you is breaking a much clearer existing law themselves, irrespective of which lane you’re in.
“Middle-lane hogging” is when (for example) someone is driving below the speed limit unnecessarily in the middle lane, perhaps (for example) going slower than the left lane, or maybe (for example) if they’re in it when there is nothing in the left lane at all – whether they’re driving at the speed limit or not. The term applies equally to people who drive in the third or outside lanes unnecessarily. The Highway Code is clear on the subject:
261
You MUST NOT exceed 70 mph (112 km/h), or the maximum speed limit permitted for your vehicle (see Speed limits table). If a lower speed limit is in force, either permanently or temporarily, at road works for example, you MUST NOT exceed the lower limit. On some motorways, mandatory motorway signals (which display the speed within a red ring) are used to vary the maximum speed limit to improve traffic flow. You MUST NOT exceed this speed limit.
Law RTRA sects 17, 86, 89 & sch 6
264
You should always drive in the left-hand lane when the road ahead is clear. If you are overtaking a number of slower-moving vehicles, you should return to the left-hand lane as soon as you are safely past. Slow-moving or speed-restricted vehicles should always remain in the left-hand lane of the carriageway unless overtaking. You MUST NOT drive on the hard shoulder except in an emergency or if directed to do so by the police, HA traffic officers in uniform or by signs.
Laws MT(E&W)R regs 5, 9 & 16(1)(a), MT(S)R regs 4, 8 & 14(1)(a), and RTA 1988, sects 35 & 186, as amended by TMA 2004 sect 6
“Tailgating” is technically any time when you are driving so close to another vehicle that you wouldn’t be able to stop safely if they braked hard (i.e. if you’re closer than two chevrons, where chevrons are painted on the road, or if you are not following the “two second rule”). However, even though driving too close is dangerous and anyone doing it deserves to be pulled over, the type of tailgating being being referred to is specifically the deliberate and aggressive kind intended to intimidate people and make them move out of the way. This aggressive form is a serious problem.
Another thing we should clarify is what these changes actually involve. At present, if the police saw someone tailgating or middle-lane hogging (which are already offences), they’d have to pull them over and then report them for processing by the courts. The process is slow and bureaucratic, and judging by what you see on Road Wars and similar shows, the police could have HD video footage from twenty different patrol cars of the guilty party driving within centimetres of another car, forty witnesses, and yet the case might still be thrown out as a result of “lack of evidence” or because some over-worked plod had spelled someone’s name wrong on a form.
But from July, instead of going down that route, the police will be able to issue roadside fixed penalties of £100 (with three-points attached) for careless driving offences such as those mentioned. Drivers will still be able to appeal through the courts. This is the only real change – as I said, all the offences mentioned were already offences before the change.
But it doesn’t mean that people need to start jostling to get into the left-hand lane every time they pass a lorry when there’s another one a few hundred metres ahead. Nor do they need to slam on their brakes and move over if they see a patrol car. Whenever we get a new law like this, everyone starts going on about the police trying to meet quotas for fines. But the simple fact is that you have to be doing something significantly wrong to get pulled over. Even now, the police can pull people over for using mobile phones and fine them/issue points, but they seldom do. All that’s happened is that tailgating and middle-lane hogging are now on the same list as mobile phones, and under the jurisdiction of the police.
This is an old article. Look at the date.
An alert from the DSA (DVSA from2014) informs ADIs that from 27 June 2013, tests will be conducted from a new test centre in Beeston. They did the right thing this time and waited until it was all sorted out before telling people.
The important thing to remember – and I guarantee that this will be too complicated for some people to understand, or impossible for some of them to accept – is that you cannot go into the test centre to practice. Access is controlled by a barrier and a security guard. And it looks like bay parking will be an optional manoeuvre now.
There’s no mention of when tests at Watnall will cease (from late 2014 tests recommenced at Watnall to cover for the closure of the Clarendon Street trial). It is possible that they will continue for the foreseeable future given the horrendous waiting time that has built up (no available tests are shown before the end of September).
A new DVD is available from TSO aimed at those wishing to become driving instructors. I should clarify that it is firmly aimed at Part 1 of the qualifying process, although there is a bit of other stuff present.
If you’re just starting out, there’s no harm in getting this because it has all the necessary questions for you to study for Part 1. However, I still prefer the Focus Multimedia option because it’s cheaper and of proven quality.
An email alert from the DSA advises that from 17 June 2013 only the driving instructor will receive a copy of the criminal records check (I still refer to it as the CRB, though I suppose CRC ought to be used instead).
The DSA will still be informed electronically if there is anything on the check, and if that’s the case then they may ask to see the actual hard copy – the original, not a photocopy or scan – which they will then return to you.
The alert also indicates that from 29 may 2013 “certain old and minor offences” will be removed from the CRB check. I should point out that people shouldn’t get their hopes up, because use of any kind of drugs is one of the ones that will never be removed, and it is up to the DSA to decide if you’re fit to be on the Register or not.
I haven’t seen anyone whinging about this yet – probably because no one has been able to concoct a suitable blame formula to have a dig at the DSA!
Another display of stupidity by the union fossils. A strike is planned for Friday, 31 May 2013, but candidates are advised to turn up for tests as usual.
Remember that not all examiners are foolish enough to be members of the union and of those that are, they’re not so foolish that they will all take part in any strike action. Certainly around my way all tests appeared to go ahead during the last strike. However, be aware that the further north you travel, IQs seem to dip sharply, and so the desire to be involved in strike action does seem to be greater in these more northerly places.
There is also the possibility that the union will call off the strike at the last minute. It did that a few strikes ago, and all those who cancelled/changed their test dates did so needlessly.
Remember that it is not the DSA who is to blame here. It is an on going dispute over pensions, and it is affecting large parts of the civil service.
This is an old story from 2011. Note the amendment at the bottom.
That made me smile. Someone found the blog on the search term “Watnall test centre first time pass rate”.
As I reported recently, Watnall began conducting tests from 1 March 2013 on a temporary basis. Pass rates are usually updated every 3 months, and the last publication date was 28/2/2013. They are overall pass rates – they don’t go into detail about how many tries candidates had before passing. Such information has to be requested specifically, and often doesn’t exist anyway.
I have just updated the article I wrote on the probability of passing your test. Basically, if you can drive well then you stand a good chance of passing. If you aren’t ready for your test then you stand a good chance of failing. It’s down to ability – not probability.
Update: Watnall commenced conducting tests again from August 2014.
What is the pass rate at Watnall?
You can find current statistics on the DVSA’s website at GOV.UK. However, the pass rate at any given test centre has no bearing whatsoever on your chances of passing. You need to be able to drive properly to pass the test, and given that you are asking this question I would lay odds that you aren’t familiar with the Watnall test area – and that can affect your chances of passing.
This story from the Bromsgrove Standard says that driving tests will be available from Halfords in Bromsgrove from 19 June 2013. Tests will be conducted on Wednesdays and Fridays – the first time the town has had tests there in over 17 years.
I have my own reservations about this decentralisation thing. For a start, I’m fairly certain that the examiners conducting tests have not been employed in addition to those already covering Redditch and Birmingham, so it isn’t difficult to imagine who will be providing cover for Bromsgrove. You all know what happens when you spread butter too thinly, so you don’t need me to spell it out.
Bromsgrove managed perfectly well for 17 years without a test centre, so it is hard to find the logic in stretching the services at Redditch and Birmingham more thinly just so it can have one. Well, not unless you count trying to win votes as logical – this is, after all, a LibCon initiative.
An email alert from the DSA reports that the last day of testing at Taunton Goods Vehicle Testing Station will be 30 August 2013.
An alternative location is being sought. Other locations will be used in the meantime.