Diary Of An ADI - A Driving Instructor's Blog

Nottingham Trent University To Commence Hosting Driving Tests

07/02/2013

This is an old story. Note that they stopped doing tests at Clarendon Street in late 2014. Clifton is still used. Watnall is also now on the list – so you have Colwick, Watnall, Beeston, Clifton as valid choices for your test.

I mentioned this in passing a few weeks ago. While registering with the DSA’s new ADI portal I noticed that one of the available Nottingham test venues was listed as Trent University Clifton Campus. At that time there wasn’t any further information available (I suppose if there had, 90% of Nottingham’s ADIs would have been heading over to the Clifton site and causing traffic chaos, just like they did when the Chalfont Drive relocation was mooted).

But now it has been officially announced.

Driving tests are now going to be hosted from Clarendon Street in the City Centre and from the Clifton Campus.

It’s only a trial and tests will only go out two days a week. The trial is expected to last 3 to 6 months, and will commence from March, the report says.

Tests are not restricted to students – they’re a local facility.

I don’t have a problem with either venue and – on paper – this is a great idea. However, I wouldn’t expect the city centre location to end up being very popular with candidates, and with work now technically in progress for the widening of the A453 (and the traffic chaos that will ensue – even above and beyond to continuous chaos that exists due to the A453 not being wider already – I can see the Clifton location faring badly if circumstances on the A453 take a poor turn.

This is one to watch, I think.

Result! Cassie’s Law Is Going To Happen

31/01/2013

DOAADI

ADI, Bad Drivers, News

Cassie McCord A reader provided me with this link, which I hadn’t seen – it’s in today’s Daily Mail.

Readers will be aware that I ran a few articles on the Cassie’s Law E-Petition. The petition closed last November, and I honestly thought that it had failed to gain enough support to be debated in Parliament.

The reader who sent the link referred to MY campaign. I wish I could claim that honour, but all I did was report on it and push it as hard as I could. I was not involved with it beyond that, and did not liaise with Jackie McCord (Cassie’s mother) in any way at all. The story just touched me – as well as hitting a nerve! The only thing I do know is that the stories I posted got quite a few hits and I’d like to think that this led to the petition gaining some extra signatures.

Anyway, as the story reveals, Cassie’s Law is to become LAW.*

For those not aware of the story, Cassie McCord was 16 when she was hit by an 87-year old driver who mixed up his accelerator and brakes, flew on to a pavement, and crushed her against a wall. He had already been involved in an accident days earlier and had refused to surrender his licence. Police were powerless to do anything.

You can read the full story for yourselves, but this was great news to see. And we mustn’t forget the others who lost their lives due to elderly drivers who shouldn’t have been on the road.

* the changes are not actually a change in the Law, but procedures have been put in place to get elderly and medically unfit drivers off the road quicker – something that would have saved Cassie’s life if it had been in place sooner.

Five Cheats A Day On Driving Tests

28/01/2013

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ADI, Driving Tests, News

A reader sent me this link to a story in The Sun (registered at the Post Office as a comic).

Under an FOI request – the first one of the year, and filling column inches now that there’s no snow to talk about – The Sun has discovered that around 5 tests a day during 2011/12 involved someone cheating or trying to cheat on one of the driving tests – by getting someone to do it for them, attempting to bribe the examiner, or even threatening physical violence. The majority were impersonations, however.

I do like some of the comments at the bottom of the story. The average Sun reader seems to be under the impression that showing a photo at the time of taking the test would solve all these problems.

Actually, candidates already do that: there’s a picture on their driving licence. But one huge problem with this is that not many people look anything like their photos to start with – even while the photo is still damp out of the instant-snap machine in the Co-op (those damned things must have a setting inside called “criminal”, because everyone looks like they were waiting to be put in a police cell overnight in them). Some were maybe going through a goth phase, or had just come out of one when they had the photo taken (I get loads of them), and the absence or otherwise of face metalwork, or the kaleidoscope range of hair colours and styles really puts a cat among the pigeons. And what if little Jonny or Kylie suddenly had a growth spurt a few weeks after sending off for their provisional?

The reality is that much of this attempted fraud is among people from countries where bribery and corruption is official government policy, and where identification from the data transferred to the UK is unreliable at best (some people change their identity in their home country, then that new persona is the only one they’re known by when they arrive in the UK). In many cases, the citizens of some of these countries have photos where they have black hair and long beards (even if that has changed since they moved to the UK).

So, a grainy photo is NOT going to resolve anything when someone dishonest decides to capitalise on this confusion.

Sorry, “crazy woman from Manchester” (the weirdo who wrote to me a while back), but this is exactly why the impersonators get away with it:

THEY LOOK ENOUGH LIKE WHAT THE PERSON THEY’RE IMPERSONATING USED TO LOOK LIKE FOR THE EXAMINERS TO GO AHEAD WITH THE TEST.

They know this, and they utilise the fact in their fraudulent endeavours. They know that the examiner daren’t raise issues for fear of being labelled racist, because unfortunately there are enough “crazy woman of Manchester” types around for this accusation to be made at the drop of a hat.

Examiners often stand back and do a double-take when they look at photos of my pupils. Much of the time they also consider who has brought the candidate to test – is it an ADI they know, or is the candidate unaccompanied? But if examiners put a block on just because someone looked a bit different from their photo, about 95% of all tests would get cancelled.

Biometric ID is the only way – and some people would even find a way around that.

That Chelsea Ball Boy Furore

26/01/2013

DOAADI

Funny

I had to laugh when I saw this picture.

As for the ball boy. He wasn’t hurt – although he’d put many a Premiership footballer to shame the way he pretended he was. He was interfering with play, when he shouldn’t have been. Hazard didn’t actually try to kick him – he tried to kick the ball. And I wonder if Swansea’s magnanimity in drawing a line under the affair would have been as great if they’d have lost?

As I say, Hazard went for the ball, frustrated by the fact that a grotty little hoodie with a Saturday job was holding on to it in an attempt to influence the outcome of the game. And if Swansea support the ball boy then they are a part of this attempt at cheating.

I love how the papers skirt round the issue of “time-wasting”. Time wasting is something players do. Snotty little nonentities like Charlie Morgan “interfere with play” – just as someone who runs on to the pitch would do.

Swansea should sack the ball boy and not allow him into the ground again. But they won’t (particularly seeing as he’s the son of.a club director).

Morgan is enjoying the attention he’s getting out of the affair.

DSA Alert: Examiner Strikes In February And March 2013

26/01/2013

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ADI, Driving Tests, DSA, News

The fossils in the PCS union have got yet more strikes on the way – three in quick succession, this time (it’s like when children get more and more naughty until someone takes notice of them).

Planned dates are 1st and 15th of February and 1st March – all in the afternoon. This time, though, the first date covers England, Scotland, and Wales, the second date just England and Scotland, and the last date just Wales (I bet the flip charts were steaming when they worked that one out).

In the link above, the DSA is correctly advising candidates to attend tests as they normally would. That’s because not all examiners are stupid enough to be in the union in the first place, and of those who are not all are THAT stupid that they will get involved in strike action. I should also point out that the further north you travel within the UK, the more stupid people apparently get (based on the statistics for test cancellations the last few strikes).

UPDATE: The one on 1st February has been cancelled. No doubt so it can be rearranged for a more inconvenient time for candidates.

Chalfont Drive Test Centre: Move Is Postponed

24/01/2013

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ADI, Driving Tests, DSA, News

This is an old story. As of September 2014, tests are conducted at Colwick, Beeston (near the train station), Clifton (on the Trent University campus), and Watnall (the old LGV testing station).

Chalfont Drive stopped doing tests in 2013. Clarendon Street (the Trent University campus in the city centre) ceased conducting tests in late August 2014 a few weeks prior to Watnall commencing operations.

UPDATE: From 1st March 2013 tests will be conducted from two temporary addresses – NOT FROM CHALFONT DRIVE.

UPDATE: From 27 June 2013 tests will be conducted from the new Beeston Test Centre. This is the new and permanent location.

The story below is from the archives.

I can’t say I’m surprised. It was reported in November last year that Chalfont Drive Test Centre was closing and moving to Beeston from the start of February 2013. A move had been on the cards for several years.

I reported earlier this month how the manager at Chalfont Drive had had to request that ADIs keep away from the proposed new site, as these idiots had been gridlocking the place in their desire to conduct lessons less than half a mile from whichever test centre their pupils will be taking their tests at. This was apparently jeopardising the deal, for which planning permission was not yet granted.

This email alert from the DSA notes that the move is now postponed. The test centre has been given leave to remain at Chalfont Drive “throughout February”.

The second section of the email is interesting. It says:

Longer term plan

Our longer term plan is still to open a new centre in the Nottingham area. We’ll let you know as soon as we’re able to confirm the operational date and details of the new test centre.

Reading between the lines, the new test centre ISN’T going to be in Beeston. I wonder if those prats who kept going down there are pleased with themselves. Even if it wasn’t they who contributed to the proposed deal in Beeston falling through, their lessons down there were an absolute waste of their pupils’ time (based on their own reasons for going there in the first place).

If the DSA has any sense at all, they won’t announce where the test centre is going to be this time around. Just move it, then tell people where it is and let them whine about it afterwards.

When (and where) will the new centre open?

We don’t know. This time, the DSA probably won’t tell anyone until the deal is done. And who can blame them?

EDIT: See the two updates at the top of this archived story.

Prat In Audi Drives At 70mph With Almost Zero Visibility Due To Snow Cover

23/01/2013

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ADI, Bad Drivers, News

This came through on the newsfeeds. A complete twat in an Audi – what else – was pictured on the M4 in Wales driving at around 70mph with a foot of snow on his car, and only a narrow slot on the front window to see out of.

It compares well with what I saw today: a BMW with private plates (reg. no. P19 RMW) doing similar speeds with a geometrically perfect half of the rear window – the driver’s side – covered in at least 6 inches of snow. He must have thought it was brilliantly funny to be doing that. He shot off down the ring road, and I could tell he’d passed because of the huge pile of snow half way down which had blown off – creating a skid hazard for everyone else.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Audi drivers and people with private plates shouldn’t be allowed to breed.

That report above was a result of the prat with the Audi being posted all over the internet – and police are now investigating. God! They’re SO clever, these idiots.

CRB Check Is Now DBS Check

18/01/2013

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ADI, DVSA, News, Training

An email alert advises that the CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check is now known as the DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check. Read more here.

Note that this link applies to England and Wales only – it’s a different process in Scotland and Northern Ireland (links for those are in the link above).

Note that ADIs are required to get one of these – the enhanced one – each time they renew their licence, and one is required to become a PDI.

How do I know if my DBS check is OK?

When it comes back, if it doesn’t say anything about you being wanted by Interpol or any other authority, you’re probably good to go.

It’s best if it is completely “blank” (like mine is). If there is ANYTHING in ANY of the sections – and especially if it is related to driving, drugs, violence, or children – you’ll need to check with DVSA to see if it’s a problem. It could be, and even if it isn’t, it probably should be – DVSA is dumbing down at the moment and you might get lucky even if you are still stealing cars and engaging in high-speed police pursuits (as the “pursuiee”) for a living.

You won’t find the answer on the internet, so don’t go spending any money on training until you have been accepted on to the Register.

Law On Foreign Licence Exchange Tightened

15/01/2013

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ADI, News, Transport

This email alert just came in. From 11 January 2013 (four days ago), the law has changed such that foreign drivers wishing to exchange their overseas licence for a UK one will have to prove that they have passed a test of comparable standard to the UK one.

This is a DVLA issue and nothing to do with the DSA.

Anyone from any EU member state can drive here and exchange their licence without having to take a test. There are also a number of ‘designated’ countries outside the EU which the UK has an arrangement with (typically, Commonwealth or former-Commonwealth countries, but not exclusively so – Korea is in there, and Switzerland).

But it seems that some of those countries allow foreign nationals from places where driving standards are poor to exchange their licences, and those people then have a shiny licence from a designated country to exchange over here. That’s the loophole that has been stopped by having to provide proof of having completed a test.

The only thing that’s niggling me is how they are going to police and enforce this.

Lying and fraud is second nature to some people and I don’t doubt for a moment that they will use such tactics to get the necessary “proof”. And how will the DVLA check?

Your guess is as good as mine.

Boiling Water On Tap

11/01/2013

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Food, General, Movies & TV

How on earth did this get by Health & Safety? It’s an accident waiting to happen.

Part of me says it’s a great idea, but when I saw it on TV just now the other part of me said bloody hell, that looks lethal.

What it is is a worktop mounted tap which produces instant boiling water. We’re not just talking about hot water – this is the full 100°C stuff. Real boiling water.

The one in the video has no sink under it, so I’m trying not to think of what would happen if you accidentally turned it on and hot water was blasted onto the surface and splashed down your front and legs. Or if a child – fascinated by the noise – climbed up to turn it on.

The Quooker website calls it “ultra-safe”, but I can’t see any signs (or data on the site) which indicate any kind of fail-safe mechanism being fitted. I could be wrong, but it is just a tap which provides boiling water under pressure.

I wonder what they’ll think of next. Above door heater curtains like you get in big stores using actual flames?