DIA chairman awarded MBE

Graham Fryer, chairman of the Driving Instructors Association, has been awarded an MBE for his contribution towards road safety.

Graham founded the Driving Instructors Association (DIA) in 1978 to promote the interests of those professionally engaged in driver training and raise standards of driver and user education - and awareness of all aspects of road safety.

After more than 26 years under Graham's leadership, the DIA is the largest national organisation for professional driving instructors and road safety specialists in the world.

Graham said: "I am really pleased to receive this honour. I believe passionately that we need to improve driving standards not just in this country but all over the world. We have made great progress but there is still a great deal more to be done."

For further information contact Vikki Carley on 020 8665 8024 or email: newsdesk@driving.org

Commendation officially presented

The commendation LARSOA received for its road safety newsfeed was officially presented at the Prince Michael Awards ceremony at The Savoy in London during December.

Simon Ettinghausen (left in pic), LARSOA chair, received the award on behalf of the Association.

Over 900 road safety professionals are sent an email reminder with a link to the newsfeed every week. The DfT has recognised the value of the service, which has been running for more than four years, and now partners LARSOA in the project.

When the commendation was announced earlier in the year, Adrian Walsh, director of Roadsafe, said: "Delivering consistent, well crafted messages and effective public information programmes is essential for road safety - LARSOA's newsfeed has become an essential tool in this vital process."

RoSPA scoops award for fleet safety software

RoSPA 's Driver Profiler online risk assessment tool was named the Innovative Road Safety Product of the Year at the Highways Magazine Excellence Awards.

The award recognises products that are helping to achieve a reduction in incidents and casualties on the roads.

Driver Profiler, which was developed in partnership with BT, is a psychometric test that uses Internet technology to assess behaviour and attitude on the road without employees needing to leave the workplace. The results allow employers to deliver an appropriate level of driver training to each individual if required.

In 2005, Driver Profiler also won a British Safety Industry Federation Product Innovation Award.

For more information on Driver Profiler go to: www.rospa.com/drivertraining/managementinfo/driverprofiler.htm

Village 'worst for sign clutter'

A North Yorkshire village has set a new record for highway clutter, according to the RAC.

Residents in South Milford, near Selby, say there are 45 road signs in the space of about half a mile (0.8km). Villagers are calling for a clear out of the signs, which include warnings about roundabouts, pedestrians and other hazards.

The RAC said it was 'astonished' at the number of signs in the village, and that it was the worst case it had ever come across.

Resident Edward French said: "You can only concentrate on a certain number of things, and you're just faced with all this proliferation of signs. If you had to look at everything, you would not be concentrating on the road itself."

Highways bosses at North Yorkshire Council have promised to meet with local residents to discuss the matter further.  

For the full story go to: http://news.bbc.co.uk

Cabbie breaks land speed record
A Welsh cab driver was shocked when he was accused of speeding at 420mph.

Tom Matthews was in his 12-year-old Vauxhall Cavalier in Newport when he was caught by a safety camera. When the £60 fine and three penalty points arrived, the recorded speed was 420mph - in a 30mph zone.

"I drive an old Cavalier - not a jumbo jet," he said. "According to this, I've broken the land speed record."

"There has been a printing error. If they insist I was going that fast I should be a Grand Prix driver - I'm wasted in taxis."

Mid and South Wales Safety Camera Partnership apologised and blamed 'an employee processing error'.

For the full story go to:- http://www.ananova.com