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Government gives go-ahead for professional drivers' qualification

Plans to introduce a new professional qualification for bus, coach and lorry drivers have been given the go-ahead by the government - in future, just holding a driving licence will not be sufficient.

The new qualification being introduced by the Driving Standards Agency - the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence - will also affect bus, coach and lorry drivers from other countries in the European Union as equivalent arrangements are being introduced across Europe. The new qualification will be introduced in 2008 for bus and coach drivers and in 2009 for lorry drivers.

Transport minister Dr Stephen Ladyman said: "This development will lead to road safety benefits and better motoring for everyone."

For more information contact the DSA on 0115 901 5874/5 or go to www.dsa.gov.uk

Police in picture over cameras

Road safety minister Dr Stephen Ladyman has moved to reassure the police that there will still be funds for safety cameras, despite moves to encourage councils to adopt other road safety initiatives (Surveyor, 16 March).

He told MPs that the police would remain 'key partners' when councils and others were allowed greater freedom to pursue whichever agreed mix of road safety measures was judged to be the most effective locally.

From 31 March next year, revenue from offences detected by cameras will have to be handed over to the Treasury, but £110m will be handed back to councils to fund road safety initiatives.

Irish campaign focuses on non-nationals

Following a spate of fatal road accidents in the Republic of Ireland involving foreign nationals, the National Safety Council (NSC) has launched a new campaign targeting ethnic communities.

The campaign includes a leaflet and poster entitled Road Safety & the Law, which have been translated into eight foreign languages. An English and Irish language version of the leaflet is also available.

The leaflet and poster will be distributed through the minority ethnic press, ethnic shops, advice centres, ports and airports.

The NSC is also running a newspaper advertising campaign in the minority ethnic press in Ireland in April and September 2006.

Launching the initiative, transport minister, Martin Cullen, said: "The number of minority ethnic groups and migrant workers living in Ireland has increased in recent times and it is important that integration into the community is given a high priority. A language specific to nationalities should assist in getting the message across to all road users." 

For the full story go to: http://www.tnn.co.uk

LAPC pushes walk to school booklet

The London Accident Prevention Council is encouraging RSOs to order copies of its Walking to School booklet in preparation for Walk to School Week in May 2006.  

The booklet, which costs 15p plus P&P, encourages parents and carers to see walking as a safe and healthy alternative to the school run.

Vandals smash SIDs

Three 'SID' vehicle-activated signs have been attacked on Teeside - apparently by people believing they are safety cameras. The vandals climbed up the lamp columns and smashed the back panels.

The council's road safety manager, Mike Hall, has condemned the actions as 'mindless vandalism'. "We only put these devices where local people ask for them," he said. "We have lost a few of these now and just can't understand why these should be vandalised.

Leaflets are being distributed to homes and schools in an effort to highlight the problem and the safety benefits of the devices.  

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

'Morning after' offences on the increase

More people are being referred onto a rehabilitation course organised by TTC - often as a result of being detected the morning after.

TTC director Jenny Wynn says this is probably due to the increase in licensing opening hours.

"People are drinking into the early hours and getting a taxi home - but they are still over the limit when driving to work the next morning," she explained.

A survey of offenders who had attended a rehabilitation course found that almost one in five were arrested the following day. People did not know how long alcohol stayed in the body or how many units of alcohol they had drunk.

For further information contact the TTC Group on 01952 292246 or go to www.ttc-uk.com.

Cyclists in the gutter

The national cycling organisation, CTC, has collected thousands of signatures in a bid to try to get new wording in the Highway Code changed.

The new code advises cyclists to use bike lanes where provided, but the CTC say this will make travelling on two wheels more dangerous - because of rubbish, parked cars, deep drains, and lanes barely wider than a bike.

It fears that this advice could put cyclists at risk - and that drivers' insurance companies will try to avoid paying damages to cyclists injured after riding in the road rather than a nearby cycle path.

For the full story go to: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4789146.stm

Cameras 'lottery', Scotsman says

Drivers 'run the gauntlet of up to 16 times more speed cameras in some parts of the country', according to a report in The Scotsman last week.

The 'speed trap league table' was disclosed by transport minister Dr Stephen Ladyman in a Parliamentary written answer.

The safety camera partnership with the highest concentration of cameras - Mid and South Wales - has 377, compared to just 23 in Dumfries and Galloway.

Thames Valley has 344 camera sites and there are 320 in London. But there are just 29 in Scotland's Northern Constabulary area and 31 in Hertfordshire.

The report says this is the first time that the number of cameras in each region has been disclosed.

"The deployment of cameras is a lottery," said Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation for Motoring. "There are such huge discrepancies that it isn't a coherent national policy."

For the full story go to: http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=374032006

Safety group wants end to 14-year-old riders

The pressure group Steps wants to see the minimum age for motor scooter riders in Guernsey increased from 14 to 16 years.

"There is a big jump in the number of children admitted to A & E between the ages of 13 and 14," said Steps' chairman Rob Gregson. "They really need to be protected from themselves."

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

Europe cuts road deaths

The number of road deaths in the EU has fallen from around 50,000 in 2001 to 41,600 in 2005 (Surveyor, 9 March).

The European Commission described this as 'progress, but not enough'. It wants member states to halve the rate to 25,000 by 2010.

CPRE calls to push limits further

Fresh guidance on local speed limit-setting would help highway authorities to focus on roads where there is a widespread disregard for limits, as well as those with a poor casualty history, according to the Campaign to Protect Rural England (Surveyor, 9 March).

CPRE also wants inappropriate speed, as well excessive speed, to be tackled. Paul Hamblin, CPRE's transport policy officer, said it was difficult to exceed the 'inappropriate' 60mph national limit in many cases.

Road safety minister, Stephen Ladyman, said the guidance - to inform the national review of speed limits on A and B roads by 2011 - would be published 'soon'.

135mph terror for BMW driver

A motorist drove for 60 miles at speeds of 135mph after the accelerator on his BMW jammed and his brakes failed.

Kevin Nicolle was on the A1 near Thirsk in North Yorkshire when the car started to accelerate. "I was in tears most of the time on the phone to the police - I really could see myself dying," he said.

He had to drive on the hard shoulder to avoid crashing but eventually lost control and hit a roundabout near Blyth in Nottinghamshire, but escaped unhurt.

"I was travelling down the motorway and came to traffic in front of me," he said. "I took my foot off the accelerator because it's automatic - but I wasn't slowing down at all. I hit the brakes. They were braking OK - they were keeping me at about 70mph.

"So I phoned the police after I called the AA and they said 'stick your hazard lights and headlights on - we've got a helicopter en route to you'."

Police patrol cars struggled to catch up with the BMW 318.

As he approached Blyth he saw a sign for a roundabout. "There was a load of cars parked waiting to go onto the roundabout, so I went on the inside on the hard shoulder to try to get around it. But doing that sort of speed there was no chance and I hit the roundabout head on. I survived the accident but I thought I was going to die in the fire."

Miraculously he walked away completely unhurt - and says he is now considering giving up driving for good.

The police took the car away for tests and BMW will carry out a full investigation.

BMW's UK media relations manager, Duncan Forrester, said: "I would like to reassure anybody driving any BMW that we see this as nothing more than a freak accident.

"We have absolutely no record of anything such as this happening in the past, hence the reason why we want to take a close look at it."

The R registration car had 107,000 miles on the clock and had three months remaining on the MOT.

For the full story go to:-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4796264.stm

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