The CTSB (Cyclist Training Standards Board) has published a consultation document regarding the future management and quality assurance of the National Standard.
LARSOA’s representative on the CTSB, Steve Whitehouse, is encouraging all RSOs involved with National Standard training to participate in the consultation process.
He says: “There are important changes to scheme registration for Bikeability and the way instructor training providers are managed.
“For RSOs there is an additional issue as LARSOA may choose to become one of the ‘Accrediting Bodies’ along with a number of other national stakeholders.
“I will be briefing the LARSOA officer group in early May, and welcome thoughts on this as there are many pros and cons.”
Click here to download the consultation document – the closing date for responses is 9 May.
For further information contact Steve Whitehouse on 0151 934 4231. Views on LARSOA becoming an Accrediting Body on behalf of local authorities should be emailed to Steve before 30 April.
UK drivers 'plagued' by pot holes
Drivers are plagued by more than 3.5 million holes in our roads, according to a survey by the Asphalt Industry Alliance.
The survey found there are a record number of potholes and roadworks across England and Wales - and that an average of £53m is being paid out in compensation claims every year for damage to vehicles or accidents caused by poor roads.
Asphalt Industry Alliance chairman Jim Crick said: "Despite some increase in government funding over recent years, it seems that highways maintenance is still suffering from historically being treated as the Cinderella service."
Northern Ireland's environment minister Arlene Foster has confirmed that a ban on smoking at the wheel is one of a series of measures aimed at cutting the relatively high death toll on the province's roads.
"This is one of a range of proposals which will be considered in the preparation for a new road safety strategy," the minister said.
Foster is understood to have been won round to banning smoking in cars and lorries after a court case connected to a fatal road crash in Northern Ireland in which two children died. In April 2006 Wayne Johnston was jailed for five years on two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and one of causing grievous bodily injury.
Foreign lorry drivers are breaking UK safety laws and risking lives, an ITV programme has claimed.
They are three times more likely to have a crash than local truckers and four times more likely to drive when tired, according to the Tonight reports programme.
Chief inspector Phil Hibbert said: "We would like to be able to fine lorries at the roadside."
Too many road signs could be making driving more dangerous, according to a new study reported in The Guardian last week.
Oliver Clark, of the University of Hull, investigated the effect of visual distractions on drivers, using a 3D driving simulator.
In the experiment volunteers had to control a crosshair in the centre of the screen and respond to road signs asking them to slow down or give way to traffic. Meanwhile, they were distracted by objects such as advertising hoardings and petrol station signs at the edges of the screen.
The results showed an increase in reaction time of 100 milliseconds between 'no load' and 'overload' - equivalent to around an extra metre and a half in stopping distance.
Ask most people who’s the biggest menace on the road and they will probably say ‘boy racers’ - but the West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership says they don’t deserve their reputation.
Analysis of speeding and red light offences in West Yorkshire by age revealed that, out of a total of 141,242 offences, 9737 were committed by drivers aged 16-24.
However, 28,738 were by 25-34 year olds and 38,529 by 35-44 year olds. All together, older and more experienced drivers accounted for more than 93% of speeding offences.
Partnership chair Steve Thornton, said: “It’s easy to blame young people for the ills of society. They are an easy target to brand as speeders but these new figures prove this is not the case. You’d think that older, more mature and more experienced drivers would set a better example.”
For further information contact Philip Gwynne on 01274 437420.
Are motorists learning to love cameras?
More motorists are accepting safety cameras as part of life on the road, according to an IAM Motoring Trust Survey.
Of 500 motorists questioned, 78% approved of cameras – up 9% from 2007 (but still down on the near 90% approval in 1999).
Kevin Delaney, head of road safety for the IAM Trust, says: “This survey confirms a recent downward trend in numbers of drivers being caught by safety cameras.
"Hopefully, it is because more believe that safety cameras save lives, but it could be to do with motorists becoming more aware of where cameras are sited. Either way, the trends are good news for road safety."
For further information contact Kevin Delaney on 0208 996 9774.
Parking fine quashed after colour clash
Teacher Paul Adams is celebrating after successfully claiming a £70 parking fine was invalid because the ticket was in the wrong-coloured packet.
Mr Adams, from Dunsford, received the fine in Exeter last November, but refused to pay it. After carrying out research on the Internet, he found that tickets issued by private parking firms must be designed to look different to the Penalty Charge Notices issued by traffic wardens.
The ticket, from APCOA, was issued in a black and yellow packet very similar to those issued by wardens. And after writing to the company to point out the similarities, and the relevant law, Mr Adams was told that the fine had been revoked.
Mr Adams said he had been parking in the same spot for the last four years without receiving a ticket. He contacted the police about the incident but was told it was a civil matter.
After contacting APCOA he received a short reply a few days later informing him that the ticket would be cancelled, although his details would be kept on file in case he flouted the rules again.
He said: "I was not harassed by the company but I am concerned that hundreds of other people could be paying without realising the tickets are invalid."
