Learner driver publication features real photos and events
Driving instructor Andy Hall has published a book, Hazard Ahead, using real photos of events and junction, to help prepare learner drivers for the road.
He says the book, which will also be made available in CD format, has had a favourable response from the DSA, Driving Instructors Association (DIA) and the Association of Industrial Road Safety Officers (AIRSO).
Andy Hall says: “It has taken me around four years to compile 400 pictures of actual events on the roads, grouped into subjects that instructors teach in a general drive situation - ranging from meeting traffic to all weather driving.
”The book could be used in schools as part of the core curriculum and driving schools could also benefit from an additional teaching aid.”
For further information contact Andy Hall on 0771 255 3292.
Novel way to get a message across
A company offering personalised product for schools says its teddy bears are ideal for getting a road safety message across to children.
School Bears says it can print ‘anything’ onto the bear’s t-shirts – one council printed STOP, LOOK, LISTEN on the front of the t-shirt and their logo on the back.
For further information and to see examples go to: www.schoolbears.co.uk, or ring 01275 814087 to discuss an idea or request samples.
New role for driving examiners
Driving examiners at Bury St Edmunds and Cambridge driving test centres are taking on new roles by opening their doors to taxi testing.
Taxi drivers wanting to work in the area covered by St Edmundsbury Borough Council are now being assessed by the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) before being given a licence to drive a cab. More than 120 councils throughout Britain have already agreed to take taxi testing on board.
Hilary Workman, licensing services manager for St Edmundsbury, said: “The opportunity to participate in the DSA Taxi and Private Hire Car Driver Assessment Scheme is an excellent way to ensure drivers licensed by the council are of a consistently high standard.”
A father who accompanied his son on the walk to school by following him in the car to protest at the lack of pavements has been warned he could be arrested (Telegraph).
David Kirkwood, a self-employed builder, dressed his 10-year-old son Archie in a high-visibility jacket and drove slowly behind him in his red Fiesta topped with a sign which read: "Thank you for sharing the road. Archie is walking to school and back."
Mr Kirkwood said the move was intended to highlight the dangers of Archie walking to school along a 60mph country lane which has no pavements, which his father believes Essex County Council should have provided.
However, his protest was cut short when Essex Police officers picked up Archie in their police car and drove him to school over fears for his safety and warned his father he could be arrested if he repeated the act.
Click here to read the full Telegraph news report.
Modified cars 'could put lives at risk'
Lives are being put at risk by young motorists who modify their cars to boost performance, says the AA.
The motoring organisation wants tighter controls for things like nitrous oxide kits which are used to massively increase an engine's power.
AA Chairman Edmund King said: "We believe that many hundreds of lives are put at risk by these modified cars.
"Some 20% of new drivers have a crash in their first year of driving. If you then put them in a modified car that's harder to control, that's faster, that has an extra 200 brake horsepower, then accidents are much more likely to happen."
