Newslink January 2022

News
Assessments offer new way forward as
driving population becomes older
Colin Lilly
Editor, MSA Newslink
A report by the Road Safety Foundation
has recommended that more use be
made of driving assessments as an
alternative to prosecution of older drivers
who commit offences on the road such
as driving through a red light, unnecessarily
slow driving or poor lane discipline.
Loveday pens a
New Year update
Shortly before Christmas the Chief
Executive of the DVSA, Loveday Ryder,
penned an open letter to ADIs in which
she discussed several key points as we
look forward to a new year that will
hopefully be less disrupted
by Covid-19
She stressed the
importance of learners
taking a lateral flow
test before their test,
in a bid to reduce the
chances of examiners
being infected. All examiners who test
positive are forced to self-isolate and
this can mean as many as 60 tests are
cancelled, she pointed out.
In a bid to reduce waiting times
driving test managers are carrying out
L-tests for two days a week. In
addition, 126 of the new cohort of
examiners have begun testing, with a
further 23 people going through their
training and 60 more ready to start
training this month. DVSA is also
recruiting more trainers to bring the
new examiners up to speed.
Finally, there was a request that
candidates inform the DVSA if they are
not going to attend their L-test
appointment. Over 40,000 learners
have not turned up for their driving test
since they restarted in April 2021, with
more than 6,600 L-test slots wasted in
November alone.
These tests could have been used by
other people, she stressed.
Click here to read
the letter in full
Currently there are 5.7 million holders
of a full driving licence over the age of
70 in the UK, and this number will
increase over the next few years.
It is also estimated that fatalities on
the road for 70–79-year-olds over the
next 20 years will increase by as much
as 40 per cent.
The Foundation believes that following
this advice for more assessments, along
with compulsory eye tests, will reduce
Shock as ratio of public charging
points to electric cars rises sharply
New analysis by the Society of Motor
Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has
revealed that the number of battery
electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles
potentially sharing a standard public
chargepoint rose from 11 vehicles per
charger to 16 between 2019 and 2020.
And the situation is going to get a lot
worse as research revealed that only
one new public charger is currently
being installed for every 52 new electric
vehicles registered, with cars that can
be plugged-in now accounting for one in
every six new car registrations.
these potential fatalities.
Experience has shown that some
intervention training can update the
knowledge and understanding of current
traffic procedures or identify that a driver
has reached the end of their driving
days.
Assessments alone may check the
current position but combining some
training and advice can have a more
positive outcome.
The drop in ratio amounts to a fall of
public charging points of 31 per cent.
While most people currently
purchasing an electric vehicle are likely
to be able to plug in at home, on a
driveway or designated parking bay
using their own charger, achieving
zero emission motoring will require all
drivers to make the switch to electric,
including those who depend on onstreet
parking.
SMMT said the government needs to
put in place commensurate targets for a
charging infrastructure roll-out,
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NEWSLINK n JANUARY 2022