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