Newslink April marketing special
Motor Schools Association of Great Britain - driving instructors - marketing and new members special. Road safety, driver training and testing
Motor Schools Association of Great Britain - driving instructors - marketing and new members special. Road safety, driver training and testing
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
<strong>Newslink</strong><br />
The Voice of MSA GB<br />
Issue 375 • <strong>April</strong> 2024 – Marketing Special Edition<br />
msagb.com<br />
WIN<br />
All new members<br />
entered into free<br />
draw for a £50<br />
Amazon voucher<br />
New documentary<br />
a ‘must watch’<br />
BBC film Drive Fast Die Young described<br />
as a ‘game changer’ in helping young<br />
men kick the dangerous driving habit<br />
MSA GB Conference:<br />
Full report inside<br />
from page 18<br />
Non-members<br />
<strong>special</strong> issue<br />
Join us today for just<br />
£60 *<br />
* Hurry! Special offer<br />
must end May 1<br />
We work for all Driver Trainers. Join us today at https://msagb.com/join
Welcome to MSA GB<br />
Mike Yeomans<br />
MSA GB<br />
National Chairman<br />
I’d like to say a warm welcome to<br />
members of the ADI and PDI<br />
community who are receiving their<br />
own link to this digital issue of<br />
<strong>Newslink</strong> for the first time.<br />
<strong>Newslink</strong> is the official membership<br />
magazine of the Motor Schools Association<br />
of Great Britain – or MSA GB, as it is more<br />
usually known.<br />
At MSA GB we represent driving<br />
instructors across Great Britain, lobbying<br />
government and the DVSA on your behalf<br />
while at the same time representing<br />
individual members when they become<br />
embroiled in dispute with the DVSA, the<br />
registrar or when problems arise at their<br />
local driving test centre. Our team is ready<br />
to advise, guide and help you to become the<br />
very best driving instructor you can<br />
possibly be.<br />
In addition, our members receive a host<br />
of benefits, including money off <strong>special</strong>ly<br />
selected products and services, free of<br />
charge Professional Indemnity Insurance<br />
and Public Liability Insurance, free Terms of<br />
Business contracts for you to work to with<br />
your pupils, and numerous discounted CPD<br />
training events throughout the year.<br />
And they get <strong>Newslink</strong> every month, too!<br />
This free digital publication comes to you at<br />
the start of every month packed with all<br />
the latest news, views and comment from<br />
across the driver training and testing<br />
profession, as well as CPD articles<br />
and general road safety<br />
information that will improve<br />
you as an instructor.<br />
So why are you receiving a<br />
copy of <strong>Newslink</strong> this<br />
month? Because we want<br />
you to join the MSA GB<br />
family.<br />
Over the next couple of pages we’ll<br />
highlight some of the benefits of joining<br />
MSA GB, and then you will see what you can<br />
look forward to each month in <strong>Newslink</strong>.<br />
Becoming a member of MSA GB is<br />
oustanding value: just £60 a year will get<br />
you all the benefits I’ve mentioned above<br />
– and don’t forget, as a professional fee,<br />
that is tax deductible, too!<br />
But to make the decision to join us that<br />
little bit easier, if you join using our <strong>special</strong><br />
joining offer code, <strong>Newslink</strong>, you will receive<br />
a full year’s membership for just £60,<br />
saving you £25, and your access to PI & PL<br />
insurance cover starts immediately.<br />
Want to meet<br />
up with MSA GB<br />
members in person? As<br />
well as occasional local<br />
events, MSA GB Areas will<br />
be hosting their own Annual<br />
Training Days in the<br />
autumn. Details on<br />
our website.<br />
Enjoy this magazine. I hope<br />
you see enough here to<br />
convince you to join the<br />
association. If you want to<br />
talk to anyone at MSA GB,<br />
contact our head office<br />
team. We will be<br />
delighted to take your call<br />
and tell you more.<br />
WIN!<br />
Every new member who joins<br />
through this <strong>special</strong> edition<br />
of <strong>Newslink</strong> will be entered<br />
into a free draw for a<br />
£50 Amazon voucher<br />
Join MSA GB and receive a host of <strong>special</strong> offers<br />
and discounts on supplies and services<br />
Up to 10p<br />
off every litre of<br />
fuel through our<br />
Fuel Card deal<br />
Discounted<br />
breakdown<br />
cover to keep<br />
you moving<br />
Health and<br />
finance cover<br />
at <strong>special</strong><br />
members-only<br />
rates<br />
Discounted<br />
accountancy<br />
services from<br />
ADI <strong>special</strong>ist<br />
PLUS<br />
Card payments<br />
• Training • Tyres<br />
• and more!<br />
Cashback on<br />
pupil insurance<br />
for private<br />
practice<br />
How to join MSA GB<br />
Go to https://msagb.com/join/<br />
Pay just £60 for a year’s membership,<br />
saving you £25.<br />
Don’t forget to use the <strong>special</strong><br />
Discount Code: <strong>Newslink</strong><br />
Hurry! Discount offer ends on May 1<br />
JOIN TODAY: Go to https://msagb.com/join or call 01787 221020
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
Why join?<br />
Just some of the benefits<br />
that membership brings<br />
n Products<br />
and services<br />
- including<br />
our Terms of<br />
Business and<br />
handy guides written by<br />
our industry experts<br />
Check out our App<br />
n Networking with fellow ADIs:<br />
Get involved through our regional<br />
networks - friendly advice and<br />
support that’s on your doorstep<br />
MSA GB has its own app that can be downloaded free from<br />
Apple Play and Google Play stores.<br />
It contains all the latest information on the driver training<br />
and testing sector, including policy updates, news from<br />
the DVSA and the latest on L-tests.<br />
It also includes details on MSA GB events, benefits,<br />
exclusive discounts and much, much more.<br />
Keep up-to-date in a flash with all that’s going on:<br />
Download it today.<br />
Representing the profession<br />
MSA GB is in constant touch with the Department for Transport<br />
and the DVSA as they look to develop the L-test and Standards<br />
Check for ADIs. That way you get to influence the future of<br />
driver training and testing. We always ask you for your views and<br />
take them directly to the people at the top.<br />
Essential legal protection<br />
Professional indemnity cover – up<br />
to £5m – and £10m public liability<br />
insurance included in your<br />
membership FREE<br />
More on this on pg 4-5<br />
CPD: vital for the<br />
modern ADI<br />
Subsidised -<br />
sometimes FREE<br />
- training material,<br />
guides and exclusive<br />
CPD courses to keep<br />
your tuition fresh and<br />
ahead of the field<br />
JOIN TODAY: Go to https://msagb.com/join or call 01787 221020
Welcome to MSA GB<br />
Who we are, how we’re run<br />
Who we are<br />
The Motor Schools Association of Great<br />
Britain (MSA) was formed on March 31,<br />
1935, just before the driving test was<br />
introduced. Its principal aims, then as now,<br />
are to keep members informed of any<br />
matters of interest to them, to represent<br />
the views of members to Government, its<br />
departments and agencies, to provide<br />
services that will be of benefit to members<br />
and to set standards of professional and<br />
ethical behaviour for teachers of driving.<br />
Who owns the MSA GB?<br />
The MSA GB is a non-profit-making<br />
association, without shareholders, owned by<br />
and run for the benefit of its membership.<br />
Membership<br />
Membership is open to all Approved<br />
Driving Instructors (ADIs). PDIs join as<br />
Probationary Members and their<br />
membership is automatically converted to<br />
Full on qualification. MSA GB also offers<br />
membership to motorcycle and LGV<br />
instructors, as well as deliverers of driver<br />
improvement courses.<br />
How it is run<br />
The MSA GB is a company limited by<br />
guarantee. Formal title is The Motor<br />
Schools Association of Great Britain Ltd.<br />
Registered in London (615026). The<br />
association’s registered office is:<br />
Peershaws, Berewyk Hall Court, White<br />
Colne, Colchester, Essex CO6 2QB<br />
The MSA GB is run on behalf of members<br />
by the Board of Management. Board<br />
members are all working driving<br />
instructors and are paid no salary for the<br />
work they do.<br />
All full members have voting rights and<br />
can join their area committees, vote at the<br />
AGM and help decide future strategy and<br />
direction of the association.<br />
Some of the benefits of<br />
joining MSA GB<br />
Manned phone lines to help<br />
you during office hours<br />
Advice on dealing with the<br />
DVSA... L-test examiners...<br />
and your Standards Check<br />
Professional help if you are<br />
threatened with being<br />
removed from the register<br />
Cost-effective CPD<br />
to keep your tuition<br />
skills up to date<br />
What are the main benefits?<br />
The MSA offers members benefits falling under four headings:<br />
INFORMATION – through <strong>Newslink</strong>, the MSA GB website and our social media channels.<br />
REPRESENTATION – if you have a problem with your work as an ADI, we will offer advice<br />
and guidance and represent your interests. In particular, if you need help with the DVSA,<br />
perhaps because they are threatening to remove your ADI registration, contact us and we<br />
will try to help. Every year we represent many ADIs in cases against the DVSA. We also act<br />
as expert witnesses in instructor-pupil disputes.<br />
SERVICES – Members automatically receive professional indemnity insurance worth up to<br />
£5m and £10 public liability insurance - FREE OF CHARGE. This is an essential service: legal<br />
protection, covering you against legal claims arising from your tuition.<br />
SUPPORT – We also organise events on your behalf, including our annual conference every<br />
March and area AGMs each autumn.<br />
Free, professionally written Terms of<br />
Business will make sure you’re covered<br />
MSA GB members receive access to our superb and highly<br />
recommended Terms of Business. These are free for you to<br />
download and allow you to present yourself to pupils in a businesslike<br />
fashion by setting out the ‘rules’ that will govern the relationship<br />
between the ADI and the pupil in a professional manner. A printed<br />
version (as photo) is available to purchase from Driving School<br />
Supplies, updated in <strong>April</strong> 2023.<br />
The Terms cover items such payment terms, lesson duration,<br />
conduct of both parties during lessons, cancellations and the<br />
responsibilities both parties carry in terms of licensing and the rules<br />
of the road.<br />
Here is an example that highlights their usefulness: You receive a<br />
fine for using your car in a bus lane.<br />
You don’t recall this incident and on checking your diary you<br />
realise the car was on an L-test at the time of the incident. As the<br />
person responsible for the vehicle you are<br />
required to pay the fine. Unlike an offence<br />
like speeding, the law requires you to pay,<br />
not to provide details of the driver. Luckily,<br />
you and your pupil have signed the MSA<br />
GB Terms of Business.<br />
Clause 12 states: During an official<br />
driving test the client is in charge of the<br />
vehicle and is liable for any fines or<br />
charges levied as a result of any motoring<br />
offence committed.<br />
You are therefore able to claim the fee<br />
from the client.<br />
That’s why you need the reassurance of<br />
having the MSA’s Terms of Business behind you.<br />
Updated in<br />
<strong>April</strong> 2023<br />
JOIN TODAY: Go to https://msagb.com/join or call 01787 221020
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
FREE to members: Our professional indemnity<br />
and public liability insurance has you covered<br />
As part of our membership offer, MSA GB<br />
has arranged Public Liability Insurance and<br />
Professional Idemnity Insurance for all<br />
members. Public Liability Insurance is up to<br />
the sum of £10m and Professional<br />
Indemnity insurance is up to the sum of<br />
£5m for when members are engaged in<br />
any driver training that they are qualified<br />
to deliver...<br />
Th e Public Liability Insurance protects<br />
members where a third party makes a<br />
claim, caused by the negligence of the<br />
member, for personal injury or damage to<br />
property, not belonging to the member,<br />
when outside the car.<br />
Th e Professional Indemnity Insurance<br />
covers members in case of action taken<br />
against them by a third party for<br />
professional error, negligence or omission<br />
in the professional advice they give to the<br />
public.<br />
Sounds great... but why would I need it?<br />
These two policies are so important that<br />
if you decide to move into teaching<br />
business fleet drivers or on behalf of local<br />
authorities, colleges or other public sector<br />
bodies, they will insist on you having such<br />
cover in place before employing you. It is<br />
also a requirement to have such insurance<br />
in place if you are going to hire facilities for<br />
classroom tuition.<br />
Why would I need it? The cover protects<br />
you should a pupil or another third party<br />
bring a legal action against you for<br />
damages.<br />
As an ADI you are expected to maintain<br />
the highest standards at all times when<br />
supervising learners, but if ever your<br />
standards should slip, or are perceived to<br />
have slipped by a court, and someone else<br />
is hurt, then you are vulnerable to a claim<br />
made against you.<br />
How does it work? An example case<br />
would be where, during a lesson, you and<br />
your pupil are involved in a car crash, in<br />
which the pupil is injured.<br />
Subsequently the pupil claims his/her<br />
injuries were due to your poor tuition and<br />
supervision of the lesson. They contract a<br />
solicitor on a no-win, no-fee basis and<br />
proceed to being a civil case against you for<br />
damages.<br />
What can the ADI do? As a member of<br />
the MSA GB, you would enact the free<br />
Professional Indemnity cover that comes<br />
as part of membership. It protects you for<br />
up to £5 million of legal costs and damages.<br />
Any court case would still be a trying<br />
experience but at least you would be<br />
covered financially.<br />
If you were not covered you would have<br />
to either contract a solicitor out of your<br />
own pocket and fight the claim or agree to<br />
pay damages to the pupil. Either way you<br />
will be out of pocket.<br />
That’s the peace of mind and protection<br />
that professional indemnity insurance can<br />
bring – and you get it free of charge as a<br />
member.<br />
Start your cover now: Just go to<br />
https://msagb.com/join and use Discount<br />
Code <strong>Newslink</strong> to secure your year’s<br />
membership for just £60 – saving you<br />
£25. All benefits start immediately<br />
you join.<br />
Ready to support and serve<br />
MSA GB members are served by<br />
a dedicated team of staff at our<br />
head office.<br />
MSA GB is administered by a professional<br />
team at CJAM, who provide support with<br />
the day-to-day running of MSA GB, as<br />
well as supporting members with any<br />
issues they may have.<br />
CJAM has extensive experience<br />
supporting trade bodies, charities,<br />
professional institutions, societies, and<br />
business clients.<br />
They have access to the latest skills,<br />
tools, and methods of best practice,<br />
ensuring MSA GB runs as smoothly and<br />
efficiently as possible.<br />
The MSA GB team is led by Helen<br />
Shears. As the first point of contact for<br />
MSA GB members, Helen is very friendly<br />
and approachable. Working closely with<br />
the team and using her experience of<br />
managing ‘not for profit’ groups, she<br />
brings meticulous administrative skills to<br />
the association, ensuring that members<br />
receive consistent and helpful support, so<br />
they can make the best use of their<br />
membership and its benefits.<br />
For any member enquiries, please do<br />
not hesitate to contact us on: info@<br />
msagb.com or to speak to Helen direct on<br />
01787 221 020.<br />
TURN TO THE NEXT PAGE TO READ THE APRIL ISSUE OF NEWSLINK IN FULL
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
Conference proves there’s no<br />
substitute for face-to-face events<br />
Colin Lilly<br />
Editor,<br />
<strong>Newslink</strong><br />
At the end of March, MSA GB held its annual<br />
conference in Telford. I say annual but the last<br />
four years were affected by Covid 19 and its<br />
after effects, so they were held via Zoom.<br />
The opportunity to meet face-to-face was<br />
taken by some members who had attended<br />
before but many were attending for the first<br />
time. Reports on the speakers are given<br />
elsewhere in this issue (from pg 14).<br />
Many trainers feel that the internet can act<br />
as a source for the information they require,<br />
but face-to-face events provide much more.<br />
Not only do the presenters share information<br />
on their field of expertise, they answer<br />
questions, not only at the time, but<br />
individually during the breaks.<br />
The fact that delegates had the<br />
opportunity to network and discuss events<br />
of the day adding to the event’s valuable<br />
Continuous Professional Development (CPD).<br />
The DVSA has stated that it sets great store<br />
on gaining CPD. Zoom events do not give you<br />
this added value.<br />
For a day delegate to participate cost less<br />
than the price of two hour-long lessons. The<br />
value to the trainer is worth much more than<br />
that. Without development there is<br />
stagnation.<br />
Conference report<br />
Members enjoyed a great weekend in Telford at the<br />
2024 MSA GB Conference. Find out what happened<br />
in our full coverage, starting on page 14<br />
If you feel that you cannot attend a national<br />
event there will more local events held<br />
throughout the year, by the MSA GB Area<br />
teams. These are scaled down versions of the<br />
main event but of equal value.<br />
Details of these events are publicised in<br />
<strong>Newslink</strong> and on the MSA GB website. Make<br />
2024 the year that you attend one of these<br />
events to see for yourself.<br />
Just after the conference the DVSA<br />
announced that its employees who are<br />
members of the Public and Commercial<br />
Services Union (PCS) had accepted the<br />
Memorandum of Understanding covering the<br />
dispute it had with DVSA. These issues<br />
involved terms and conditions and standards<br />
of safety for driving tests.<br />
Hopefully, the continuing discussions will<br />
lead to a more stable delivery of driving tests<br />
without the threat of strikes,<br />
This is unlikely to lead to an immediate<br />
reduction in driving test waiting times as it<br />
coincides with the return to normal duties for<br />
the warrant card holders who had been<br />
conducting driving tests.<br />
However, in the long term this may attract<br />
more recruits to conduct driving tests and<br />
their retention.<br />
The driving test waiting times are reducing<br />
but not by as much as the DVSA, trainers and<br />
learners would like.<br />
Let us hope this situation resolves itself;<br />
the end to the examiner dispute is an<br />
important step forward.<br />
Welcome to your<br />
digital, interactive<br />
<strong>Newslink</strong><br />
See a pale blue box in any article or<br />
on an advert? It it contains a web<br />
address or email, it’s interactive. Just<br />
click and it will take you to the<br />
appropriate web page or email so you<br />
can find more details easier.<br />
You’ll also find these panels across<br />
the magazine: just click for more<br />
information on any given subject.<br />
To get the<br />
full story,<br />
click here<br />
How to access this<br />
magazine<br />
You can read <strong>Newslink</strong> in three ways:<br />
Go online and read the interactive<br />
magazine on the Yumpu website; or,<br />
if you would like to read it when you<br />
don’t have a mobile signal or WiFi,<br />
you can download the magazine to<br />
your tablet, PC or phone to read at<br />
your leisure. Alternatively, a pdf can<br />
be found on the MSA GB website, at<br />
www.msagb.com<br />
Follow the link<br />
MSA GB sends<br />
you to access<br />
<strong>Newslink</strong>,<br />
and then just<br />
click Download<br />
(circled above)<br />
to save a copy<br />
on your device<br />
<strong>Newslink</strong><br />
COVER STORY<br />
A screengrab from<br />
the new BBC film<br />
Drive Fast Die Young,<br />
which has been hailed<br />
by road safety<br />
professionals<br />
and the DVSA as a<br />
game-changer in<br />
highlighting the<br />
problems the UK has with young male<br />
drivers addicted to dangerous driving and<br />
speeding. See pg 12<br />
The Voice of MSA GB<br />
Issue 375 • <strong>April</strong> 2024<br />
New documentary<br />
a ‘must watch’<br />
We work for a l Driver Trainers. Want to join? SAVE £25 – see pg 39 for <strong>special</strong> offer<br />
msagb.com<br />
MSA GB Conference:<br />
Full report inside<br />
from page 14<br />
BBC film Drive Fast, Die Young described<br />
as a ‘game changer’ in helping young<br />
men kick the dangerous driving habit<br />
NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024 07
Contents<br />
CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS<br />
Young riders targeted<br />
in Spring campaign<br />
The National Young Rider Forum has<br />
launched a new social media campaign to<br />
support young motorbikers this Spring – 10<br />
Spotting the<br />
danger zones on a<br />
commentary<br />
drive: pg 34<br />
34<br />
Heartbreaking film gets to truth<br />
of young driver casualties<br />
A new film by the BBC has been hailed a<br />
game-changer in the way it confronts the<br />
consequences of dangerous driving – 12<br />
Taking a test in a non-ADI car:<br />
does it make a difference?<br />
Finally, MSA GB gets to the truth of whether<br />
having dual controls on a driving test makes<br />
any difference to pass rates – 14<br />
Learner harrassment is getting<br />
worse, new poll finds<br />
81% of learners have faced aggression from<br />
other road users while on a lesson – and their<br />
ADIs say it’s getting worse – 16<br />
Enhanced CPD: why it matters and<br />
how it helps<br />
Neil Wightman continues his series of<br />
articles on the advantages ADIs can gain<br />
from taking CPD – 33<br />
The NHS needs your help –<br />
in learning to park<br />
An enforced hospital stay has John Lomas<br />
asking, who teaches doctors and nurses to<br />
park like that...! – 38<br />
An ADI on holiday... is still an ADI,<br />
says Brian Thomson<br />
Even during a spot of RnR in Gran Canaria,<br />
Brian Thomson can’t stop thinking about<br />
driver training –40<br />
<strong>Newslink</strong><br />
The Voice of MSA GB<br />
The Motor Schools Association<br />
of Great Britain Ltd<br />
Head Office:<br />
Peershaws,<br />
Berewyk Hall Court,<br />
White Colne, Colchester,<br />
Essex CO6 2QB<br />
T: 01787 221020<br />
E: info@msagb.com<br />
<strong>Newslink</strong> is published monthly on behalf of the MSA GB<br />
and distributed to members and selected recently<br />
qualified ADIs throughout Great Britain by:<br />
Chamber Media Services,<br />
4 Hilton Road, Bramhall, Stockport,<br />
Cheshire SK7 3AG<br />
Editorial/Production: Rob Beswick<br />
e: rob@chambermediaservices.co.uk<br />
t: 0161 426 7957<br />
Advertising sales: Colin Regan<br />
e: colinregan001@yahoo.co.uk<br />
t: 01942 537959 / 07871 444922<br />
Views expressed in <strong>Newslink</strong> are not necessarily those<br />
of the MSA GB or the publishers.<br />
Although every effort is made<br />
to ensure the accuracy of<br />
material contained within<br />
this publication, neither MSA<br />
GB nor the publishers can<br />
accept any responsibility for<br />
the veracity of claims made<br />
by contributors in either<br />
advertising or editorial content.<br />
©2024 The Motor Schools<br />
Association of Great Britain<br />
Ltd. Reproducing in whole<br />
or part is forbidden without<br />
express permission of the<br />
editor.<br />
08 NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
MSA GB Board<br />
of Management<br />
National Chairman &<br />
Area 2 - East Coast Chair<br />
Mike Yeomans<br />
7 Oak Avenue, Elloughton,<br />
Brough HU15 1LA<br />
T: 07772 757529<br />
E: mike.yeomans@msagb.com<br />
AREA 1<br />
Vice Chairman<br />
Peter Harvey MBE<br />
T: 01505 814823<br />
E: peter.harveymbe@msagb.com<br />
Area 1 – Scotland &<br />
Northern Ireland<br />
Chair: Steven Porter<br />
18 Heron Place, Johnstone<br />
PA5 0RW<br />
T: 01505 345372 or<br />
07747 600672<br />
E: steven.porter@msagb.com<br />
Area 3 – London & South East<br />
Chair: Tom Kwok<br />
52B Sutton Road, Muswell Hill,<br />
London N10 1HE<br />
07956 269922<br />
E: tom.kwok@msagb.com<br />
How MSA GB<br />
is organised, in<br />
four AREAS<br />
AREA 4<br />
AREA 2<br />
AREA 3<br />
Area 4 – West Coast & Wales<br />
Chair: Arthur Mynott<br />
9 Hagleys Green, Crowcombe,<br />
Taunton TA4 4AH<br />
T: 01984 618858<br />
E: arthur.mynott@msagb.com<br />
Keep in touch<br />
If you have updated your address, telephone numbers or<br />
changed your email address recently, please let us know<br />
at head office by emailing us with your new details and<br />
membership number to info@msagb.com.<br />
If you can’t find your membership number, give us a ring<br />
on 01787 221020.<br />
Follow MSA GB on social media<br />
Just click on the icon to go<br />
through to the relevant site<br />
NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024 09
News<br />
Young bikers targeted as forum pushes<br />
its ‘Ready to Ride’ campaign for spring<br />
The National Young Rider Forum has launched<br />
a new social media campaign to support<br />
young motorbikers this Spring.<br />
The campaign includes its ‘Ready to Ride?’<br />
educational film, which details the steps that<br />
a young person needs to take if they are<br />
considering becoming a motorcyclist.<br />
Funded by The Road Safety Trust and Kent<br />
County Council, it covers vital topics such as<br />
licensing, safety equipment, maintaining a<br />
motorcycle and riding safely in sections<br />
presented by young people themselves.<br />
The campaign was launched ahead of<br />
Easter, to coincide with a return to the roads<br />
for many motorcyclists, pedal cyclists, horse<br />
riders and pedestrians.<br />
It encourages young riders to watch out for<br />
hazards on the roads and to make the right<br />
choices about what to wear – to give them<br />
the best possible protection in the event of a<br />
collision.<br />
Heidi Duffy MBE, facilitator of the National<br />
Young Rider Forum, said: “This campaign aims<br />
to raise awareness to new and young riders<br />
that the warmer, drier weather will make the<br />
roads much busier.<br />
“Therefore, it is vitally important they are<br />
watching out for hazards on the roads, as well<br />
as making the right choices about what to<br />
wear – just in case they come a cropper!”<br />
Ruth Purdie OBE, chief executive of The<br />
Road Safety Trust, said: “It is well known that<br />
motorcyclists are over-represented in crash<br />
statistics.<br />
“This timely campaign makes use of a<br />
great resource, which covers a series of<br />
important topics for young riders to<br />
consider.”<br />
‘Ready to Ride?’ is designed to fit into<br />
school, college and university timetables, or<br />
any other classroom opportunity, and can be<br />
delivered by road safety professionals,<br />
emergency service personnel or teaching<br />
staff.<br />
The interactive film is 40 mins in length and<br />
features young actors who take the audience<br />
through five sections of information which<br />
potential young motorcyclists will find useful<br />
as they set out on the journey to be a new<br />
rider.<br />
The film comes in two versions, one with<br />
subtitles. It also includes lesson plans and<br />
additional presenter information as well as<br />
evaluation sheets.<br />
You can watch the film at https://<br />
newriderhub.net/ready-to-ride/<br />
THINK! again<br />
on seat belts<br />
The Department for Transport’s road<br />
safety team at THINK! is launching a<br />
new seat belts campaign to encourage<br />
young men to wear their seat belts,<br />
“whatever the journey, whether<br />
they’re a driver or passenger”.<br />
The campaign speaks to male drivers<br />
aged 17-24 years as they are overrepresented<br />
in car fatalities and<br />
casualties where a seat belt is not<br />
worn. The creative focuses on the<br />
‘CLICK’ sound of a seat belt fastening,<br />
which serves as an audible and visual<br />
reminder that something as simple as<br />
clicking your seat belt could save your<br />
life, and the lives of your friends.<br />
CLICK HERE to read more about the<br />
campaign.<br />
New police operation to put the<br />
spotlight on driving’s ‘Fatal Four’<br />
Police forces across the country are<br />
supporting a four-week operation to<br />
highlight the ‘fatal four’ offences in a bid to<br />
improve road safety and reduce KSI incidents.<br />
The operation, which got underway at the<br />
start of <strong>April</strong>, is being co-ordinated by the<br />
National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).<br />
The operation will focus on all vehicle types<br />
and road users, with forces conducting joint<br />
partnership and cross border operations.<br />
The aim is to educate road users on the<br />
perils of the fatal four – not wearing a<br />
seatbelt, drink and drug driving, speeding and<br />
using a handheld mobile phone.<br />
The Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership<br />
will be sharing information on social media to<br />
encourage seatbelt use, demonstrate the<br />
risks posed by the fatal four and the penalties<br />
drivers and passengers will face when they<br />
are caught. Officers will be increasing their<br />
presence on the county’s roads to look for<br />
drivers who choose to offend.<br />
Sgt Chris McSharry, who is involved in the<br />
operation in the Midlands, said:<br />
“Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership has a<br />
target to reduce the number of people killed<br />
or seriously injured on our roads by 50% by<br />
2030.<br />
“We are asking drivers and passengers to<br />
please make it a habit to check everyone is<br />
wearing a seatbelt before travelling because<br />
a seatbelt is one of the simplest and most<br />
effective things you can do to reduce the risk<br />
of injury in a collision.<br />
“If you are on a night out, don’t forget it’s<br />
your car so your rules – please make sure all<br />
your passengers wear a seatbelt. There’s no<br />
excuses for not doing so.”<br />
10 NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
Nick Bitel re-appointed as DVSA executive chair<br />
Nick Bitel has been reappointed as Non-<br />
Executive Chair of DVSA, and Helen Aston<br />
has been appointed as its non-executive<br />
director, replacing Emir Feisal..<br />
Nick was originally appointed for a<br />
three-year term in July 2021. He has been<br />
reappointed for a further three-year term<br />
and will continue to play a vital role in the<br />
effective strategic and operational leadership<br />
of the DVSA.<br />
In addition to acting as a non-executive<br />
director, Helen Aston will chair the DVSA’s<br />
audit and risk committee.<br />
Helen is a Chartered Accountant and brings<br />
a wealth of leadership experience, with 10<br />
years as the executive director of finance and<br />
corporate services at The Pensions<br />
Regulator. She also holds non-executive<br />
roles at Defence Business Services and the<br />
Valuation Office Agency.<br />
Guy Opperman, the Roads Minister, said: ” I<br />
would like to congratulate Nick and<br />
Helen on their appointments, and<br />
would also like to thank Emir Feisal<br />
for his dedication and work with<br />
the DVSA as Helen’s predecessor.<br />
“Nick and Helen are clear in their<br />
commitment to back drivers and<br />
keep the country moving and I look<br />
forward to working closely with them to<br />
ensure the DVSA continues its great work in<br />
backing drivers and keeping Britain’s roads<br />
safe.<br />
Nick Bitel said: “I’m delighted to be<br />
re-appointed. Over the last three years,<br />
we have faced significant challenges<br />
in the aftermath of the pandemic,<br />
and I am proud of the hard work,<br />
drive and commitment shown by<br />
colleagues and senior leaders<br />
across DVSA.<br />
“I look forward to working with<br />
Nick Bitel<br />
Helen to help achieve DVSA’s vision<br />
to keep Britain moving, safely and<br />
sustainably. I also want to express<br />
my gratitude to Emir Feisal for his<br />
sterling work with our audit and risk<br />
committee.”<br />
Loveday Ryder, DVSA Chief Executive,<br />
said: “Nick has played a pivotal role in DVSA’s<br />
work to recover our services following the<br />
pandemic and develop a vision and strategic<br />
plan for the future, and I am delighted he has<br />
been re-appointed. I’m also really<br />
pleased to welcome Helen as our new<br />
Non-Executive Director, and thank<br />
Emir Feisal for his contribution to<br />
the DVSA over the past three<br />
years.”<br />
Loveday Ryder<br />
NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024 11
News<br />
ADIs urged to make heartbreaking BBC<br />
documentary key part of their lesson plans<br />
A devastating new film produced by the BBC<br />
has been described as “a must watch for all<br />
learner drivers, and those who have just<br />
passed their test.”<br />
Drive Fast Die Young tells the heartbreaking<br />
story of Sammy Phillips, who was<br />
killed in 2023 at the age of 19 after a car he<br />
was travelling in left the road at high speed<br />
and smashed into a tree.<br />
The driver, his friend Lewis, was three<br />
times over the drink-drive limit, and was<br />
travelling at an “insane speed”, according to<br />
an eye witness.<br />
The film is narrated by Sammy’s older<br />
brother Jamie, and details how he and his<br />
family came to terms with Sammy’s death.<br />
Jamie interviewed the two Thames Vally<br />
Police officers tasked with attending the<br />
crash scene, as well as the paramedic who<br />
was the first health responder.<br />
The officers admit that having to tell the<br />
family about a bereavement was the<br />
“toughest part of the job. You know that you<br />
are about to ruin someone’s life, telling them<br />
that their son or daughter is dead.”<br />
The paramedic reflected that his first<br />
thought, on realising the two occupants had<br />
died, was “what a waste, and how stupid.”<br />
Police investigators found that the car had<br />
clipped the kerb while travelling at high speed<br />
and had flipped in the air, before crashing into<br />
trees by the side of the road.<br />
It hit a tree eight feet up, roof first,<br />
delivering sickening and unsurvivable head<br />
injuries to the two young men.<br />
The only consolation for the families was<br />
that death would have been instantaneous;<br />
“they will have felt nothing,” said the coroner.<br />
Jamie is filmed visiting the scene where he<br />
sees the scars on the tree where it was<br />
struck by the car. “I stand here and know,<br />
this is exactly where Sammy died. It’s<br />
horrible,” Jamie says.<br />
He also talked to Dr Elizabeth Box, research<br />
director for the RAC Foundation, and Dr<br />
Shaun Helam, chief scientist at the TRL Ltd,<br />
who highlight the problems new drivers have<br />
with being attracted to dangerous behaviour.<br />
Dr Box points out that the male brain<br />
develops differently from the female, and it is<br />
hard-wired to seek “thrills and risk-taking”,<br />
something that fades away in their middle<br />
20s. “But at 17-18, young men have a<br />
sensation-seeking craving, just at the point<br />
when we give them driving licences.”<br />
Dr Helam says “we have a societal<br />
blindspot” over the consequences of<br />
dangerous driving, and that fatal incidents<br />
such as Sammy’s make graduated licences<br />
something that must be introduced.<br />
“Policymakers go on about them being<br />
difficult to enforce, but that’s not a reason for<br />
doing nothing.”<br />
Jamie expresses his anger that England no<br />
longer has a road safety strategy, and hasn’t<br />
had one since the Conservative Party came<br />
to power in 2010.<br />
There is also a fascinating interview with a<br />
young rapper called Ned Price. Ned describes<br />
how he was deligted to pass his driving test<br />
when 17 - but the day was ruined when he<br />
crashed his car the very same day.<br />
Did he learn anything from the lesson? “No,<br />
I got straight into a borrowed car and within<br />
two weeks had crashed that as well!”<br />
Unsurprisingly the two crashes were<br />
enough for him to receive a ban, and he lost<br />
his licence. “That’s what hurt. I never thought<br />
‘I was lucky to survive those crashes’”, he<br />
tells Jamie. “I thought I was invincible. The<br />
Screengrabs from the programme. Right,<br />
floral tributes left at the scene of the fatal<br />
crash, and above the car crash of the year<br />
before, which amazingly he walked away<br />
from unscathed. The car was being driven far<br />
above the speed limit, but “I was too scared<br />
to tell him to slow down,” Sammy later said<br />
only thing that really made me stop and think<br />
was when I realised I had to re-take my<br />
theory and L-test again. That changed me.”<br />
The last word goes to Jamie and his mum.<br />
They recall that a year before his death,<br />
Sammy was in another crash, which left the<br />
car a write-off but which, amazingly, both he<br />
and the driver walked away from unscathed.<br />
When asked what the driver was doing<br />
Sammy admitted he was driving very fast<br />
and, heartbreakingly, had left him scared –<br />
but “I wasn’t brave enough to tell him to slow<br />
down.” It’s hard not to think, if only you had.<br />
If you get your pupils to do one thing in the<br />
next week or two, get them to watch the film<br />
and then base your next lesson around it. It<br />
could be the most important hour’s tuition<br />
you ever give them.<br />
Click here to<br />
watch the film<br />
12 NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
DVSA low carbon plans focus on flexible delivery<br />
The DVSA has set out its commitment to a<br />
sustainable and Net Zero strategy in a new<br />
policy paper.<br />
It highlights previous successes on the low<br />
carbon agenda, including converting 25% of<br />
its fleet to ultra low emission vehicles,<br />
reducing carbon travel emissions by 27% and<br />
installing solar panels at three DVSA sites.<br />
But it aims to go further. As the paper<br />
points out, “Road use is changing to a more<br />
automated and digitised way of travelling. We<br />
want to be at the forefront of this transition.”<br />
As a result, moving towards 2030, it will<br />
Residents’ voice their<br />
anger over ADIs’<br />
actions near DTC<br />
Complaints have been raised by local<br />
residents regarding ADIs’ cars obstructing<br />
driveways and junctions unnecessarily in the<br />
area around the Birmingham Kingstanding<br />
driving test centre.<br />
The DVSA is asking ADIs to remember they<br />
must be considerate to local neighbours<br />
when attending/leaving that driving test<br />
centre (DTC), and to be particularly careful on<br />
on Birdbrook Road and Rodlington Avenue.<br />
Using Birmingham Kingstanding DTC<br />
ADIs are reminded that they should only<br />
use the car park if they are attending a<br />
driving test, and only come into the test<br />
centre 10 minutes prior to your candidates’<br />
test. If you are hoping to familiarise yourself<br />
with the area, you can view the car park and<br />
its layout by using an online street view.<br />
“By being considerate to neighbours we<br />
reduce the chance of disruption to testing in<br />
the future”, the DVSA said.<br />
Record high licence holders -<br />
but fewer young people<br />
The number of driving licence holders has hit<br />
a record milestone with more than 42 million<br />
people now holding a full licence.<br />
42,120,966 people now have a full UK<br />
driving licence, compared to 41,570,822 this<br />
time last year.<br />
But the number of younger licence holders<br />
is down: there are 3.05 million licensed<br />
drivers aged 16 to 25 in the UK, 8% fewer than<br />
held a licence in March 2020, when 3.32<br />
million 16 to 25-year-olds had a full driving<br />
licence.<br />
invest further in decarbonising its car and van<br />
fleet by replacing existing hybrid and diesel<br />
vehicles with battery electric vehicles (BEVs)<br />
to achieve near to zero tailpipe emissions by<br />
the end of 2027.<br />
In addition it will reduce overall greenhouse<br />
gas emissions and direct emissions from a<br />
2017 to 2018 baseline – this is a total scope<br />
reduction of 33%, including fleet emissions<br />
reduced by 35%<br />
Of interest to ADIs will be an aim to “be<br />
proactive in identifying new ways to deliver<br />
our services. Projects are underway to<br />
further explore the alternatives to our<br />
current fixed driving test centre estate: the<br />
flexible test delivery service (FTDS) and<br />
automated route generation initiatives.<br />
“These, supported by the new driver<br />
services platform project, will help us to<br />
reduce our future reliance on the use of fixed<br />
driving test centres, while improving our<br />
service offering to our customers.”<br />
Overall its goal is to reduce greenhouse gas<br />
emissions linked to DVSA activity from<br />
electricity by 79% and fossil fuels by 6% from<br />
a 2017 to 2018 baseline.<br />
NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024 13
News<br />
Big fall in pass rates when no duals involved<br />
During Conference a delegate put the<br />
following question to the DVSA: ‘Do<br />
candidates fare better or worse on their<br />
L-test if they take it in their own car, without<br />
dual controls being present?’<br />
The suggestion back was to “put an FOI in,<br />
and find out.”<br />
So <strong>Newslink</strong> did... read on for the answer!<br />
In recent months there has been a lot of<br />
debate around candidates taking their L-test<br />
in their own cars, and as a consequence,<br />
taking it without dual controls being present.<br />
In particular ADIs have wondered whether<br />
taking a test in a non-ADI car impacts on the<br />
pass rate. Are examiners less inclined to pass<br />
a candidate without duals being present, or is<br />
the act of taking a test without your<br />
instructor being involved likely to lend itself<br />
to a greater chance of a fail – or a pass?<br />
This has become an increasingly important<br />
question as more and more learners,<br />
desperate to obtain an L-test slot, have<br />
booked tests without first checking with<br />
their ADI that they are available on the day<br />
and at the time in question – or whether they<br />
are ready to take their test.<br />
In addition, some ADIs have refused to<br />
accompany their pupils on tests when they<br />
think they are clearly not ready, particularly if<br />
they feel a bad fail could impact on their TIP<br />
score.<br />
So, do candidates fare better in their own<br />
cars, without duals, or does it make no<br />
difference to overall pass rates?<br />
We asked the DVSA, and the answer is,<br />
yes, it does make a difference – and a quite<br />
sizeable one at that.<br />
We asked the DVSA ‘How many candidates<br />
took their driving test (L-test) in a car which<br />
did not have dual controls fitted, from<br />
September 2023-February 2024.’<br />
The answer may surprise you, as it is a lot;<br />
in fact during that period 165,403 people<br />
took tests in cars without dual controls.<br />
We estimate that that period saw around<br />
900,000 L-tests being conducted, so ‘own<br />
car tests’ amounted to just under 20 per cent<br />
of the vehicles used. That is a far higher<br />
proportion than previously; in many years<br />
‘own car’ tests made up far fewer than 10 per<br />
cent of the whole.<br />
And now the $64m question: how did they<br />
do? The answer is... pretty badly!<br />
At present the pass rate for the L-test as a<br />
whole is reasonably high, at around 48.6%.<br />
But for those taking a test in a vehicle<br />
without dual controls, the pass rate is 42.6%<br />
– that’s a drop of just over 12 per cent.<br />
Impact on L-test waiting times<br />
To put that in context, if candidates could<br />
take their test only in an ADI’s car with duals<br />
fitted, and the pass rates stayed the same,<br />
based on 1.8 million tests a year, 10,000 more<br />
people would pass the L-test every six<br />
months. That would reduce the number of<br />
candidates on the L-test waiting list by a<br />
minimum of 20,000 a year.<br />
Why a minimum? Because we are<br />
assuming that every failure only takes one<br />
more test; but as we all know, some<br />
candidates will take multiple goes before<br />
leaving the L-test scene with a pass.<br />
So there we have it: if the DVSA stopped all<br />
tests without dual controls, logic tells us we<br />
would immediately reduce the waiting list by<br />
at least 20,000 in a year. Over to you, DVSA.<br />
For more on the DVSA at the MSA GB<br />
Conference, see page 14<br />
Peggy Hutchins: A titan of the Taunton ADI scene<br />
Colin Lilly<br />
Editor,<br />
<strong>Newslink</strong><br />
As this issue of <strong>Newslink</strong> was being prepared<br />
for publication, I heard the sad news of the<br />
passing of a former MSA GB Member of the<br />
Year, Peggy Hutchins.<br />
Peggy was a formidable character who<br />
was Chairman of the local Taunton<br />
Association of Driving Instructors. She was<br />
respected by her fellow instructors, the then<br />
Driving Standards Agency and local authority<br />
road safety officers.<br />
She set up many young driver courses in<br />
local schools supporting local trainers. One of<br />
her proteges was Arthur Mynott, himself a<br />
past MSA GB Member of the Year and<br />
currently West Coast and Wales Chairman.<br />
She always promoted the MSA GB to every<br />
instructor she met, and highlighted the value<br />
of being a member. It was in recognition of<br />
her work for the association and driver<br />
training in Somerset that she was named as<br />
our Member of the Year in 2000.<br />
In recent years she had been affected by<br />
the conditions of old age and had been living<br />
quietly in a nursing home where she passed<br />
away on 30th March.<br />
I am sure that many established driver<br />
trainers in the Taunton area, her countless<br />
former pupils and past and present members<br />
of the MSA GB regional committee, of which<br />
she was once the Deputy Chairman, will have<br />
many fond memories of Peggy.<br />
A celebration of her life will be held at<br />
Taunton Deane Crematorium on Friday, 19th<br />
<strong>April</strong> at 11.20am.<br />
A true stalwart of the profession and of<br />
this association: thank you, Peggy.<br />
Rest in peace<br />
14 NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
New report lifts lid on impact of driver fatigue<br />
MSA GB was recently made aware of a report<br />
on driver fatigue which is a worthwhile<br />
training aid and discussion document.<br />
One of the principle factors behind traffic<br />
collisions is driver fatigue. Research by<br />
ROSPA has found that 20% of crashes have<br />
driver fatigue as a factor, as do a quarter of<br />
killed and seriously injured collisions.<br />
A report summarising the information<br />
available on the topic has been published by<br />
Hendy Car Store (Driver Fatigue: An Essential<br />
Guide to Road Safety (hendycarstore.co.uk).<br />
The report has sections outlining the factors<br />
involved.<br />
n Driver fatigue statistics<br />
n Causes of driver fatigue<br />
n Advice on staying awake while driving<br />
n Driving fatigue and the law<br />
n Secondary sources of information<br />
The statistics highlight some interesting<br />
details. The counties where fatigue-related<br />
crashes are more prevalent are Kent and<br />
Devon, and perhaps unsurprisingly, young<br />
drivers are more likely to continue to drive<br />
when tired, and do not accept that it affects<br />
their driving. This is seen to be due to<br />
over-confidence in their abilities. Again no<br />
surprise but this is more likely to be seen in<br />
males rather than females.<br />
Reviewing the causes of driver fatigue it<br />
deals with medical conditions and<br />
psychological conditions. It also deals with<br />
lifestyle choices such as sleep patterns, diet<br />
and exercise.<br />
Looking at the work and other<br />
commitments drivers have, many may be<br />
unavoidable, but drivers need to be aware of<br />
the effects on their performance. The effects<br />
of shift patterns, workload and driving hours<br />
are discussed, alongside family commitments.<br />
The advice on staying awake does not deal<br />
with battling against fatigue after its onset<br />
but rather preparation for a long trip; foods to<br />
assist and those to avoid, getting enough<br />
rest, managing long journeys to avoid fatigue<br />
and knowing when not to drive.<br />
The legal aspects of driving fatigued are<br />
outlined, included the penalties for falling<br />
asleep at the wheel, which could be<br />
considered as dangerous driving and can lead<br />
to 14 years imprisonment, through to lesser<br />
offences which still have legal repercussions.<br />
It also covers the legal aspects of sleeping<br />
in cars and driving hours.<br />
There are links to other sources of<br />
information on the subject.<br />
Overall, it is a valuable teaching aid on the<br />
subject of driver fatigue, which all our clients<br />
will be affected by this at some time.<br />
Click here for the<br />
full report<br />
NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024 15
News<br />
Learner harrassment getting worse - and<br />
now P-plates are in the firing line, too<br />
New research by Marmalade Insurance has<br />
revealed that hassling and intimidating<br />
learner drivers and new drivers displaying<br />
P-plates is becoming worse.<br />
Indeed, according to 59% of driving<br />
instructors, the problem has worsened since<br />
the pandemic.<br />
Marmalade found that 81% of learner<br />
drivers have been on the receiving end of<br />
abuse or intimidation. 44% said the worst<br />
place for this was at roundabouts, with 29%<br />
saying it occured at traffic lights.<br />
In total, 99% of instructors said they had<br />
witnessed other drivers being abusive or<br />
intimidating towards learners during lessons.<br />
As one ADI put it, “I was a driving instructor<br />
for several years and encountered this<br />
[intimidation] daily. I also got verbal abuse<br />
and rude hand gestures when my pupils<br />
stalled the car, e<strong>special</strong>ly at a roundabout or<br />
traffic lights.”<br />
The impact of on-road intimidation<br />
and abuse<br />
Unsurprisingly, learners said this all made<br />
them feel more anxious when driving, with<br />
9% taking a break from driving as a result.<br />
91% of instructors say behaviour from other<br />
drivers has impacted learners negatively. 72%<br />
of learners made more mistakes as a direct<br />
result of the aggressive driving of others.<br />
Incidents usually involved shouting,<br />
gesticulating and driving too close, as well as<br />
aggressive overtaking, but some young<br />
drivers reported having their car purposely<br />
bumped.<br />
As one of the learners pointed out,<br />
however: “Beeping at me isn’t going to make<br />
me recover from stalling any quicker!”.<br />
Tackling the problem<br />
The majority of learners and instructors<br />
surveyed suggested that they would support<br />
on-the-spot fines for aggressive drivingt<br />
towards ADIs and learners, 54% and 67%<br />
respectively, with 72% of instructors calling<br />
for three penalty points on culprit’s licences.<br />
Perhaps more fittingly for society,<br />
however, 46% of learners and 69% of<br />
instructors felt anger management courses<br />
for offenders would be beneficial.<br />
At the very least, both parties called for<br />
greater public awareness of the problem,<br />
with a publicity campaign ran by the DVSA<br />
informing the rest of the motoring public that<br />
such behaviour just wasn’t fair, wasn’t<br />
helping and needed to stop.<br />
72% of instructors supported learners<br />
having their own category or <strong>special</strong> mention<br />
in the Highway Code hierarchy of road users.<br />
Worst offenders<br />
Results suggest that males aged 30-39<br />
rank as the biggest culprits for bullying<br />
behaviour, with 64% of learners identifying<br />
this age group, while 70% said men in general<br />
were most abusive. In terms of vehicles,<br />
behind cars, 57% said abuse came from those<br />
Get out of our boot!<br />
ADIs may recall that Marmalade ran a<br />
petition in 2022, asking for the<br />
Government to make harrassing learners a<br />
specific offence. The petition called on the<br />
Government to make disregard for the<br />
safety of drivers displaying an L-plate an<br />
aggravating factor in dangerous driving and<br />
careless driving offences. This would allow<br />
courts to impose stronger sentences on<br />
drivers who do not take sufficient<br />
precautions when driving near learners.<br />
It gained 10,705 signatures, which<br />
merited a Government response. It read:<br />
“The Government is committed to road<br />
safety, by identifying and prosecuting the<br />
few who make our roads less safe.<br />
Aggravating factors are set out in the<br />
in vans, while 18% said taxis.<br />
What about P plates?<br />
Only 30% of newly qualified drivers said<br />
that they used P plates when they first<br />
passed. Nearly half (47%) said one of the<br />
main reasons for not using them was so as<br />
not to be victimised by other drivers. In fact,<br />
nearly half of instructors (46%) advise their<br />
students NOT to use P-plates! Of those new<br />
drivers that used P plates, 50% said they did<br />
receive abuse on the roads.<br />
One parent said: “The worst tailgating my<br />
daughter experienced was after she passed<br />
her test and used P plates. It was so bad that I<br />
told her to remove them, as it was almost like<br />
a challenge for other drivers to harass.”<br />
P-plate wearers in London suffer the most<br />
frequent abuse. Indeed, London was the<br />
most hostile place in Britain to learn how to<br />
drive, with almost one in 10 (9%)<br />
experiencing abuse every time they drive.<br />
Learning to drive in Northern Ireland is a far<br />
more pleasant experience with almost a third<br />
(28%) of learners never experiencing abuse.<br />
In Great Britain, the North of England was<br />
also found to be a more welcoming place.<br />
When it comers to makes of cars, you’ll<br />
never guess which brand of car was<br />
mentioned more often than others, without<br />
prompting: BMW.<br />
What a surprise!<br />
sentencing guidelines.”<br />
It added: “The law is clear in the Road<br />
Traffic Act 1988 and set out in the Highway<br />
Code that drivers must not drive<br />
dangerously, without due care and<br />
attention or without reasonable<br />
consideration for other road users.<br />
“The Government keeps the road traffic<br />
offences under review, and the DfT plans to<br />
publish a call for evidence on motoring<br />
offences. Its scope and timings are still<br />
being worked on, but it is expected to<br />
include aspects of drink and drug driving<br />
and failure to stop and report. There will be<br />
an opportunity to raise other matters.”<br />
MSA GB notes that this has not<br />
happened.<br />
16 NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
Private healthcare<br />
is peace of mind<br />
No matter how fit and healthy we are, it is<br />
inevitable that at some point in our lives we<br />
will fall ill and need medical care. And when<br />
illness does strike it is to the NHS that most<br />
people will turn in seeking a diagnosis,<br />
treatment and recovery.<br />
The NHS has for some years been showing<br />
signs that it, too, is not in the best of health. A<br />
growing and ageing population is putting an<br />
ever-increasing strain on staff and services.<br />
This is a problem exacerbated by the<br />
coronavirus pandemic.<br />
Reports of underfunding, a shortage of<br />
medical staff, noisy and overcrowded wards,<br />
cancelled operations and long waiting times<br />
will be familiar to everyone.<br />
In England, hospital waiting lists are longer<br />
than ever before, with a total waiting list of<br />
7.75 million people.* This is the highest<br />
number since records began and illustrates<br />
the severe pressure that the NHS is under.<br />
Quick, private and convenient<br />
Understandably, these lengthy delays are<br />
causing additional stress for patients,<br />
undermining their health and quality of life<br />
even further. How many people do you know<br />
whose physical health and mental well-being<br />
has deteriorated from the anxiety of having<br />
to wait months for a hospital appointment?<br />
All this can be avoided by taking out private<br />
health insurance. Seeing a doctor in private<br />
practice used to be only for the wealthy, but<br />
not anymore as the cost of private medical<br />
cover is becoming more affordable.<br />
A private medical plan delivers prompt<br />
access to hospital consultants, thus avoiding<br />
lengthy waiting lists. Patients can choose<br />
from an extensive list of hospitals throughout<br />
the UK; if they need to be admitted, they will<br />
have their own private room equipped with<br />
TV and telephone, and visiting is arranged to<br />
suit patient and family.<br />
A quick, private and convenient service<br />
that removes many of the anxieties<br />
associated with NHS hospital stays.<br />
Taking control of your healthcare<br />
However, those interested in taking out<br />
health insurance should not leave it too late.<br />
As we get older our healthcare needs<br />
increase. Therefore, as only some of the best<br />
health insurance companies provide cover for<br />
pre-existing conditions, the best time to<br />
invest in getting private treatment for<br />
illnesses you may suffer tomorrow – is today.<br />
By acting now you can ensure your future<br />
healthcare will not be dictated by NHS<br />
bureaucracy and, just as importantly, you will<br />
be able to benefit from the widest possible<br />
cover.<br />
Private health insurance cannot guarantee<br />
good health, but it can ensure that when you<br />
are feeling unwell you will quickly receive the<br />
best possible care, when and where you want<br />
it. The peace of mind that comes with that<br />
knowledge cannot be underestimated and is<br />
often the most important factor for people<br />
deciding to take control of their healthcare<br />
provision and “go private”.<br />
For further information and a no obligation<br />
quotation contact HMCA by telephone on<br />
01423 799949 or visit the exclusive HMCA<br />
Motor Schools Association of GB website<br />
here: https://www.hmca.co.uk/msa<br />
© HMCA/S PLC (trading as Hospital and Medical<br />
Care Association, HMCA and HMCA Members) is<br />
authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct<br />
Authority (FRN:307587). HMCA/s PLC is a<br />
company registered in England, company number:<br />
01362094, registered office: Beech Hall,<br />
Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, HG5 0EA.<br />
*The Telegraph 16th October 2023<br />
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/<br />
body/nhs-wait-list-private-treatment-backlogsurgery/<br />
NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024<br />
17
Conference 2024 Telford: Full report<br />
The MSA GB Conference was back with a bang as members met up in Telford for a weekend of<br />
high-quality presentations on driver training and networking, as well as some well-deserved relaxation<br />
and fun. Over the next few pages we’ll try to capture the weekend’s key moments and offer a flavour<br />
of what was learned, what’s new, and what the future holds for ADIs<br />
Session 1: G Sabini-Roberts<br />
LGBT awareness<br />
and allyship<br />
Conference opened with a thoughtprovoking<br />
and informative presentation by<br />
G Sabini-Roberts on LGBT awareness and<br />
how ADIs can become effective allies to a<br />
community that still sees barriers and<br />
obstacles in its path, as well as criticism.<br />
Around 10-20 per cent of the UK<br />
population identifies as members of the<br />
LGBTQIA+ community - which means up to<br />
a fifth of your pupils could well place that<br />
description on themselves.<br />
How to address them, be aware of their<br />
needs and offer allyship were all covered in<br />
the session.<br />
G – who identifies as queer and nonbinary,<br />
and uses the pronouns they/them<br />
– offered a wealth of information and<br />
insights on the subject, with the key<br />
message being that everyone has a right to<br />
identify as they wish and have that view<br />
respected.<br />
At the heart of the presentation were<br />
details of the gay and trans communities, as<br />
well as information on intersex pupils.<br />
In working with learners who identify as<br />
LGBTQIA+ ADIs may make mistakes, and<br />
LGBTQIA+<br />
L: Lesbian<br />
G: Gay<br />
B: Bisexual<br />
T: Trans<br />
I: Intersex<br />
A: Asexual<br />
+: + to represent those communities<br />
not represented above<br />
getting the language right is an<br />
important part of acceptance.<br />
G started by pointing out that<br />
views on gender were being<br />
challenged. Gender “is in the brain,<br />
not between the legs”. The sex<br />
you were designated at birth<br />
defines you in our society, but<br />
your sex is actually a<br />
combination of anatomy,<br />
chromosome and hormones.<br />
“People who believe they are wholly male<br />
or female could actually be less so, if they<br />
were to have a full chromosome or<br />
hormone test.”<br />
“It’s up to you how you live your life”<br />
G acknowledged that it is a complex<br />
issue, and that “you will make mistakes<br />
from time to time; the secret is to accept<br />
them, apologise and move on with the<br />
correct terms and language.” However, a<br />
bigger error was making a fuss over a<br />
mistake - “don’t start off by saying, ‘I’m<br />
going to get this wrong…’ as if it is a big deal<br />
for you in the first place, they stressed.<br />
Graphics and<br />
information sheets<br />
courtesy of QueerBox<br />
Avoid assumptions. Many people express<br />
their gender through clothing, but not<br />
everyone. Some female pupils may dress in<br />
an androgynous style, but be heterosexual.<br />
“You don’t have to present as a woman to<br />
be one,” G pointed out.<br />
The language we use is vital. “Pronouns<br />
are critical,” G said. “Ask the pupil first<br />
which pronoun they prefer, and keep<br />
conversations gender neutral until you are<br />
certain of how they present.”<br />
There were some words and phrases that<br />
should be avoided. Never use ‘transsexual’;<br />
it is outdated and considered offensive.<br />
Rather, if your pupil is trans, simply say<br />
trans woman or trans man.<br />
Similarly, never call anyone a<br />
haemaphrodite; they are intersex.<br />
When discussing the issue comments<br />
like ‘You don’t look gay/non-binary’<br />
suggest there is a linear look to all people<br />
which they must comply with. That’s<br />
wrong; people don’t have to follow a set<br />
appearance to be that gender.<br />
Interestingly, one of the biggest<br />
challenges was around a word G used to<br />
describe themselves: Queer. G is happy to<br />
us that phrase but many in the LGBTQIA+<br />
community dislike it and see it as a<br />
18 NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
7 tips for allyship<br />
1. Make it a habit to ask for pronouns<br />
and introduce yours.<br />
2. Be careful not to assume the gender<br />
or pronouns of someone you don’t<br />
know. Use they/them pronouns until<br />
you do.<br />
3. As soon as the opportunity arises,<br />
clarify pronouns.<br />
4. Always use gender-neutral language<br />
for groups of people, and for individuals<br />
until you know they wish to be<br />
identified.<br />
5. Avoid using microaggressions and<br />
challenge them when you encounter<br />
them.<br />
6. Before asking about someone’s past,<br />
ask if it’s OK to ask and use affirming<br />
language when you do.<br />
7. If you mess up, don’t panic. Don’t<br />
make a big deal about it, but do<br />
acknowledge it and move on.<br />
Exhibitors<br />
MSA GB was delighted to welcome a number of businesses<br />
and road safety groups to our Conference Exhibition area. It<br />
was great to have them with us, and even better to see how<br />
well they interacted with delegates. We hope they enjoyed<br />
being with us as much as we enjoyed hosting them<br />
It was good<br />
to meet<br />
representatives<br />
from MSA GB<br />
authorised<br />
supplier<br />
Telematicus<br />
Services Ltd<br />
(t/a Smart<br />
Green Drivers)<br />
pejorative phrase. “I am queer but don’t<br />
assume you can use the phrase to describe<br />
everyone from the community in the same<br />
way,” was the advice. “Only use it if your pupil<br />
does in relationship to themselves.”<br />
So how can ADIs be allies to the LGBTQIA+<br />
community? “First, you will make mistakes<br />
- using the wrong pronoun, etc. Accept that,<br />
don’t make a fuss and apologise, but get it<br />
right next time.<br />
“Two, make it clear that your tuition car is<br />
an inclusive safe space. You don’t have to go<br />
full Pride flag everywhere but just having a<br />
rainbow flag on Facebook page or a sticker in<br />
your car is a subtle way of telling pupils they<br />
will be respected when they are with you.<br />
“Third, put your own preferred pronouns on<br />
your website/emails/correspondence. This<br />
might seem a small gesture but it signals an<br />
understanding of the issues, and that<br />
someone who identifies by a gender different<br />
to the one assigned at birth will be<br />
understood and welcomed.”<br />
Ultimately, remember that “the driving<br />
lesson could be one of the few occasions<br />
when a pupil escapes from pressures and<br />
tensions at home around their gender or<br />
sexuality. Be a safe space so they can open<br />
and comfortable. ”<br />
G added: “Make it clear that you accept<br />
that they may be in a different form of<br />
relationship to the one you are in. Not<br />
everyone wants to follow the ‘nuclear’ family<br />
path.”<br />
“Conference is an ideal opportunity to get<br />
away from the coalface for a time, to refresh<br />
my thinking and get some new ideas and<br />
inspiration. I always return a better ADI”<br />
One delegate in conversation with <strong>Newslink</strong><br />
Charles Morton<br />
manned the<br />
IMTD stand<br />
NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024 19
Conference 2024 Telford: Full report<br />
Session 2: Graham Feest<br />
Conference finds no clear road ahead<br />
for graduated driving licences<br />
The questions asked:<br />
How many members of your group would support the introduction of Graduated<br />
Driving Licences (GDL), which would mean placing restrictions on newly qualified<br />
drivers after they had passed their test?<br />
Irrespective of your position on the matter:<br />
1. If we were to place restrictions on new drivers once they had passed their test, for<br />
what period of time should they be in place?<br />
2. How are we going to monitor and police such restrictions?<br />
3. What do you consider we would gain by introducing such restrictions?<br />
Road safety consultant Graham Feest<br />
chaired a fast-paced session focused on<br />
post-test restrictions for new drivers – or<br />
graduated driving licences, as they are<br />
often known.<br />
Delegates around each table were tasked<br />
with finding answers to questions on<br />
whether more post-test restrictions were<br />
needed (a sample of which is posted above),<br />
what was needed for a more formal<br />
graduated licence, and whether any<br />
measures stood the chance of being both<br />
accepted by the public and being effective in<br />
reducing new driver crash statistics.<br />
The issue of 17-25-year-olds being<br />
involved in crashes within 12 months of<br />
passing their L-test is of great concern to<br />
many, but despite a number of heartbreaking<br />
stories over the years, the<br />
toughest sanction the UK has come up with<br />
thus far is to reduce the number of penalty<br />
points a new driver can accrue before a ban<br />
kicks in.<br />
So the question posed was, should the<br />
New Drivers’ Act be made stronger?<br />
Some ideas<br />
Popular ideas included reducing the size<br />
of engines on new drivers’ cars, curbs on<br />
night-time driving and carrying passengers,<br />
and post-test assessments by ADIs.<br />
But while most delegates agreed<br />
something should be done, there was little<br />
consensus around what. Stopping nighttime<br />
driving seemed an obvious way to<br />
tackle anti-social driving and problems<br />
around alcohol and drug use, but it would<br />
curb young peoples’ abilities to work in the<br />
night-time economy. Carrying passengers<br />
would be difficult to enforce and the slow<br />
switch to electric vehicles made reducing<br />
engine size on new drivers’ cars feel like an<br />
outdated idea.<br />
While the idea of post-test assessments<br />
were popular, it was pointed out that few<br />
ADIs had the capacity to train all local<br />
learners at the moment, let alone take on a<br />
new type of clients.<br />
Perhaps a better idea was a more<br />
structured training programme to begin<br />
with, combined with the compulsory use of<br />
telematics post-test to capture data and<br />
“Most delegates agreed something should be done but there was<br />
little consensus around what.... stopping night-time driving<br />
seemed an obvious way to tackle anti-social driving and<br />
problems around alcohol and drug use, but it would curb<br />
young peoples’ abilities to work in the night-time economy.<br />
Carrying passengers would be difficult to enforce...”<br />
identify problems.<br />
This latter idea, when linked to insurance<br />
policies, has generated positive outcomes<br />
for some new drivers; why not roll it out<br />
across the whole of the new driver<br />
community?<br />
Other ideas floated included a second<br />
test a set time after the first – though with<br />
DVSA currently struggling to fulfil ‘first test’<br />
demands, it was hard to see how it could<br />
accommodate a second.<br />
Stopping parents from teaching driving<br />
was another option - though with the DVSA<br />
being big supporters of private practice, and<br />
this having been linked to L-test success,<br />
again, it was hard to see it gaining traction.<br />
Many ADIs expressed the view that Pass<br />
Plus needed more support and a <strong>marketing</strong><br />
campaign could encourage more new<br />
drivers to not think their learning journey<br />
had ended at the L-test.<br />
But as Tom Kwok pointed out, while<br />
20 NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
“Restricting drivers without<br />
intervening and helping them<br />
understand why their right to<br />
drive was being controlled,<br />
with no path to improve as<br />
drivers, seemed counter<br />
productive.”<br />
Exhibitors<br />
Kevin and<br />
Tracey Field of<br />
Confident<br />
Drivers chat to<br />
delegates<br />
others had called for restrictions, the police<br />
could not enforce the existing rules of the<br />
road now; could they do so in a future where<br />
there were more things to control?<br />
Other alternatives: linking a grade on<br />
L-test to future insurance premiums, to<br />
encourage learners to take more lessons and<br />
really aim high on the test.<br />
Another idea was for a 10-year licence to<br />
be renewed only after an assessment, with<br />
drivers being informed six months before the<br />
expiry to give them time to book in for an<br />
assessment drive with an instructor.<br />
Finally, one suggestion was for the New<br />
Drivers’ Act to be made tougher, and the<br />
number of penalty points required before a<br />
ban reduced to three – or even zero.<br />
With new drivers having recent experience<br />
of the challenges of obtaining, and passing,<br />
an L-test, perhaps that threat would be<br />
sufficient to make them more considerate<br />
and safer drivers.<br />
Graham Feest said the debate highlighted a<br />
lack of consensus on the issue: it’s clear that<br />
something needs doing, but what?<br />
He admitted that he had always been<br />
against graduated licences, for many of the<br />
reasons outlined above, but now he was<br />
sitting on the fence. He saw too many new<br />
drivers struggling with distractions, and with<br />
night-time driving, and was coming round to<br />
the belief that perhaps, something did need<br />
to be done along the lines suggested.<br />
But as he pointed out, restricting drivers<br />
without intervening and helping them<br />
understand why their right to drive was being<br />
controlled, and without offering them a path<br />
to improve as drivers, seemed counterproductive<br />
and unlikely to be popular.<br />
Above, the Disability Driving<br />
Instructors were on hand to run<br />
delegates through the support<br />
available for those looking to teach<br />
pupils with additional needs<br />
We were joined by the team from<br />
Driving Instructor Services who<br />
were delighted to chat to members<br />
about their call handling and diary<br />
management services, as well as<br />
pupil booking support services and<br />
intensive courses<br />
NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024 21
Conference 2024 Telford: Full report<br />
Session 3: Q&A with the DVSA<br />
Nick Taylor and John Sheridan<br />
take questions from the floor<br />
Conference delegates put the<br />
questions to Nick Taylor, ADI<br />
Registrar, and John Sheridan,<br />
DVSA roads policy adviser<br />
For many delegates, the high point of every<br />
MSA GB Conference is always the chance to<br />
hear from DVSA officials – and put them<br />
under the spotlight with some searching<br />
questions on the day’s hot topics.<br />
With many senior managers at the agency<br />
currently tasked with taking L-tests it was<br />
feared conference would not get the chance<br />
this year, but thankfully Nick Taylor and John<br />
Sheridan agreed to come to Telford to talk to<br />
members. We’re grateful to both of them,<br />
and to DVSA chief executive Loveday Ryder<br />
for agreeing to their attendance.<br />
Nick Taylor opened with a swift look at what<br />
is still the hot topic of the day: L-test waiting<br />
times.<br />
Those DVSA managers holding L-test<br />
warrant cards who had been seconded on to<br />
examiner duties would be returning to their<br />
usual roles in <strong>April</strong>, having made a positive<br />
impact on waiting times.<br />
The DVSA was concerned that other areas<br />
of the agency’s work were being impacted by<br />
their absence, in particular Parts 2 and 3 and<br />
Standards Checks, and both would be<br />
returning to normal service as soon as<br />
possible.<br />
Waiting times remained higher than the<br />
DVSA would like, and the agency was looking<br />
to add a further 160 new examiners to the<br />
roster. Testing windows were being extended<br />
to include weekends and Bank Holidays, and<br />
examiners were volunteering for<br />
redeployment from quieter areas with<br />
shorter waiting times to those with bigger<br />
waits, such as London.<br />
It was particularly important the DVSA<br />
restarted Part 2 & 3 tests, as there was a<br />
large pent-up demand among people keen to<br />
train to become an ADI. There were 40,000<br />
instructors on the ADI Register at present,<br />
and it would soon top 41,000, Nick said.<br />
Future plans<br />
ADIs who had recently failed a Standards<br />
Check would be SEs’ main focus for the time<br />
being, with TIP data used to target those<br />
instructors whose pupils’ performance on<br />
test was giving concern.<br />
Looking forward, Nick said it was accepted<br />
that the qualification process needed<br />
reviewing; an assessment would consider<br />
whether it was aligned with more needs.<br />
The DVSA was also keen to extend<br />
awareness of Ready to Pass, and funding had<br />
been secured to target more young people<br />
through social media.<br />
The DVSA was also keen to look at certain<br />
factors around the L-test. Test nerves was<br />
clearly a big factor in failures: indeed, John<br />
Sheridan said he had seen the impact of<br />
nerves for himself while conducting L-tests<br />
from Lichfield DTC in recent months.<br />
Both DVSA officials were keen to stress<br />
how much emphasis was placed on<br />
examiners helping the candidate relax, with<br />
the examiner introducing him or herself to<br />
make them feel at ease.<br />
Driving test centre open days were<br />
another way of removing the fear from the<br />
test.<br />
Other key points to consider: data showed<br />
that the private practice was hugely<br />
beneficial to learners; they were 50 per cent<br />
more likely to pass if they had continued to<br />
practice with family members.<br />
Those who had taken a realistic Mock Test<br />
were 40 per cent more likely to pass.<br />
ADI CPD<br />
The DVSA was looking at ADI Continuing<br />
Professional Development again. It was a<br />
shame that comprehensive plans laid down<br />
by Rosemary Thew when she was DVSA chief<br />
executive had been rejected by the then<br />
Transport Minister, but its importance had<br />
never been undervalued by the DVSA.<br />
CPD training does not have to be too<br />
formal: attending events like the MSA GB<br />
Conference and reading professional<br />
literature on driver training was as acceptable<br />
as standardised training.<br />
Just record it on .gov.uk, and discuss it<br />
before your Standards Check if you have an<br />
engagement call with your SE.<br />
22 NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
Questions from the floor<br />
Nick and John were more than<br />
happy to answer questions from<br />
the floor. Below are just some<br />
of the many topics covered<br />
Q: ADIs were concerned that the TIP<br />
programme was not acknowledging the<br />
candidate’s ADI if the test took place in the<br />
pupil’s own car.<br />
A: This is easily rectified. If your car isn’t<br />
available, tell the examiner beforehand the<br />
ADI number, or get your pupil to do so if you<br />
are not attending. Before the test!<br />
learners fail a test and be back three weeks<br />
later for another go. And as he said, “there are<br />
fails… and there are fails…”<br />
Q: Is there anything we can do about L-test<br />
‘no show’ candidates?<br />
A: This is very frustrating; there is nothing<br />
worse than knowing you have a big waiting<br />
list and examiners sat around doing nothing<br />
as their candidate has failed to show. The<br />
DVSA text reminder service has proved<br />
useful in reducing no shows, or to convince<br />
people to cancel and swap their test if they<br />
realise they aren’t ready near the date.<br />
Q: Does the DVSA record car registration<br />
numbers for TIP scores?<br />
A: They don’t usually but the DVSA does<br />
have the facility to do so. Usually it occurs<br />
only if there are concerns over candidate<br />
standards.<br />
Q: Can we link CPD taken to our TIP data, if<br />
that is going to set when Standards Checks<br />
take place?<br />
A: At the moment this doesn’t happen, but<br />
a wider point is that Nick and John would like<br />
to see the narrative change around Standards<br />
Checks. “We don’t see the Check as a<br />
negative. It is an opportunity to showcase<br />
how you are fairing as an ADI and your skills.<br />
Think of it as a positive.”<br />
On CPD: “use the engagement call to talk<br />
about your CPD”.<br />
On Standards Checks: “the DVSA has a<br />
regulatory function that is important, but<br />
sees it as opportunity to keep an eye on<br />
overall standards.”<br />
Q: If a pupil complains to the DVSA about an<br />
ADI not allowing them to take their driving<br />
test because they are not ready, what would<br />
the DVSA say? Whose side would you be on?<br />
A: We are very much on the ADI’s side in<br />
such a case. We would ignore such complaints.<br />
It is your job to know when a pupil is ready.<br />
Q: Could the DVSA run more road safety<br />
campaigns? They were always very<br />
successful in the past<br />
A: The DfT runs road safety campaigns,<br />
and at the moment the focus is on the Think<br />
campaign. We are running the Ready To Pass<br />
campaign.<br />
DVSA is always keen to promote new<br />
John Sheridan: After being<br />
an examiner in Lichfield<br />
for the past few months, I<br />
can tell you, there are<br />
fails... and there are fails...<br />
educational campaigns, particularly targeted<br />
ones. For instance, data had showed that a<br />
growing number of drivers from the West<br />
Midlands’ Asian community were reluctant to<br />
wear a seatbelt. A campaign fronted by local<br />
voices had helped highlight this.<br />
John Sheridan brought the conference’s<br />
attention to Drive fast, Die Young (see pg 8).<br />
This is a film that should be viewed by all<br />
learners, he said. It is an excellent account of<br />
the consequences of a high-speed crash, and<br />
how easy it is for young and novice drivers to<br />
be drawn into bad habits and reckless<br />
behaviour by peer pressure.<br />
Q: Why didn’t the DVSA predict that there<br />
would be a rise in L-test demand post-Covid?<br />
A: We know the demand is still too high and<br />
it is still our priority. We have added 150,000<br />
tests - a huge number - and would continue<br />
to do all we could. Post Covid it was difficult to<br />
respond any quicker than we did. It takes a<br />
long time to train a new examiner.<br />
John Sheridan pointed out that if there<br />
were no fails there would be no waiting lists.<br />
As an examiner he had witnessed several<br />
Q: Are you going to do anything for PDIs who<br />
fear they will run out of time to take their<br />
Part 2/3 (as a reminder, PDIs have only two<br />
years to have booked their Part 3 from the<br />
moment they pass their Part 1)<br />
A: Our hands are tied; the need to pass the<br />
Part 3 within two years is in the regulations,<br />
so changing it would require parliamentary<br />
approval, and it is unlikely time would be<br />
allocated for it. We would stress that you<br />
don’t need to have passed your Part 3 within<br />
two years, just have a Part 3 test booked<br />
before the two years is up. The test itself can<br />
be months later.<br />
Q: What is the DVSA’s view on graduated<br />
driving licences?<br />
In many respects this is not our sector, but<br />
we know from talking to colleagues in<br />
Northern Ireland, where graduated licences<br />
do exist, that they can be burdensome and<br />
restrictive.<br />
However, we’re happy to keep an open<br />
mind, and anything that can be proven to<br />
improve road safety would be supported. It<br />
does need to be balanced and thought<br />
through, to avoid unintended consequences.<br />
Q: Can we sanction candidates who don’t<br />
show up, perhaps by charging them more?<br />
Great idea but we can’t as the test fee is laid<br />
down in parliamentary regulations.<br />
Q: Why allow L-tests in DTCs that are clearly<br />
miles away from their home?<br />
It’s about personal choice; candidates can<br />
book a test wherever they like. Ironically, it is<br />
good to encourage a test in an area that they<br />
don’t know, to avoid learning the test route<br />
by rote.<br />
NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024 23
Conference 2024 Telford: Full report<br />
Session 4: Julia Malkin MBE<br />
ADHD and the L-test:<br />
Understanding neurodiversity<br />
Dr Julia Malkin MBE is a long-time<br />
supporter of MSA GB events and a<br />
well-known face within the driving<br />
instruction community. She is best known<br />
for teaching, and helping others to teach,<br />
autistic learners, those with ADHD, and<br />
other neurodivergent differences.<br />
Julia used her slot at Conference to<br />
explain the different ways that ADHD can<br />
affect pupils. The support they need varies.<br />
Some people need to take things slowly<br />
and others could need all tasks to be broken<br />
down into more manageable chunks that<br />
can be more easily processed.<br />
There were some interesting takeaways<br />
from her presentation. It is believed that<br />
around three per cent of the UK population<br />
have one of the three types of ADHD, and<br />
65 per cent of people with this condition<br />
are undiagnosed.<br />
These are, as a group, a throwback to our<br />
ancestors’ most successful hunters: as Julia<br />
put it, “when there were hunter-gatherers<br />
thousands of years ago, those with ADHD<br />
traits were always on the go. They were<br />
scanning their environment for predators<br />
and prey, seeing changes around them<br />
faster, the tribe’s best hunters.”<br />
That agile ‘constantly on’ brain remains<br />
with us today. But our modern world, with<br />
its ‘sit still, stay quiet’ behavioural norms,<br />
makes people with ADHD have constant<br />
struggles. While the condition can be<br />
challenging to manage, it does not prevent<br />
those with ADHD from learning to drive.<br />
Types of ADHD<br />
There are three types of ADHD. The first<br />
type is Impulsive ADHD, driven by activity<br />
and constantly being on the go. Commonly<br />
diagnosed in childhood and in boys, this<br />
condition manifests today in teens and<br />
adults as restlessness, fidgeting, problems<br />
with focus and concentration. In extreme<br />
cases it can cause recklessness due to its<br />
impulsive traits. In the past, it was known as<br />
‘hyperactivity’ and results in children being<br />
always told they were naughty.<br />
“We were the naughty kids at school,”<br />
Julia said in the presentation. “We were<br />
those always being told off for not being<br />
able to sit still, stay still, and shut up. Many<br />
of us were told to stand in the corridor. I<br />
was sent to the Head! I was diagnosed<br />
hyperactive when I was six, and was<br />
drugged with Valium so deeply that it took<br />
three hours to walk four streets home from<br />
school.”<br />
Some people with the condition can<br />
interrupt, others have problems listening,<br />
and many can’t stand waiting, so situations<br />
involving queues of traffic can present<br />
problems.<br />
Some of them, as Julia puts it, “could<br />
impulsively touch all the controls, anything<br />
within reach; others will be watching<br />
through the windscreen, spotting changes<br />
in the environment, such as a boy with a<br />
ball; their mind is always on the go and this<br />
makes them lose concentration.”<br />
This is why it is exhausting having this<br />
type of ADHD.<br />
Another type of ADHD is Inattentive<br />
ADHD – commonly diagnosed in girls and in<br />
adults. People with this type can struggle<br />
to concentrate on a task. This constant<br />
need to focus our attention on a task or<br />
person drains their energy quickly, and the<br />
loss of energy can lead to them ‘zoning out’<br />
to recharge – at school these were “the<br />
daydreamers, always looking out of the<br />
window, and losing attention on the task<br />
and the teacher.”<br />
This type is not so impulsive, but they<br />
can be distracted, e<strong>special</strong>ly when they<br />
have concentrated on sitting down or<br />
thinking for long periods. They can lose<br />
confidence when, after much effort and<br />
energy is spent on concentration, they<br />
eventually try to do a task and cannot do it<br />
correctly.<br />
24 NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
“That agile, constantly on<br />
brain remains with us today,<br />
but in our modern world of ‘sit<br />
down and stay quiet’<br />
behavioural norms, those with<br />
ADHD struggle to conform...”<br />
The third type of ADHD is Combined ADHD<br />
– this type has traits of both of the two other<br />
types. Julia said that this was the type of<br />
ADHD she herself has. Combined ADHD often<br />
has the restlessness and daydreaming states<br />
of the two previous conditions, but also<br />
commonly there is anxiety, mood swings and<br />
depression.<br />
Tiredness and energy loss are common<br />
with this ADHD type, as are sleep issues and<br />
low self-esteem. Confidence is very easily<br />
lost. People with this type can be constantly<br />
in need of reassurance that they can succeed<br />
– many could easily lose hope of trying to<br />
learn, and often have problems finding good<br />
in the work they do.<br />
A key feature of ADHD is a condition called<br />
Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, or RSD. It is<br />
present in many ADHD people.<br />
RSD works in this way – a pupil could<br />
worry about starting a task, or hesitate for a<br />
long time before starting one. Here, many<br />
people think they are lazy, or not committed<br />
to the task, but they cannot see inside the<br />
ADHD head. This problem is due to fear.<br />
When presented with a new task in a driving<br />
lesson, the person is often thinking – ‘If I try<br />
this, and can’t do it, or something goes<br />
wrong, my driving instructor will reject me<br />
because I can’t learn or can’t drive.’<br />
The fear is not of the driving task, but of<br />
rejection by their driving instructor if they<br />
can’t succeed. They may have had problems<br />
at school, rejection by their peers, or have<br />
been to a previous driving instructor who had<br />
problems understanding the ADHD head.<br />
This fear of being rejected is very strong –<br />
with them, a car hooting could mean the<br />
driver has rejected them, and of course on<br />
the driving test, if they do not pass it is, to<br />
them, proof that the driving examiner has<br />
rejected them. This is what causes fear and<br />
nerves on their driving tests.<br />
If an ADHD pupil learns that there’s no<br />
actual rejection by anyone if the test is not<br />
passed, and there’s always another attempt<br />
to try, that will give them more confidence in<br />
themselves to succeed.<br />
Exhibitors<br />
Former MSA GB general<br />
manager John Lepine chats<br />
to He-Man Dual Controls<br />
Road safety consultant<br />
Graham Feest in<br />
conversation with<br />
representatives from the<br />
British Horse Society<br />
Naresh and<br />
Trupti Chauhan<br />
from Driving<br />
School Supplies<br />
brought along a<br />
great selection<br />
of goodies for<br />
delegates to<br />
peruse and<br />
purchase<br />
NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024 25
Conference 2024 Telford: Full report<br />
Session 5: John Lepine MBE<br />
European matters, and<br />
road safety’s future<br />
MSA GB’s former general manager John<br />
Lepine MBE gave delegates a look at some<br />
of initiatives emerging from Europe in the<br />
driver testing and training profession, from<br />
his vantage point of working with the<br />
European Driving Schools Association,<br />
EFA.<br />
He started by comparing the learningto-drive<br />
journeys pupils take in Ireland,<br />
France, Belgium and Holland, finding many<br />
similarities with Britain’s - but many<br />
glaring differences too.<br />
In Ireland, a theory test pass is needed<br />
before practical tuition can start, with<br />
lessons opening with 12 hours of<br />
mandatory tuition. The test itself can be as<br />
long as 100 minutes, and costs €85<br />
In France, two systems exist. The<br />
Apprentissage Anticipé de la Conduite<br />
(AAC) can begin at 15 if certain criteria are<br />
met. First the pupil must sign up with a<br />
registered driving school for an “evaluation<br />
of knowledge”. If successful, they then<br />
follow a minimum of 20 hours driving<br />
practice with a school before taking a<br />
general theory test. If successful, a<br />
certificate is issued that is valid for five<br />
years to drive accompanied by an adult,<br />
with three obligatory teaching follow-ups<br />
by the driving school.<br />
This is an expensive course, requires a<br />
lot of parental involvement and is regarded<br />
as a very middle class programme, but is<br />
effective, with a 70 per cent L-test pass<br />
rate.<br />
For those reluctant to go down this path,<br />
a cheaper option has a theory test followed<br />
by a practical exam from the age of 18.<br />
Interestingly the theory test pass entitles<br />
the holder to five goes at the L-test, rather<br />
than the two-year deadline in Great Britain.<br />
The Netherlands’ system is perhaps the<br />
closest to ours. Some differences remain<br />
- lessons can be only with an ADI, refresher<br />
training is required for ADIs, but the<br />
outcomes are similar, with around 42 hours<br />
of training taken on average for a pass.<br />
Belgium’s system is befitting a nation<br />
with such a complicated linguistic, political<br />
and civic structure: chaotic. There are eight<br />
paths to a licence, depending on which part<br />
of nation you live in.<br />
John provided a flowchart which<br />
highlighted the old adage that if Belgium<br />
didn’t exist, no one would be daft enough<br />
to invent it.<br />
Simusafe/FitDrive<br />
Two projects EFA had been involved in<br />
were Simusafe and Fit Drive. The first<br />
looked at the benefits of using simulators<br />
for teaching driving. A research programme<br />
had found benefits, particularly in areas<br />
that were difficult to teach in real life such<br />
as bad weather driving, night-time driving<br />
and how to safely use advanced driver<br />
assistance systems.<br />
FitDrive was focused on looking at a<br />
driver’s medical profile and trying to<br />
protect everyone from unexpected<br />
medical emergencies that were a danger to<br />
other road users. It monitors a driver’s<br />
health over a long period and creates an<br />
identikit of your health, with warnings if<br />
changes in health occur.<br />
The question of dual controls<br />
A third project of interest had links with<br />
conference supporter and exhibitor<br />
He-Man, the manufacture of dual controls.<br />
EFA has asked, what happens to dual<br />
controls when they are no longer needed?<br />
The research considered the fate of old<br />
duals across Europe, with some interesting<br />
differences in what happens to them.<br />
Some countries insist they are disposed<br />
of and cannot be re-used, but others,<br />
including Great Britain, have no regulations<br />
covering their subsequent use. He-Man’s<br />
concern is that second hand duals could<br />
end up being re-used, with incorrect fitting<br />
and be a danger to the public.<br />
It was noted that all countries require<br />
dual controls, though in some they have a<br />
third pedal to act as the accelerator.<br />
In France a buzzer fitted to the duals tells<br />
the learner when the ADI has intervened<br />
on their behalf.<br />
First aid lessons<br />
Many nations in Europe have a First Aid<br />
component in their driver training<br />
curriculum. As part of this, EFA had led on<br />
the Basic Life Support Project with a<br />
campaign called ‘Learn To Drive. Learn<br />
CPR’, produced in collaboration with the<br />
European Resuscitation Council (ERC). This<br />
encouraged a greater awareness of how<br />
CPR can save a life in the event of a cardiac<br />
arrest, and combined learning it with<br />
learning to drive.<br />
EFA had commissioned a catchy upbeat<br />
dance track with lyrics in English telling<br />
young people how to administer CPR - and<br />
was thrilled to win the Best Road Safety<br />
Project Award at the CIECA 2024<br />
Conference in Dubai.<br />
Conference enjoyed watching the video,<br />
which you can see for yourself by clicking<br />
HERE.<br />
26 NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
“Belgium’s system is<br />
befitting a nation with such<br />
a complicated linguistic,<br />
political and civic<br />
structure: chaotic. There<br />
are eight paths to a driving<br />
licence, depending on which<br />
part of nation you live in.”<br />
It’s good to talk...<br />
Best bit of Conference?<br />
The chance to catch up with<br />
other ADIs and just have a<br />
chat...<br />
Brexit and divergence<br />
Brexit has divorced the UK from EU<br />
legislation on road safety and driver<br />
training, and it will be interesting to see<br />
how far our paths diverge in the years to<br />
come.<br />
At present much of the UK’s legislation<br />
is still based on the Third Driving Licence<br />
Directive 2006/126/EC, which introduced<br />
a single driving licence across the EU two<br />
decades ago.<br />
The current focus in Brussels was on<br />
better preparing novice drivers for the<br />
roads, protecting vulnerable road users,<br />
and the use of advanced driving<br />
assistance systems. EU politicians were<br />
also concerned that in-car driver<br />
distractions were becoming a factor in<br />
more crashes.<br />
Early reforms could see minimum<br />
eyesight checks being brought in, as well<br />
as other health assessments for drivers.<br />
Discussions were also looking at<br />
standardised restrictions on new driving,<br />
including nil alcohol levels and stricter<br />
penalties for speeding, etc.<br />
As reported in <strong>Newslink</strong>, one huge area<br />
of concern has been plans to allow<br />
17-year- olds to drive LGVs, something<br />
road safety professionals have strongly<br />
criticised as dangerous and ill advised.<br />
Looking further afield, EFA believes the<br />
greater use of electric vehicles poses<br />
some challenges for the driver training and<br />
testing sector, including manual/<br />
automatic testing.<br />
Further development and production of<br />
driverless cars will also demand politicians<br />
create adequate safeguards over their<br />
use.<br />
NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024 27
Conference 2024 Telford: Full report<br />
MSA GB Awards<br />
Each year MSA GB presents its awards to those areas and individuals who have<br />
contributed most to the association during the past year. Here we salue this year’s<br />
winners, and thanks to MSA GB Chairman Mike Yeomans for presenting the awards<br />
MEMBER OF THE YEAR:<br />
This year we had joint winners of our<br />
Member of the Year Award, which<br />
goes to an individual who has worked<br />
tirelessly on behalf of the MSA GB in the<br />
past year. The duo were: (far left), Geoff<br />
Capes (West Coast) and (near photo),<br />
Bob Page (London & South East)<br />
EDITOR OF THE YEAR:<br />
Colin Lilly received the Jon Gross<br />
Memorial Trophy for his sterling efforts<br />
on ensuring <strong>Newslink</strong> is published every<br />
month (middle row, far left)<br />
RECRUITMENT<br />
AWARDS:<br />
Left, Paul Harmes<br />
receives the Ron Feltham<br />
Memorial Cup on behalf<br />
of the East Coast, after<br />
it had recorded the<br />
best net percentage<br />
membership growth/<br />
retention over the year<br />
Bottom row, far left,<br />
Bryan Phillips receives<br />
the John William Parker<br />
Memorial Cup on behalf<br />
of Scotland & NI, after<br />
the area came second<br />
in the membership<br />
growth/retention<br />
There were joint winners<br />
of the Ian Scoular<br />
Memorial Shield for most<br />
new members recruited:<br />
Scotland & NI, and East<br />
Coast. Bryan Phillips and<br />
Karl Satloka collected<br />
the awards on behalf of<br />
their respective areas<br />
28 NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
MSA GB Annual General Meeting<br />
Minutes of 89th Annual General<br />
Meeting held on<br />
23rd March 2024<br />
MSA GB Annual General Meeting was held in<br />
the Telford Hotel & Golf Resort, Telford.<br />
1. Chairman’s Welcome<br />
The Chairman, Mike Yeomans, opened the<br />
89th AGM at 12.35pm, introduced the agenda<br />
and welcomed attendees. There were 62<br />
people present. He reminded them that only<br />
members should vote.<br />
2. Convening Notice<br />
The Chairman read out the Formal Notice<br />
of meeting.<br />
3. Apologies<br />
Apologies were received from Mr. Rod<br />
Came. London & South East.<br />
4. Adoption of Previous Minutes<br />
Minutes of 88th AGM held virtually on 11th<br />
March 2023, were proposed by Mr. Alex<br />
Brownlee, London & South East and<br />
Seconded by Mr. Bryan Phillips, Scotland & NI.<br />
Carried unanimously.<br />
5. Matters Arising<br />
There were no matters arising.<br />
6. Adoption of Financial Statement<br />
The Chairman invited Mr. Peter Harvey, the<br />
vice chairman, to introduce the financial<br />
report for the year ending 30th November<br />
2023. This had been sent to members in<br />
advance of the meeting and was available to<br />
view on the website or in <strong>Newslink</strong>.<br />
There were no questions and the vice<br />
chairman asked for a proposer to accept the<br />
financial statement. Mr. Karl Satloka East<br />
Coast proposed, and was seconded by Mr.<br />
Neil Whiteman, East Coast.<br />
Carried unanimously.<br />
7. Adoption of the Annual Report<br />
The board continually strives to make<br />
further improvements to membership<br />
throughout the year and in many cases are<br />
the first to offer updates and changes to the<br />
profession.<br />
The Annual Report was proposed by Mr.<br />
Alex Brownlee, London & South East and<br />
MSA GB Board, 2024-25. From left, Peter Harvey MBE, Steven Porter, Mike Yeomans,<br />
Tom Kwok and Arthur Mynott<br />
seconded by Mr. Karl Satloka East Coast.<br />
Carried unanimously.<br />
8. Board Chairman<br />
Mr. Peter Harvey MBE announced that the<br />
board had nominated Mr. Mike Yeomans to<br />
continue as chairman for the ensuing year.<br />
Received with acclamation.<br />
9. Board Vice National Chairman<br />
The Chairman installed Mr. Peter Harvey<br />
MBE, Scotland & NI as vice chairman.<br />
Received with acclamation.<br />
10. Board of Management<br />
The Chairman introduced the Board of<br />
Management for 2024/25.<br />
Area 1: Scotland & Northern Ireland<br />
Mr. Steven Porter.<br />
Area 2: East Coast<br />
Mr. Mike Yeomans<br />
Area 3: London & South East<br />
Mr. Tom Kwok<br />
Area 4: West Coast<br />
Mr. Arthur Mynott<br />
The Chairman thanked the new Board for<br />
their continued commitment to the<br />
Association.<br />
11. Motion – from the Board of Management<br />
The Board proposes Saffron Accountancy<br />
Services Limited (Registration No:07941205,<br />
Registered Office: 27 Chaucer Road, London,<br />
E7 9LZ) be elected as MSA GB accountants<br />
and auditors for the year 2023/24.<br />
Proposed – The Chairman.<br />
Carried unanimously.<br />
12. Motion – from the Board of Management<br />
The Board proposes that the annual<br />
membership fee of the association should be<br />
increased by £5 per annum and should be<br />
implemented, from 1st May 2024.<br />
Proposed – The Chairman.<br />
Carried unanimously.<br />
13. Meeting Close<br />
The Chairman formally closed the meeting<br />
and thanked everyone for attending his first<br />
face to face AGM.<br />
The chairman closed the 89th AGM at<br />
12.50pm.Awards<br />
NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024 29
Members’ section<br />
NASP: The National Associations<br />
Strategic Partnership<br />
Alongside the other major ADI representative<br />
bodies, MSA GB is a member of NASP: the<br />
National Associations Strategic Partnership.<br />
NASP holds regular meetings with senior<br />
personnel from the DVSA to discuss the<br />
current position in the driver training and<br />
testing sector, to seek views and offer advice,<br />
and discuss how policy was impacting on<br />
driving standards and L-test outcomes.<br />
The most recent meeting took place on 11th<br />
March, via Teams, with a focus on the<br />
continuing fight to bring L-test waiting times<br />
down.<br />
At the meeting the DVSA revealed:<br />
n Nearing end of six months recovery<br />
period. Some warrant holders will be returning<br />
to normal duties after end of March (as<br />
reported to the MSA Conference, see from<br />
page 14)<br />
n National average waiting times for<br />
L-tests were down, to 16.1 weeks through<br />
February. The north of Great Britain was<br />
recovering more quickly than the south. In<br />
Scotland, north-east England down to<br />
Lincolnshire the average waiting time was 12.5<br />
weeks. In north-west England, including<br />
Manchester, Wales, and down to<br />
Gloucestershire, waiting times were 15 weeks.<br />
In Nottingham, M1, Oxford, Cambridge and a<br />
belt running from Norfolk to Penzance, the<br />
position was worse, around 19 weeks, and<br />
there was continuing high demand in M1<br />
corridor area into SE England. In London and<br />
south-east England is was 21-22 weeks.<br />
n The DVSA was actively seeking<br />
volunteers from among its examiners to move<br />
from driving test centres with lower L-test<br />
waiting times to ones in high wait areas.<br />
n Forward bookings have fallen to 507,293,<br />
with a sustained dropping off for bookings<br />
since October. These have been continually<br />
falling each month. Panic buying of tests was<br />
not fully over but customer behaviour is<br />
starting to change.<br />
At the time of writing there were 127,000<br />
available tests in system to book, though<br />
these were not evenly distributed across the<br />
country.<br />
n The DVSA is conducting around 44,000<br />
tests a week. In July 2023 it was 33,000.<br />
It was forecast that there would be two<br />
million tests held this year – comfortably a<br />
record high.<br />
Recruitment<br />
The DVSA was still looking to recruit more<br />
examiners. It had 170 available posts -<br />
proportionally in line with recovery and will be<br />
newcomers will be posted where they are<br />
most needed. Response has been positive.<br />
ADI Registrar<br />
The volume of new applications to become<br />
ADIs is not reducing. Over 100% more<br />
applications than previously - now 41,000 on<br />
the Register with 4,000 trainee licence<br />
holders. The DVSA is still receiving around 700<br />
applications per month for trainee licences<br />
- previously 250 per month. This has been<br />
challenging, with no let-up for 18 months.<br />
In February 2024 there were 1,675 new ADI<br />
qualifications and 722 trainee licences.<br />
ADI Examiner Update<br />
n There were 5,727 Part 2s from<br />
September 2023 – February 2024 - again, a<br />
record number. Previously were 500 a month.<br />
Currently delivering to capacity at three times<br />
the normal.<br />
During the same period there were 4,637<br />
Part 3s.<br />
n However, the DVSA conducted only 863<br />
Standard Checks. Each one was with an ADI<br />
who had registered poor scores on the TIP<br />
evaluation of pupils’ driving test record, had<br />
qualified recently or had failed a Standards<br />
Check.<br />
n A six-week course was starting on 8<br />
<strong>April</strong> for six new examiners. There will be nine<br />
examiners within three months giving an<br />
extra 150 tests per week.<br />
n Resources will be focused on Part 2s and<br />
3s and then Standards Checks, focusing on<br />
areas with highest needs<br />
n NASP asked if people are booking early<br />
because of lack of Part 2 and 3 tests. This is<br />
happening and means they will cancel tests,<br />
which will have detrimental effect on whether<br />
they get more than one trainee licence and<br />
take slots away from those who are ready.<br />
NASP suggested it’s happening because<br />
people are scared their two years will run out<br />
and asked if there are messages for trainees.<br />
DVSA replied, making sure they are prepared<br />
is the best message.<br />
n NASP said if a trainee is on “Book to Hold”<br />
they can take Part 3 if theory is running out,<br />
but they can’t have more than one test<br />
booked at a time.<br />
DVSA stated, the window is still 12 weeks<br />
and priority will be given to those with Part 1<br />
expiring, as well as those who came on the list<br />
first. Some test centres have different needs.<br />
If the demand for Part 2s and 3s is lower there<br />
will be more Standard Checks.<br />
Ready2Pass? and communications<br />
n NASP asked for an update in relation to<br />
Ready2Pass regarding trainees. DVSA stated<br />
work had been started on this, however is<br />
currently paused. Supporting messages and<br />
PDI guidance is now being issued on a weekly<br />
basis.<br />
n NASP queried ADI qualification test<br />
results emails update. It was explained that<br />
these will be reviewed once warrant card<br />
holders return from testing.<br />
Policy update<br />
n DVSA driver policy team is currently<br />
focusing on driver policy priorities and has<br />
started designing a long-term recovery<br />
roadmap<br />
30 NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024
ADI groups and associations<br />
MSA GB is proud of its long-standing links with many local ADI<br />
groups around the country. Many are small, dedicated to driver<br />
training in one city, town or even focused on a sole DTC, but all<br />
work tirelessly to improve the work of being an ADI. This can<br />
be in representing ADIs’ interests and views to your DVSA area<br />
manager, offering an ADI’s voice to local authorities and town<br />
planners, or by simply providing a network within which ADIs can<br />
find help and advice from their fellow instructors. After all, for<br />
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
many ADIs working as sole traders, being a driving instructor can<br />
be a lonely task: local ADI groups help stop it feeling quite so much<br />
that it’s ‘you against the world.’<br />
In every issue of <strong>Newslink</strong> will be publishing a list of local ADI<br />
groups and associations. We will only publish those groups who let<br />
us know they are happy to be included in our list, so if you would<br />
like to see your details here, please contact Peter Harvey at<br />
peter.harveymbe@msagb.com<br />
Aberdeen and District Driving Schools<br />
Association<br />
Secretary: Derek Young<br />
T: 07732 379396<br />
E: derekyoungcreel@aol.com<br />
Meets quarterly February (AGM), May,<br />
August and November.<br />
Cost £35 per annum<br />
Angus Driving Instructors Association<br />
Secretary: Frances Matthew<br />
T: 07703 664522<br />
E; francesmatthew@hotmail.co.uk<br />
This group holds six meeting per year<br />
(usually one week after the Scottish<br />
committee meeting)<br />
Cost £20 per year.<br />
Aylesbury Vale Driving Instructors<br />
Association<br />
Chairman: Sue Pusey<br />
T: 07780 606868<br />
E: AVDIA@btinternet.com<br />
Meetings are first Wednesday of every<br />
month at Church of the Holy Spirit,<br />
Camborne Avenue, Aylesbury, HP21 7UE.<br />
7.30pm start.<br />
Guest speaker every other month,<br />
refreshments provided.<br />
Annual fee £30. First meeting free as try<br />
before you buy.<br />
Birmingham Approved Driving Instructors<br />
Contact: Dave Allen<br />
T: 07939 627493<br />
E: Daveallen1999@googlemail.com<br />
Cornwall Association of Approved Driving<br />
Instructors (CAADI)<br />
Secretary: Rachael Lloyd-Phillips<br />
E: rachael@oneandallsom.co.uk<br />
This group meets via Zoom on the 3rd<br />
Monday every other month at 7.30pm.<br />
City of Dunfermline and District ADIs<br />
Secretary: Gail Pilch<br />
T: 07817 661450<br />
E: dunfermlineadisecretary@outlook.com<br />
Meetings are bi-monthly, at<br />
Dunfermline Northern Bowling Club, Dewar<br />
Street,<br />
Dunfermline KY12 8AD<br />
Glasgow & District Driving Instructors<br />
Association<br />
Contact: Bryan Phillips<br />
T: 07989 339 646<br />
E: bryan.phillips@hotmail.co.uk<br />
Meet on the last Sunday of the month,<br />
once every quarter, at<br />
The Fort Theatre, Kenmuir Ave,<br />
Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, G64 2DW.<br />
Joining fee: £15 per year<br />
Hinckley & District Driver Trainers<br />
Association (HDDTA)<br />
Chairman: Barrie Pates<br />
T: 07914 408 739<br />
E: haddta@yahoo.com<br />
Hull and East Riding Driving Instructors<br />
(HERDI)<br />
Contact: Andrew<br />
T: 07754542993<br />
E: herdi.rsa@gmail.com<br />
Lanark Driving Instructors<br />
Secretary: Sandra Smillie<br />
T: 07975 147150<br />
Meet quarterly from March which is our<br />
AGM<br />
South Warwickshire Association<br />
of ADIs (SWAADI)<br />
Contact: Andy Thomas<br />
T: 01926 717230 / 07900 673634<br />
E: artommo@hotmail.com<br />
We meet at 8.30pm every third Monday of<br />
the month except August and December<br />
(no meetings) at The Windmill Inn,<br />
Tachbrook Rd, Leamington Spa CV31 3DD,<br />
Rolls and snacks are available for a small<br />
charge and membership is £25 a year and<br />
includes a monthly newsletter and addition<br />
to a WhatsApp group for local issues/<br />
traffic updates, etc.<br />
Swindon Driving Instructors Association<br />
(Swindon DIA)<br />
Contact: Sandra Jill Richens<br />
T: 07795 006015<br />
E: SJRichens@btinternet.com<br />
Taunton Association Driving Instructors<br />
See Facebook page – search ‘Taunton ADI<br />
& PDI Forum’<br />
Wirral Association of Professional Driving<br />
Instructors (APDI)<br />
Chairman: Brian Murray<br />
T: 07810 094332<br />
Secretary: Richard Gillmore<br />
T: 07790 193138<br />
E: wirral-apdi@hotmail.co.uk<br />
W: wirralinstructors.co.uk<br />
Meet monthly on the first Thursday of the<br />
month (except January and August)<br />
at Heswall FC, Brimstage Road, Heswall,<br />
Wirral CH60 1XG<br />
Further information and to join, please visit<br />
the website.<br />
Why join a local association?<br />
Local news, local input – a local voice...<br />
If you want to see your local ADI group listed in this index,<br />
contact Peter Harvey on peter.harveymbe@msagb.com<br />
NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024 31
Members’ section<br />
Get 10p off every litre of fuel<br />
with <strong>special</strong> MSA GB deal<br />
The cost-of-living crisis is putting many<br />
ADIs under considerable financial pressure,<br />
and nowhere is it felt more than through<br />
the rising cost of fuel.<br />
So to help alleviate some of the burden<br />
on our members, we’re thrilled to<br />
announce a brand-new partnership with<br />
FUEL CARD SERVICES.<br />
A fuel card from MSA GB partner, Fuel<br />
Card Services can provide huge benefits to<br />
businesses that use vehicles on a daily<br />
basis:<br />
n Cutting fuel costs - save up to 10p per<br />
litre and get a consistent price.<br />
n Increased security - fuel cards are a<br />
safer alternative to carrying cash and<br />
eliminate fraud.<br />
n Streamline admin - HMRC compliant<br />
invoices, no receipts, one neat invoice and<br />
a dedicated account manager.<br />
n Tighter control of business expenses<br />
- view transactions and reports online 24/7.<br />
n Increased flexibility for refuelling<br />
across a huge network.<br />
n Fleet convenience - a quick and<br />
convenient way for fleets to refuel.<br />
There are a range of fuel cards available<br />
on the market and for your business to<br />
truly benefit from investing in fuel cards,<br />
you need to choose the right one for your<br />
businesses’ requirements.<br />
FUEL CARD SERVICES offers a large<br />
choice of networks from leading brands,<br />
such as BP, Shell, Esso and UK Fuels, so<br />
you can decide which networks you wish<br />
to include on your business account.<br />
Fuel Card Services and MSA GB are<br />
helping to deliver cost savings to<br />
members throughout the country.<br />
For more details and to obtain a fuel<br />
card through MSA GB, go to our website at<br />
https://msagb.com/members/<br />
member-discounts/<br />
What are the latest UK fuel prices?<br />
The prices right are the latest available unleaded petrol and diesel averages<br />
across supermarket, motorway and independent forecourts in the UK, according<br />
to data compiled by the RAC. Prices correct at the end of January. Continuing<br />
instability in the Middle East, affecting both fuel output and transport through the<br />
Red Sea, risks causing price rises in the coming weeks.<br />
MEMBER OFFER<br />
UNLEADED<br />
DIESEL<br />
UK average 144p 152p<br />
Motorway 157p 176p<br />
Supermarkets 142p 152p<br />
MEMBER OFFER<br />
AlcoSense: Every ADI should have one handy<br />
MSA GB has teamed up with leading supplier of personal<br />
breathalyser kits AlcoSense to bring our members a<br />
very <strong>special</strong> offer.<br />
The AlcoSense kits give an instant and accurate<br />
snapshot of whether you – or your pupil – has alcohol in<br />
your/their system, and are particularly useful ‘the<br />
morning after.’<br />
Peter Harvey, MSA GB national vice chairman,<br />
commented: “These are a quality product. They arrive<br />
well packaged, with the required batteries, five<br />
mouthpieces and full instructions. They are very easy to<br />
use, with a simple menu, and can be adjusted to suit the<br />
country you are in depending on the legal limit there.<br />
Once set up, the breathalyser gives a very clear reading<br />
in traffic light colours, making it easy to follow.<br />
“Green, as you would expect, tells you you are okay to<br />
drive. Amber advises you that alcohol is present but you<br />
are below the limit you entered at set up – though it is so<br />
important to check what the limit is in the country you<br />
use it. Red is pretty self-explanatory – Don’t drive.<br />
“The set is very compact, about the same size as a<br />
mobile phone but a little deeper. It is ideal for eliminating<br />
any concerns you may have the morning after – or for<br />
your pupils.”<br />
The Excel model costs around £100 and can be viewed:<br />
https://alcosense.co.uk/alcosense.html.<br />
But we’ve negotiated a <strong>special</strong> discount on the entire<br />
AlcoSense range (except single-use disposables) of 10<br />
per cent for members IF BOUGHT THROUGH THE MSA<br />
GB WEBSITE – from the entry-level Lite 2 (£44.99) to<br />
the top-of-the-range Ultra (£249.00), with other<br />
options available. Go to<br />
https://msagb.com/members/member-discounts/<br />
to secure your member discount.<br />
32 NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024
Towards your CPD<br />
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
Enhanced CPD can open up<br />
a host of new opportunities<br />
This is the second in Neil<br />
Wightman’s articles looking<br />
at the benefits of taking CPD.<br />
This issue he looks at enhanced<br />
competence, and what it does.<br />
What does enhanced competence mean?<br />
Developing competence is identifying the<br />
skills, talents, characteristics and knowledge<br />
you require to perform your job effectively,<br />
and training or practising to improve them.<br />
Taking time to enhance competence helps<br />
you improve your job performance, allowing<br />
you to advance your career.<br />
Enhanced competence: CPD enables<br />
professionals to acquire new skills, refine<br />
existing ones, and broaden their expertise.<br />
This continuous learning process enhances<br />
their competence and capabilities, enabling<br />
them to deliver higher quality services. Public<br />
confidence is bolstered when professionals<br />
demonstrate competence and expertise in<br />
their field.<br />
I have recently just proved that by taking<br />
my practitioner level of mentoring to the next<br />
level, which now stands me at Accredited<br />
Senior Mentor.<br />
Enhanced competence can make you<br />
better in several ways:<br />
1. Improved performance: When you<br />
develop and refine your skills and knowledge<br />
through enhanced competence, you become<br />
better equipped to perform your professional<br />
tasks and responsibilities effectively. You<br />
gain a deeper understanding of your field,<br />
enabling you to make informed decisions,<br />
solve problems more efficiently, and deliver<br />
higher quality outcomes.<br />
2. Increased confidence: Enhanced<br />
competence leads to increased confidence in<br />
your abilities. As you acquire new skills and<br />
broaden your expertise, you become more<br />
self-assured in your professional capabilities.<br />
This confidence positively impacts your<br />
performance, as you approach tasks with a<br />
greater sense of assurance, assertiveness,<br />
and poise.<br />
3. Expanded opportunities: Developing<br />
enhanced competence opens up new<br />
opportunities for personal and professional<br />
growth. With a broader skill set and deeper<br />
knowledge, you become eligible for more<br />
challenging projects, promotions, leadership<br />
roles, and career advancement. Enhanced<br />
competence can expand your professional<br />
horizons and provide you with a competitive<br />
edge in the job market.<br />
For example, with me altering the levels of<br />
my mentoring qualification it stands me out<br />
from the crowd. Advertising the fact that I’ve<br />
stepped up will enable people to have full<br />
confidence in employing me to do what I do.<br />
4. Adaptability: In today’s rapidly evolving<br />
world, adaptability is crucial. Enhanced<br />
competence enables you to stay ahead of<br />
changes and adapt to new circumstances<br />
more effectively.<br />
By continuously learning and developing<br />
your skills, you become more adaptable to<br />
emerging trends, technologies, and industry<br />
shifts. This adaptability allows you to<br />
navigate uncertainties, embrace innovation,<br />
and thrive in dynamic environments.<br />
“Enhanced competence<br />
contributes to building a<br />
strong professional reputation.<br />
When you consistently<br />
demonstrate expertise and<br />
high-quality performance,<br />
your reputation as a competent<br />
professional grows...”<br />
5. Professional reputation: Enhanced<br />
competence contributes to building a strong<br />
professional reputation. When you<br />
consistently demonstrate expertise and<br />
high-quality performance, your reputation as<br />
a competent professional grows. A positive<br />
reputation can lead to increased trust,<br />
credibility, and respect from colleagues,<br />
clients, and employers.<br />
6. Continuous learning: Developing<br />
enhanced competence is a lifelong process<br />
that fosters a mindset of continuous learning<br />
and improvement. When you embrace a<br />
growth-oriented mindset, you become open<br />
to acquiring new knowledge and skills beyond<br />
your current expertise. This commitment to<br />
continuous learning keeps you engaged,<br />
intellectually stimulated, and motivated to<br />
stay at the forefront of your profession.<br />
In summary, enhanced competence<br />
through continuous learning and skill<br />
development empowers you to perform at a<br />
higher level, increases your confidence,<br />
opens up new opportunities, enhances your<br />
adaptability, strengthens your professional<br />
reputation, and nurtures a mindset of lifelong<br />
learning.<br />
These factors collectively contribute to<br />
making you a better professional and position<br />
you for long-term success in your career.<br />
“Developing enhanced competence is a lifelong process<br />
that fosters a mindset of continuous learning and<br />
improvement. When you embrace a growth-oriented<br />
mindset, you become open to acquiring new knowledge<br />
and skills beyond your current expertise...”<br />
NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024 33
Towards your CPD<br />
Talking of driving safely...<br />
Steve Garrod offers some advice on how to conduct a commentary<br />
drive, and how it can help enhance your harzard perception skills<br />
Over the last month I have been asked to help<br />
some ADIs looking to improve their<br />
commentary driving, so I thought it might be<br />
an opportunity to share some thoughts on<br />
this topic, which is also one of the lesson<br />
themes in the Standards Check.<br />
A good commentary drive promotes<br />
forward planning and is an essential part of an<br />
advanced driver’s, or trainer’s, toolbox. In<br />
general terms, a commentary is used to<br />
inform a student, trainer or assessor of the<br />
thought processes of the driver or to help<br />
enhance and develop hazard perception skills.<br />
Developing good commentary skill is about<br />
practice so that the quality of the drive will be<br />
enhanced rather than degraded. In the early<br />
stages of learning commentary driving the<br />
driving performance often dips. The<br />
commentary should emphasise the action<br />
that is to be taken in order to deal with each<br />
potential hazard.<br />
The contents of the commentary should<br />
be current and future and not historical. I<br />
always think of it in terms of casting out a<br />
fishing line; you start from behind your head<br />
(mirrors) then cast it to the furthest point<br />
before reeling it back in and casting it out<br />
once more from behind your head. As you reel<br />
it in you scan from side to side from the far<br />
ground, middle ground and near and rear<br />
ground.<br />
Throughout the drive it is important to use<br />
a clear, distinct voice and avoid talking too<br />
quickly. A good tip to remember is ABC -<br />
Accurate, Brief and Concise. Also, imagine<br />
you are taking to somebody sitting in the<br />
back of the car to ensure your voice is loud<br />
enough to be heard.<br />
It may be appropriate at some stage to<br />
define a hazard that contains an element of<br />
actual or potential danger and anything which<br />
may cause a driver to change course or<br />
speed. Actual danger is where the law or the<br />
rule of the road places the responsibility on<br />
the driver to ensure that it is safe before<br />
continuing. Such circumstances may require<br />
a delayed gear change such as at give way or<br />
coming to rest at a stop sign or obstructions<br />
on the nearside.<br />
Potential danger is where common sense<br />
or road sense suggests that safety<br />
precautions should be taken before entering<br />
the danger area.<br />
Such action as an early gear change for<br />
example on the approach to a bend, a narrow<br />
section, a hump backed bridge or<br />
obstructions on the offside causing<br />
oncoming drivers to cross the centre of the<br />
carriageway or when pedestrians are<br />
approaching a crossing or a junction<br />
(remember the ‘hierarchy’ laws that were<br />
introduced a couple of years ago).<br />
Roadcraft view<br />
Roadcraft explains there are three main<br />
types of hazard:<br />
a) Fixed physical features such as road<br />
junctions, bends or crests of hills<br />
b) Risks arising from the position or<br />
movement of other road users<br />
c) Problems arising from variations in road<br />
surface, weather conditions or visibility<br />
A driver is constantly making driving plans<br />
to deal with immediate circumstances and is<br />
designed to ensure that the vehicle is always:<br />
n At the correct speed<br />
n In the correct position<br />
n In the correct gear<br />
The driving plan will take into account:<br />
n What can be seen<br />
n What cannot be seen<br />
n What a driver may reasonably expect to<br />
see<br />
n Which hazards present the greatest<br />
threat<br />
n What to do if a situation develops<br />
differently from expected<br />
It is often the hazards that can’t be seen<br />
catch drivers out. Many will pride themselves<br />
on being observant, but few think of the<br />
‘what if’ scenario. This is an area that should<br />
be emphasised during all driver training<br />
sessions, regardless of the driver’s<br />
experience.<br />
Such examples include a second car<br />
emerging from a side road, a hidden car<br />
behind an approaching van in a meeting<br />
situation or the second emergency vehicle at<br />
a set of traffic lights.<br />
Observation<br />
Means using sight, hearing, feel and even<br />
smell (think of cut grass or diesel/petrol) to<br />
gain as much information as possible about<br />
what lies ahead. It is the result of this<br />
34 NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
“Roadcraft lists three types of hazards...<br />
including fixed physical features such as<br />
road junctions, bends or crests of hills...”<br />
observation which principally dictates the<br />
content of the commentary. A driver should<br />
also refer to the more obvious features that<br />
can be seen such as:<br />
n road signs<br />
n obstructions<br />
n road markings.<br />
Weather conditions and visibility<br />
You need a reasonable prediction of how<br />
weather and visibility will affect the driving<br />
plan. What actions will the driver need to take<br />
to be able to deal with the situation and what<br />
alternative courses of action may be required<br />
if the situation develops. A big omission in<br />
many a commentary is that of the road<br />
surface, eg, leaves, rain, pot holed, mud on<br />
the road, animal droppings or loose gravel.<br />
Anticipation<br />
Observation links are also useful as a<br />
commentary device and therefore support or<br />
dictate the driving plan. We can comment on<br />
the lampposts; for example, are they on the<br />
right or left-hand side of the road? If they are<br />
on the left, then the chances are the road will<br />
bend to the right and if they are on the right<br />
then the road often bends to the left. This can<br />
be backed up with direction of hedgerows<br />
when driving more rural areas.<br />
Black and marker posts (red reflectors on<br />
top) which are on the left and posts with<br />
white tops on the right are used to show the<br />
outside of a bend.<br />
It is based on the rear of vehicles having<br />
red reflectors and lights and white at the<br />
front, which is why reversing lights are white<br />
to warn other drivers that the car is coming<br />
towards them.<br />
What do you think it could mean if you saw<br />
a Royal Mail van slowing down, brake lights on<br />
cars, out-turned front wheels, or exhaust<br />
fumes?<br />
The following distance calculation and<br />
application can effectively be included as part<br />
of a commentary. Employing a two or more<br />
second time gap behind the vehicle in front,<br />
depending on conditions, will ensure that the<br />
driver:<br />
n Has a good view and can increase it<br />
along both sides by slight changes of position<br />
n Can stop the vehicle safely in the event<br />
that the driver in front brakes sharply<br />
without warning.<br />
n Can extend the braking distance so that<br />
the driver behind has more time to react.<br />
n Can see when it is safe to move up into<br />
the overtaking position<br />
Planning<br />
On your commentary include a brief<br />
explanation of what is intended to be carried<br />
out, eg, restricted view, intending to slow and<br />
looking to go. Church spire ahead, anticipating<br />
reduction in speed, therefore I will need to<br />
slow before the bend<br />
It must be emphasised that good<br />
commentary is about good observation,<br />
planning and implementation. Responding to<br />
what can be seen or in some cases not seen.<br />
In certain circumstances there may be<br />
several simultaneous occurrences and it is up<br />
to the driver to prioritise accordingly.<br />
Effective commentary is about current and<br />
future events. History has no value.<br />
To sum up it should Observe, Anticipate &<br />
Planning ….OAP!<br />
A good way to start is by watching a hazard<br />
perception DVD. Try to say aloud what you<br />
are observing, then anticipating and finally<br />
planning to do. Once you feel comfortable<br />
with this, try including all three elements<br />
(OAP) before you arrive at each hazard, then<br />
take those skills into the car.<br />
Once you feel confident why not teach<br />
your learners how to do it. It does make the<br />
lesson interesting and will really bring home<br />
then need for full concentration while driving.<br />
NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024 35
Towards your CPD<br />
Evaluating road safety interventions:<br />
when to step in, and how to gauge success<br />
Janet<br />
Stewart<br />
London & the<br />
South East<br />
I had the chance to listen to a webinar hosted<br />
by Tanya Fosdick at Agilysis recently, on how<br />
and why we should evaluate road safety<br />
interventions.<br />
Among the speakers were Fay Cannon and<br />
Dr Elizabeth Box; Elizabeth has been<br />
instrumental in forming the Drive Fit<br />
campaign, which was designed to address<br />
the needs of 16-18 year-old pre-drivers.<br />
The first question to address is why we<br />
should evaluate interventions. The point, as<br />
James Harrington said, is “What if we are<br />
investing in solutions that don’t work?” What<br />
we are doing must be effective, be value for<br />
money and facilitate further improvement.<br />
As driving instructors, we know this. One<br />
size does not fit all. When it comes to<br />
educational bodies, university research and<br />
bodies such as the RAC and IAM, the<br />
evaluation aims and objectives must meet<br />
the further criteria of carrying stakeholder<br />
confidence and being scalable.<br />
There is no point in change that does not<br />
lead to improvement. The aims and objectives<br />
need to be clear. People can get so carried<br />
away with detailed analysis and complex data<br />
that the results almost get lost.<br />
A couple of reports were mentioned during<br />
this webinar – notably the 2004 Guidelines<br />
for Evaluating Road Safety Education<br />
Interventions and Dr Fiona Filan’s report of<br />
2017 on Behavioural Change. There is also<br />
Elizabeth Box’s paper on Empowering Young<br />
Drivers with Road Safety Education. All of<br />
these are well worth close reading.<br />
There are three main problems with<br />
research into what interventions work in the<br />
area of road safety. Cost is the most obvious.<br />
Then there is the time it takes to get projects<br />
set up. Finally, there is human nature –<br />
people start with enthusiasm, the process is<br />
slow and people drop out of the research.<br />
One of the questions asked was how to<br />
decide when the drop out level is such that<br />
the data won’t make sense. When do you<br />
abandon it? How do you explain to the<br />
stakeholders?<br />
It is essential that there is a point to the<br />
evaluation that is being undertaken. There<br />
may be an area that a researcher is very<br />
interested in but if it is only of very limited use<br />
then maybe it should not be followed up.<br />
Having planned an intervention, carried it<br />
through and got the evaluation you may not<br />
get the result that you were expecting; then<br />
something needs to be changed.<br />
The example given was skid-pan training<br />
for young drivers. The premise was that they<br />
would be safer if taught how to deal with<br />
skidding. The outcome was that “skill fade”<br />
set in quite quickly but the drivers were more<br />
likely to speed having done the course.<br />
On a non-driving subject, some juvenile<br />
delinquents spent some time in an adult<br />
prison to find out how harsh the environment<br />
was. This was counter-intuitive – they came<br />
out with the feeling that their risk-taking<br />
behaviour was “normalised”.<br />
I found it interesting that all three speakers<br />
said that there is a real stigma attached to<br />
publishing the results of interventions that<br />
did not work, despite the fact that this would<br />
be so useful to other research teams who<br />
might have been planning something similar.<br />
It was suggested that it would be helpful if<br />
there was some standardisation of<br />
evaluation and delivery methods. It was also<br />
suggested that there should be a catalogue<br />
of who was doing what research so that<br />
there could be a pooling of ideas and an<br />
avoidance of unnecessary duplication.<br />
As to what we driving instructors do, of<br />
course we evaluate all the time and put in<br />
what we hope is the correct intervention. We<br />
know that if something is not working then<br />
we need to try a different approach rather<br />
than just saying the same thing again but<br />
louder.<br />
I know I am not alone in having a tendency<br />
to assume I understand why the learner has<br />
done what they have done. I know, too, that I<br />
can be very wide of the mark.<br />
I was teaching bay parking at the local<br />
leisure centre. My pupil’s eyes glazed over so<br />
I tried to use a different form of words. She<br />
then apologised and said she had been<br />
looking at the legs of the firemen playing<br />
football on the pitch the other side of the car,<br />
out of my view!<br />
There is so much information available, so<br />
many papers, so much research and advice<br />
out there for us, it is difficult to know where<br />
to start.<br />
However, each seminar, conference or<br />
online event that I attend gives me some<br />
nugget to take away and there is always<br />
something more to think about and<br />
incorporate into my teaching/tutoring/<br />
coaching.<br />
Janet Stewart is an Executive Member of the<br />
IMTD.<br />
Contact:<br />
Janet Stewart,<br />
MSA GB London & the South<br />
janetslittlecar@btinternet.com<br />
Tel 07989 852274.<br />
36 NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
EU progress on safety ‘barely moving’<br />
The European Court of Auditors has warned<br />
that EU member states will need to ‘move<br />
their efforts up a gear’ if they are to reach<br />
targets of halving road deaths and serious<br />
injuries by 2030.<br />
EU auditors analysed the bloc’s current<br />
road safety efforts and while commending<br />
the overall strategy, they warn that<br />
implementation is lacking or non-existent in<br />
several key areas. Eva Lindström, the ECA<br />
member who led the audit, said progress was<br />
“barely moving”, and that the situation in<br />
some countries “remains rather alarming”.<br />
Commenting on the report’s findings,<br />
Antonio Avenoso, executive director of the<br />
European Transport Safety Council said: “This<br />
report shows the scale of the challenge<br />
ahead if the EU is serious about halving the<br />
20,000 tragic deaths on our roads every<br />
year. The current approach is just not going<br />
to do the job as long as legislation is not<br />
ambitious enough, and proper<br />
implementation is lacking in many areas.<br />
“We hope this report will be a wake-up call<br />
for the EU that efforts will need to increase in<br />
the second half of the decade.<br />
“We also think that the European<br />
Commission does not have enough resources<br />
to tackle major emerging issues such as the<br />
roll-out of vehicle automation, and that an EU<br />
road safety agency should be established to<br />
take on some of this work.<br />
“It is hard to understand why maritime, air<br />
and rail all have dedicated agencies, but there<br />
is no EU agency for road safety issues.”<br />
In terms of the overarching goals, the<br />
auditors suggest that the strategy for<br />
reducing serious road injuries is being<br />
hampered by a lack of harmonisation on how<br />
member states classify data. This leaves the<br />
Commission “unable to obtain an accurate<br />
overview of serious injuries at EU level.”<br />
In vehicle safety, the auditors noted that<br />
the flagship EU General Safety Regulation<br />
which applies to all new vehicles sold from<br />
July this year, will not lead to the expected<br />
reductions in deaths because Europeans are<br />
replacing their vehicles less often.<br />
Separately ETSC has pointed out that the<br />
regulation has been weakened in the<br />
implementation phase, as carmakers put<br />
policymakers under huge pressure to lower<br />
the bar for minimum requirements on<br />
technologies including Intelligent Speed<br />
Assistance (ISA), Electronic Data Recorders<br />
(EDR) and distraction warning systems.<br />
The auditors reiterated ETSC’s warning<br />
that thousands of new vehicles are able to<br />
circumvent EU vehicle safety requirements<br />
each year, including dangerous American<br />
pickup trucks, because they are imported<br />
and approved under the EU’s Individual<br />
Vehicle Approval Scheme which has very low<br />
safety requirements.<br />
On speed, responsible for a third of deaths,<br />
the report notes that the Commission has<br />
not yet issued a formal recommendation to<br />
member states on safe speed limits, “even<br />
though the European Parliament had called<br />
upon the Commission to do so in 2021.”<br />
Rural roads account for half of Europe’s motoring deaths<br />
A new report by the European Transport<br />
Safety Council (ETSC) has revealed that<br />
around 10,000 people died on rural, nonmotorway<br />
roads in the EU in 2022 –<br />
accounting for around half of all road deaths.<br />
Rural roads can be dangerous, compared to<br />
other road types. They often lack central and<br />
side barriers and allow for large speed and<br />
weight differences between the vehicles that<br />
use them, from lorries to vulnerable cyclists<br />
as well as pedestrians and horses.<br />
Single-vehicle crashes, where a fatigued<br />
driver misjudges a turn and runs off the road,<br />
are common. Head-on collisions frequently<br />
occur, and are often lethal.<br />
The report urges national governments to<br />
invest significantly to improve the safety of<br />
rural roads.<br />
The call comes as EU rules on road<br />
infrastructure safety management (RISM)<br />
have changed dramatically. Previously EU<br />
safety rules applied on the main roads and<br />
motorways that form the EU’s Trans-<br />
European Network, but new rules agreed in<br />
2019, but only just implemented, now extend<br />
that coverage to national ‘primary’ roads and<br />
any roads that benefited from EU-funds.<br />
Installation of side and central barriers,<br />
removing roadside obstacles and<br />
construction of separated paths for cyclists<br />
and pavements for pedestrians are among<br />
the recommendations for safer rural roads.<br />
Although often seen as an urban road<br />
safety issue, around half of cyclist deaths<br />
occur on rural roads.<br />
The report contains many examples of<br />
remarkable interventions that are saving<br />
lives across Europe. France, Spain and the<br />
Belgian region of Flanders have reduced the<br />
speed limits across their entire rural road<br />
networks. Scotland’s initiative with road<br />
markings to help motorcyclists navigate<br />
sharp bends safely was also praised.<br />
Speed remains a major risk factor, with<br />
large numbers of drivers still driving above<br />
the posted limit on rural roads despite the<br />
availability and proven reliability of<br />
automated enforcement technology such as<br />
speed cameras and time-over-distance, or<br />
‘average speed’ cameras. The authors note<br />
that the safest countries of those studied<br />
usually have lower standard rural road speed<br />
limits, set at 70 or 80 km/h.<br />
ETSC also wants to see the EU’s automated<br />
‘eCall’ emergency call system, which is<br />
required on all new cars, extended to other<br />
vehicle types – notably motorcycles. In rural<br />
areas, an incapacitated driver or rider who<br />
cannot call for help, could have their life saved<br />
by an eCall system which can send location<br />
information directly to emergency services.<br />
NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024 37
Area News<br />
The NHS desperately needs your help...<br />
with its bay parking<br />
John Lomas<br />
MSA GB<br />
West Coast<br />
& Wales<br />
Following a bit of a health scare I recently<br />
spent another overnight in our local<br />
hospital.<br />
The window by my third floor ward bed<br />
gave me a lovely view of one of the staff<br />
car parks during the early morning shift<br />
influx, and if I had had a decent video<br />
camera with me I could have made a<br />
terrific hour-long training video showing<br />
bad bay parking, both forwards and<br />
backwards. It would have included a<br />
range of angles, from 90 degrees to<br />
straight access, and a selection of shunt<br />
numbers ranging from NONE (straight in,<br />
well done) to around five or six goes,<br />
regardless of the direction of parking.<br />
I even watched two to four shunts<br />
when there were no other vehicles within<br />
three bays either side.<br />
The red lines show aproximately the<br />
scope of my view.<br />
(Just in case you’re thinking ‘shunt’ in<br />
this case means a crash, I’m referring to<br />
parking by moving forwards then back<br />
again).<br />
Motor vehicle versus wild animal<br />
To illustrate this point, I’ve used two<br />
photographs (both right).<br />
The photo (see top right) I have used<br />
for this happens to be on the A4 in<br />
Savernake Forest, Wiltshire; but it could<br />
be any national speed limit road with<br />
restricted sideways visibility.<br />
The night driving picture (below right)<br />
is actually from America but it illustrates<br />
the restricted scope of your lights in such<br />
an area.<br />
The point I want to make is how driving<br />
on rural roads can be dangerous because<br />
of the presence of large wild animals. It<br />
doesn’t have to be a forested area either<br />
because some deer can easily come over<br />
a field hedge onto the road; this is why in<br />
some deer areas they actually erect high<br />
deer fence. Large wild animals such as<br />
Red, Roe, Fallow and Sika deer can<br />
nowadays be found virtually anywhere in<br />
the country.<br />
So the question is: although this is a<br />
national speed limit and even if it didn’t<br />
have a Wild Animals warning sign, which<br />
are found in a relatively few areas, just<br />
what speed would you consider doing on<br />
a dark night even if you can use main<br />
beam because there is nothing coming<br />
the other way?<br />
You might think that traffic on the road<br />
might deter the animals from crossing,<br />
but I have actually experienced a large<br />
deer crossing between my car and the<br />
one in front at about 25 yards. In that<br />
case we were actually doing about<br />
30mph through the Forest of Dean.<br />
I wonder how often fatal single vehicle<br />
crashes involving vehicles leaving the<br />
road have actually been caused by a<br />
driver, using an inappropriate speed,<br />
swerving to avoid a deer, or other,<br />
smaller, wild animal which has suddenly<br />
emerged into their path from the<br />
darkness.<br />
Do you raise this sort of scenario with<br />
your pupils when doing or discussing<br />
night driving – particularly (though not<br />
exclusively) if you are an ADI in a rural<br />
area, or whose pupils are more likely to<br />
drive on coutnry roads?<br />
“How fast would you<br />
fancy driving down the<br />
dark road right, in the<br />
event of a large wild<br />
animal coming out of the<br />
forest into your path?”<br />
My line of vision<br />
over the car park.<br />
It offered a<br />
grandstand view<br />
of some dubious<br />
parking<br />
techniques<br />
38 NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
Julia’s message rang home<br />
and would have been great<br />
to hear many years ago<br />
Arthur Mynott<br />
MSA GB<br />
West Coast<br />
& Wales<br />
Hopefully, you’ve had chance to read<br />
elsewhere in this issue of <strong>Newslink</strong> all about<br />
our recent Conference and Training Day. I<br />
thought it was a great success.<br />
It was our first face-to-face conference for<br />
five years, the last four being conducted via<br />
Zoom, and it was so nice to meet other<br />
instructors in person.<br />
I met old acquaintances and made new<br />
ones, and everyone I spoke to agreed that it<br />
had been a great occasion, one which had<br />
them already looking forward to next year’s<br />
event. Marie and I went up on the Thursday<br />
with the intention of me playing golf with the<br />
Driving Instructors Golf Association (DIGA)<br />
on the Friday but, because of the continuous<br />
wet weather, the course was closed so Marie<br />
and I went sightseeing instead.<br />
Conference highlight<br />
As I said earlier, the conference itself is<br />
covered elsewhere in this publication but I<br />
would just like to mention one speaker who<br />
stood out for me, and that was Dr Julia Malkin<br />
MBE.<br />
Julia, who is also a driving instructor, spoke<br />
about teaching learners with ADHD, a<br />
condition from which she also suffers. She<br />
went through the thought processes<br />
learners with this condition go through.<br />
Her presentation struck me on a personal<br />
level as my older brother, born in 1954, was<br />
diagnosed with learning difficulties, a severe<br />
form of ADHD. He was non-verbal until the<br />
age of five and attended a Special Needs<br />
secondary school. He also worked all his life<br />
until redundancy, living with our parents the<br />
whole time until their passing.<br />
My wife, eldest son and myself then took<br />
over looking after his welfare and finances<br />
until he passed away suddenly two years ago<br />
of a heart attack at the age of 67.<br />
If I knew years ago what I now know,<br />
thanks to Julia, it would have made a big<br />
difference in being able to understand his<br />
thought processes, and it would have made<br />
looking after him much easier for us and also<br />
better for him.<br />
One thing that he did manage to do, at the<br />
age of 50, was to pass his driving test at the<br />
second attempt, thanks to yours truly. It took<br />
a while but was very rewarding for him when<br />
he received his pass certificate, just as it was<br />
for me.<br />
West Coast Conference<br />
From one conference to another. It’s now<br />
time to book another important date into<br />
your diary, and that is the West Coast &<br />
Wales Area Conference. It will be held on<br />
Monday, 11th November, and this year will be<br />
held at the Mercure Bristol North Hotel, The<br />
Grange. It is just off the M5/M4 interchange<br />
near Bristol, so hopefully is easy for people in<br />
this far-flung region to get to.<br />
Speakers booked so far include John<br />
Sheridan, DVSA Driver Training Policy<br />
Adviser. John has promised to be there “by<br />
hook or by crook” this year after having to let<br />
us down last year because he was conducting<br />
driving tests.<br />
He will be joined by Daniel Cox, Road Safety<br />
Officer for Avon and Somerset Police.<br />
I am in the process of booking more<br />
speakers for the day.<br />
The cost per delegate has yet to be<br />
confirmed but will be in comparison with<br />
other years, and I have managed to negotiate<br />
a discounted room rate for anyone who<br />
wishes to stay over for the conference.<br />
Make sure you put this date in your diary in<br />
readiness for this event and also drop me a<br />
message if you are thinking of coming.<br />
CONTACT<br />
Arthur Mynott, Chairman West Coast &<br />
Wales MSA GB<br />
Tel 07989852274<br />
arthur.mynott@msagb.com<br />
Big rise in theory<br />
test cheating<br />
Reports of cheating in driving theory tests<br />
have tripled amid low pass rates and long<br />
waits for a practical test booking.<br />
According to data accessed by AA<br />
Driving Schoo via a Freedom of<br />
Information request, 1,652 incidents of<br />
cheating were reported from theory test<br />
centres in 2022/23, up from 568 in 20/21.<br />
In 2022 and 2023, 625 people were<br />
investigated, resulting in 46 prosecutions<br />
for theory test fraud. The current pass rate<br />
for the theory test is just 45.4%.<br />
Recent analysis by the AA Driving<br />
School showed waiting times to book a<br />
practical test were still higher than the<br />
pre-pandemic average of 6 weeks at 75%<br />
of test centres. Many test centres still<br />
show average waiting times in excess of<br />
five months.<br />
Camilla Benitz, AA Driving School<br />
managing director, said: “The jump in<br />
reports of theory test fraud is alarming,<br />
but indicates the lengths people will go to<br />
secure that all important pass.<br />
“The increase in cheating coincides with<br />
the waiting times for booking a driving<br />
test shooting up massively as well as the<br />
pass rate for the theory test remaining<br />
stubbornly low at just 45.5%.<br />
“While passing the theory test does<br />
require revision and time spent practising,<br />
it shouldn’t have learners turning to illegal<br />
fraudsters to pass. There is lots of help out<br />
there, including our theory test app, which<br />
can help you prepare and take the next<br />
step in your driving journey.”<br />
Rise of the theory test cheats<br />
2015-16 467<br />
2016-17 414<br />
2017-18 537<br />
2018-19 653<br />
2019-20 848<br />
2020-21 568<br />
2021-22 1,151<br />
2022-23 1,652<br />
NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024 39
Area News<br />
An ADI on holiday...<br />
is still an ADI<br />
Brian<br />
Thomson<br />
MSA GB Scotland<br />
It’s been 20 years this year since I became an<br />
ADI, and with that became self-employed.<br />
Working for yourself has it’s ups and downs,<br />
as we all know. There’s the chance to work<br />
your own hours, a plus; doing all your own<br />
admin, a minus; not getting paid for downtime<br />
or illness, a minus; taking your unpaid holidays<br />
when you like, a plus.<br />
That takes me seamlessly onto my topic for<br />
this issue of <strong>Newslink</strong>– I managed to do that<br />
thing we all say we’ll do, but rarely get round<br />
to, which is take a quick break for some much<br />
needed R and R. At the end of January I took in<br />
a bit of sun, sea and strolling about in Gran<br />
Canaria. Temperatures at that time of year are<br />
a nice 25-27’C during the day.<br />
But as well as know, a driving instructor on<br />
holiday is still a driving instructor, so after a<br />
quick word with some of the hotel reception<br />
staff, I found myself outside a local driving<br />
school office. However, what the receptionist<br />
omitted to tell me was that in Gran Canaria,<br />
unlike the UK, they shut between 1pm and<br />
4pm!<br />
So it was a return trip the following day to<br />
meet Selvia, who arranged lesson bookings<br />
and theory classroom sessions. The school<br />
had its own classroom equipped with various<br />
models of working parts of a car that, in olden<br />
days, had been used as hands-on training<br />
material. I also met one of the instructors who<br />
was coming in to pick up two students at the<br />
same time. They go out for a lesson together,<br />
one driving and the other taking notes or at<br />
least paying attention, before they swap over<br />
and the second lesson commences.<br />
They sometime have three students in the<br />
car at once.<br />
The lessons at that school were 31 euros<br />
for a 45-minute lesson, roughly equivalent to<br />
£37.50 for a one hour lesson here. Fuel was<br />
slightly cheaper, around £1.20 for petrol and<br />
£1.31 for diesel. So with the ‘busman’s holiday’<br />
information gathered, off I set to see what<br />
other subtle differences I would come across.<br />
Electric scooters are really common on the<br />
island and look as though they are used by all<br />
walks of life. Indeed they seem to be<br />
considered a main form of transport around<br />
town, and even used on urban dual<br />
carriageways (didn’t personally see any on the<br />
main motorways!). The ones I saw were<br />
always ridden on the road and not the<br />
pavements.<br />
Another ‘anomaly’ was some parking; there<br />
40 NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
Park anywhere? How do those in the bay get out? What the blazes is that ...<br />
‘The school had its own<br />
classroom equipped with<br />
various models of working<br />
parts of a car that, in olden<br />
days, had been used as<br />
hands-on training material.’<br />
were cars parked in bays but other cars just<br />
parked on the road directly behind them, fully<br />
blocking the bay parkers. I never found out<br />
why this is accepted; my ‘Gran Canarian’ is<br />
sketchy so I couldn’t ask.<br />
I don’t have a photo to show this, but while<br />
on a local bus I noticed that they have<br />
designated bus stops on roundabouts, so<br />
when the bus enters the roundabout it may<br />
stop on the right side.<br />
This didn’t seem to cause a lot of<br />
frustration from other drivers, but I wonder<br />
how that would bode here ?.<br />
Then I saw what has to be described as a<br />
‘something at the side of the road’.<br />
This ‘car’ has to take the title of the car<br />
with the least number of features in one<br />
place. I think the doors are spare<br />
supermarket exit/entry gates and a list of<br />
interior extras as long as your eyelashes, but,<br />
hey ho, no doubt it’s somebody’s pride and<br />
joy (see photo top of the page).<br />
That’s my Gran Canaria report complete,<br />
where to next?<br />
“Electric scooters are really<br />
common and look as though<br />
they are used by all walks of<br />
life. Indeed, they seem to be<br />
considered a main form of<br />
transport around town...”<br />
NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024 41
Life as an ADI<br />
A cautionary tale of the toll work can have, by Bryan Phillips<br />
A pain in the chest – and you’re<br />
glad you’ve got health insurance!<br />
Sunday 19th May 2019: for me a typical<br />
Sunday. Day off work, cleaning the car for the<br />
week ahead and the standard personal trainer<br />
session at the gym. However, this gym<br />
session was to change my life forever!<br />
I was doing some bench presses, which was<br />
nothing unusual for me, with weights that<br />
were comfortable for me to use. However, the<br />
personal trainer kept telling me I was doing<br />
things wrong and that my right arm was doing<br />
all the work, and the left arm was being lazy.<br />
After this gym session I returned home, and<br />
soon the top of my left arm was agony. My<br />
immediate thougt was I had pulled a muscle,<br />
so I took the standard paracetamols and got<br />
on with things.<br />
Monday 20th May, I left for work. This day<br />
was different as I had Pass Plus course<br />
booked with a recently passed pupil. All is well,<br />
but later that night I was in pain again with the<br />
top of my left arm, cold sweats and I felt like<br />
death. Again I took the standard paracetamols<br />
and went to bed. However, the pain came and<br />
went though the night and I can’t get to sleep.<br />
Something was not right so I decide to go<br />
to the hospital to get checked over. Off I drive<br />
to Glasgow Royal Infirmary. The receptionist<br />
takes my details and asks what my<br />
symptoms are, then asks me to take a seat.<br />
Abdominal<br />
injections<br />
for blood<br />
thinners...<br />
ouch!<br />
Within seconds my name gets called and I<br />
was taken into the casualty department and<br />
put on to an ECG machine. I had a series of<br />
needles into my arm and blood tests<br />
conducted. Half an hour passes and I’m then<br />
moved to another section of the hospital and<br />
told the doctor is on their way to speak to me.<br />
Mr Phillips, says the Doctor, it appears you<br />
have had a myocardial infarction. Me being<br />
from the east end of Glasgow and not being<br />
the sharpest tool in the box says to the<br />
doctor, ‘oh ok and what exactly is that’, and<br />
the doctor replies, you are currently having a<br />
heart attack.<br />
My instant thought was, oh no, I have not<br />
got time for a heart attack, I have a pile of<br />
driving tests this week! I say to the doctor ‘oh<br />
what happens next because I have got work<br />
to go to tomorrow and driving tests to do’. The<br />
doctor looked at me and said “Bryan you will<br />
not be working for some time.”<br />
Everything happened so fast it was a total<br />
blur; I remember getting an injection of<br />
Looking<br />
groggy after<br />
a little bout of<br />
heart<br />
surgery...<br />
at least the<br />
morphine<br />
was good!<br />
anti-sickness medicine and an injection of<br />
morphine (that stuff was great) the pain went<br />
away within seconds!<br />
An echocardiogram scan was done and I<br />
was put into an ambulance and transferred to<br />
the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Glasgow for an<br />
immediate operation. This is when it hit home<br />
to me how serious things were. I felt<br />
overwhelmed and embarrassed at the<br />
ambulance sirens going and seeing all the<br />
vehicles moving out the way to allow the<br />
ambulance a path through the traffic.<br />
Arriving at the Golden Jubilee Hospital I was<br />
taken to the ward where the heart surgeon<br />
came to see me prior to the operation. I had to<br />
sign a consent form, so jokingly I said to the<br />
surgeon “is this my death certificate I’m<br />
signing”, to which he said if I didn’t sign it, then<br />
it would be!<br />
Form signed and I asked for a few moments<br />
to speak with my dad before going to theatre.<br />
It’s a conversation I’ll never forget, telling him<br />
where all my important documents were in<br />
42 NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
“Here I am now, almost five<br />
years on, 42 years old, I’ve lost<br />
around three stone in weight<br />
and I’m living a perfectly<br />
normal and healthy life.<br />
The moral of this story is look<br />
after yourself, you only get one<br />
shot at life, do not make<br />
yourself sick for a job where the<br />
clients will drop you at the first<br />
chance.”<br />
case the worst was to happen, but most<br />
importantly, to make sure it was steak pie<br />
that was on the menu at the wake, (there’s<br />
nothing worse than soup and a sandwich<br />
after a funeral!)<br />
The next thing I was being wheeled round<br />
to the operating theatre. The two girls<br />
pushing me asked what I did for a living.<br />
Predictably, just as I tell them I’m a driving<br />
instructor, they crash the bed against the<br />
wall. “You’ve got a serious driving fault there,”<br />
I say. We all laugh!<br />
Into the operating theatre I go. The place is<br />
full of students watching in the gallery which<br />
the surgeon asked me if it was ok for the<br />
students to watch before I went in. My<br />
thoughts are, we all need to learn so why not.<br />
The surgeon preformed an angiogram and an<br />
angioplasty and fitted a stent to the lower left<br />
artery on my heart.<br />
The entire process took less than 20 mins,<br />
and I was then taken back to the ward for<br />
recovery. By the time I got back to the ward<br />
the whole family was there to welcome me<br />
back.<br />
I was in hospital for three days, every<br />
morning started with an injection in the<br />
abdomen with blood thinners – wow that<br />
was sore! I was anxious to get released from<br />
hospital as there was an election on the day I<br />
got released and I wanted to go and vote!<br />
Phone call to the DVLA to inform them and<br />
I told my driving licence was revoked for one<br />
month; this was the longest month of my life!<br />
Colleagues all came and visited and helped<br />
out, covering driving tests for those pupils<br />
who had a test booked. It shows how great a<br />
community driving instructors are, helping<br />
out in our hour of need: Tom McDermid,<br />
Michael Toal, John Archer, Alan Henderson,<br />
Cheryl Lynch and Len Ratcliffe, I can’t thank<br />
you enough.<br />
Recovery was well underway. I could get<br />
used to this relaxing malarky, I even went to<br />
sunny Spain for two weeks after the doctors<br />
said I was okay to travel!<br />
I was fortunate enough to have taken out a<br />
sickness insurance policy which safeguarded<br />
my wages while I was off work for three<br />
months and it also covered critical illness,<br />
which I received a large pay out for!<br />
Here I am now, almost five years on, 42<br />
years old, I’ve lost around three stone in<br />
weight and I’m living a perfectly normal and<br />
healthy life.<br />
The moral of this story is look after<br />
yourself, you only get one shot at life, do not<br />
make yourself sick for a job where the clients<br />
will drop you at the first chance.<br />
Having a heart attack at 37 certainly never<br />
crossed my mind. Listen to your body and if<br />
any of you ever experience chest pain, cold<br />
sweats, or pains at the top half of your left<br />
arm, go to the hospital straight away and get<br />
checked out. Don’t do what I did and leave it<br />
24 hours!<br />
PACTS savages<br />
Government over<br />
failure to legislate<br />
over e-scooters<br />
The Parliamentary Advisory Council for<br />
Transport Safety (PACTS) has criticised the<br />
Government after it ruled out legislating on<br />
e-scooters.<br />
In a statement issued last month PACTS<br />
said: “We have been informed that there is<br />
insufficient Parliamentary time to consult<br />
on e-scooters. It means that the likelihood<br />
of legislating for private e-scooters with<br />
regulations that set safety as the main<br />
priority in 2024 is zero. This is a setback.”<br />
PACTS accepted that the extension of<br />
rental trials to May 2026 will enable the<br />
Government to continue evaluating the<br />
usage and safety impacts of e-scooters,<br />
but “that will go no way towards dealing<br />
with the over one million privately owned<br />
e-scooters which are evidently being used<br />
illegally on public roads.”<br />
PACTS said that these vehicles “do not<br />
pass testing, standard setting, or type<br />
approval because they are not regulated for<br />
use a motor vehicles. As such they bring<br />
unnecessary hazards to riders and danger<br />
to other road users.”<br />
PACTS stands by its recommendations<br />
made in March 2022, that the DfT needs to<br />
take urgent action to address dangerous<br />
and illegal private e-scooter use by:<br />
n issuing clear information to the public<br />
that it is illegal to use a private e-scooter<br />
on public roads and in almost all public<br />
places in the UK, and that they could incur<br />
substantial fines and penalties if caught;<br />
n taking action against retailers which<br />
fail to properly inform customers of the<br />
risks and illegality involved in the use of<br />
private e-scooters, and<br />
n supporting the police in taking<br />
enforcement action against illegal and<br />
unsafe use.<br />
PACTS ended with a barbed criticism of<br />
the Government’s grasp of road safety: “If,<br />
as the then Minister Baroness Vere<br />
announced in May 2022, ‘Safety is also at<br />
the heart of our plans’, then a new Bill is<br />
needed specifically to create a regulatory<br />
framework for smaller, lighter, zeroemission<br />
vehicles, as part of a new<br />
low-speed, zero-emission vehicle<br />
category.<br />
NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024 43
Members’ discounts<br />
Members’ discounts and benefits<br />
MSA GB has organised a number of exclusive discounts and offers for members. More details can be found on our website at www.msagb.com<br />
and click on the Member Discounts logo. To access these benefits, simply log in and click on the Member discount logo, then click the link at the<br />
bottom of the page to allow you to obtain your <strong>special</strong> discounts.<br />
Please note, non-members will be required to join the association first. Terms and conditions apply<br />
Access to a replacement dual<br />
control car after a crash<br />
EXCLUSIVE DEAL FOR MSA GB MEMBERS<br />
MSA GB has arranged to provide members with a replacement dual controlled car when<br />
things don’t quite go to plan.<br />
If you lose your dual-controlled tuition car in a crash, MSA GB’s new partnership will have<br />
you back on the road and teaching in no time.<br />
Our exclusive agreement will supply a replacement vehicle to you should the need arise<br />
– at no cost. Contact 07914 275539 for more details.<br />
Ford updates <strong>special</strong><br />
members’ offer<br />
Ford has partnered with MSA GB to offer exclusive<br />
discounts on all car and commercial Ford vehicles.<br />
Take a look at the Ford website www.ford.co.uk<br />
for vehicle and specification information. See the<br />
Members’ Benefits page on the MSA GB website<br />
and follow the Ford link for more details..<br />
Please note these discounts are only available to<br />
MSA GB members and their immediate family if they<br />
are members who pay annually.<br />
ACCOUNTANCY<br />
MSA GB’s Recommended<br />
Accountancy Service, FBTC<br />
offers a <strong>special</strong>ist service for<br />
ADIs. It has been established<br />
over 20 years ago and covers the<br />
whole of the UK. The team takes pride in<br />
providing unlimited advice and support to ensure<br />
the completion of your tax return is hassle free,<br />
giving you peace of mind.<br />
MSA GB OFFER:: FBTC will prepare you for<br />
Making Tax Digital and will be providing HMRC<br />
compliant software to all clients very soon.<br />
Join now to receive three months free.<br />
ADVANCE DRIVING<br />
AND RIDING<br />
As the UK’s largest road safety<br />
charity, IAM RoadSmart is<br />
proud to partner with the<br />
Motor Schools Association<br />
GB. Working together to promote and<br />
enhance motorists skills on our roads.<br />
MSA GB OFFER:: Get 10% off Advanced courses;<br />
visit www.iamroadsmart.com/course and<br />
use the code MSA10 at the checkout or call<br />
0300 303 1134 to book.<br />
BREATHALYSER KITS<br />
Protect yourself and your pupils with a<br />
personal breathalyser. We’ve teamed up with<br />
AlcoSense, the award-winning range of<br />
personal breathalysers, to offer an exclusive<br />
discount to all MSA GB members. A personal<br />
breathalyser takes the guesswork out of<br />
whether there’s residual alcohol in your<br />
system (or that of your learner driver pupil)<br />
the morning after the night before.<br />
MSA GB OFFER:: 10% off any AlcoSense product<br />
(excluding single-use disposables) – from the<br />
entry-level Lite 2 (£44.99) to the top-ofthe-range<br />
Ultra (£249.00).<br />
CAR AIR FRESHENERS / CANDLES<br />
Mandles’ handmade scented collections use<br />
quality ingredients to ensure superior scent<br />
throw from all its candles and<br />
diffusers. Check our our website<br />
for further details.<br />
MSA GB OFFER:: Special discount<br />
of 20% on all car air fresheners<br />
and refills.<br />
CARD PAYMENTS<br />
MSA GB and SumUp believe<br />
in supporting motor vehicle<br />
trainers of all shapes and sizes.<br />
Together we are on a mission to<br />
ease the operational workload of<br />
our members by providing them with the ability<br />
to take card payments on-the-go or in their<br />
respective training centres. SumUp readers<br />
are durable and user-friendly. Their paperless<br />
onboarding is quick and efficient. Moreover,<br />
their offer comes with no monthly subscription,<br />
no contractual agreement, no support fees,<br />
no hidden fees – just the one-off cost for the<br />
reader coupled with lowest on the market<br />
transaction fee.<br />
DISABILITY AIDS<br />
Driving shouldn’t just be a<br />
privilege for people without<br />
disabilities; it should be<br />
accessible for all and there’s never been an easier<br />
time to make this the case! MSA GB members<br />
can take advantage of BAS’s Driving Instructor<br />
Packages which include a range of adaptations at<br />
a discounted price, suitable for teaching disabled<br />
learner drivers.<br />
MSA GB OFFER:: Special Driving Instructor<br />
Packages for MSA GB members.<br />
FUEL CARDS<br />
Save up to 10p per litre of fuel with Fuel Card<br />
Services. Fuel Card Services offers a large<br />
choice of networks from leading brands, such<br />
as BP, Shell, Esso and UK Fuels so you can<br />
decide which networks you wish to include on<br />
your business account.<br />
MSA GB OFFER:: An MSA GB fuel card will save<br />
you up to 10p per litre.<br />
HEALTH / FINANCE COVER<br />
The Motor Schools Association of Great<br />
Britain has agreed with HMCA to<br />
offer discounted rates for medical<br />
plans, dental plan, hospital cash<br />
plans, personal accident plan,<br />
travel plan, income protection<br />
and vehicle breakdown products.<br />
MSA GB OFFER:: HMCA only offer<br />
medical plans to membership groups<br />
and can offer up to a 40% discount off the<br />
underwriter’s standard rates. This is a<br />
comprehensive plan which provides generous<br />
cash benefits for surgery and other charges.<br />
To get the full story of the<br />
discounts available, see<br />
www.msagb.com<br />
44 NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
PUPIL INSURANCE<br />
Join the Collingwood<br />
Instructor Programme and<br />
refer your pupils for learner<br />
insurance.<br />
MSA GB OFFER:: MSA GB OFFER:: £50 for<br />
your first referral and £20 for all additional<br />
referrals.<br />
PSYCHOLOGY TRAINING<br />
Confident Drivers has the only<br />
website created e<strong>special</strong>ly for<br />
drivers offering eight different<br />
psychological techniques<br />
commonly used to reduce stress and nerves.<br />
MSA GB OFFER:: One month free on a monthly<br />
subscription plan using coupon code.<br />
PUPIL SOURCING<br />
Go Roadie provides students<br />
when they need them, with all<br />
the details you need before you<br />
accept. Control your own pricing,<br />
discounts and set your availability<br />
to suit you. Full diary? No cost!<br />
MSA GB OFFER:: Introductory offer of 50% off<br />
the first three students they accept.<br />
QUICKBOOKS<br />
50% Discount on two<br />
packages for MSA GB<br />
members<br />
Quickbooks is offering an online<br />
50% discount for MSA GB members on two of<br />
their premium accounting packages.<br />
Essentials Package For small businesses<br />
working with suppliers. Manage VAT and<br />
Income Tax with up to three users.<br />
Plus For businesses managing projects,<br />
stock, VAT, and Income Tax. Up to five users.<br />
The packages are contract-free throughout<br />
with no cancellation fee. This exclusive<br />
member offer can only be secured by<br />
contacting our MSA GB representative at<br />
Quickbooks - Ollie Nobes, on: 07723 507 026<br />
or email: Ollie_Nobes@intuit.com quoting:<br />
**MSAGB**<br />
To get the full story of the<br />
discounts available, see<br />
www.msagb.com<br />
Membership offer<br />
Welcome, new ADIs<br />
We’ve a <strong>special</strong> introductory offer for you!<br />
Congratulations on passing your<br />
Part 3 and becoming an ADI.<br />
There’s an exciting career<br />
open to you from today,<br />
one that’s alive with<br />
possibilities as you build<br />
your skills, your client base<br />
and your income.<br />
But for all the excitement,<br />
it can also be challenging;<br />
who can you turn to if you’re<br />
struggling to get over key driver<br />
training issues to a pupil? Where can<br />
you go to soak up advice from more<br />
experienced ADIs? Who will help you if you<br />
are caught up in a dispute with the DVSA? If<br />
the worst happens, who can you turn to for<br />
help, advice and to fight your corner?<br />
The answer is the Motor Schools<br />
Association of Great Britain – MSA GB for<br />
short.<br />
We are the most senior association<br />
representing driving instructors in Great<br />
Britain. Establised in 1935 when the first<br />
driving test was introduced, MSA GB has<br />
been working tirelessly ever since on<br />
behalf of ordinary rank and file ADIs.<br />
We represent your interests and your<br />
views in the corridors of power, holding<br />
regular meetings with senior officials<br />
from the DVSA and the Department for<br />
Transport to make sure the ADIs’ voice is<br />
heard.<br />
SPECIAL OFFER<br />
Join MSA GB today!<br />
SPECIAL OFFER: Join for just £60 with your<br />
PI & PL insurance included immediately!<br />
No joining fee - saving you £25<br />
Call 01787 221020 quoting discount code<br />
<strong>Newslink</strong>, or join online at www.msagb.com<br />
We’d like you to<br />
join us<br />
We’re there to support you<br />
every step of the way.<br />
Our office-based staff are<br />
there, five days a week,<br />
from 9am-5pm, ready to<br />
answer your call and help<br />
you in any way.<br />
In addition our network of<br />
experienced office holders and<br />
regional officers can offer advice over<br />
the phone or by email.<br />
But membership of the MSA GB doesn’t<br />
just mean we’re there for you if you’re<br />
in trouble. We also offer a nationwide<br />
network of regular meetings, seminars and<br />
training events, an Annual Conference, and<br />
a chance to participate in MSA GB affairs<br />
through our democratic structure<br />
In addition, you’ll get a free link to our<br />
membership magazine <strong>Newslink</strong> every<br />
month, with all the latest news, views,<br />
comment and advice you’ll need to become<br />
a successful driving instructor.<br />
You’ll also automatically receive<br />
professional indemnity insurance worth up<br />
to £5m and £10m public liability insurance<br />
free of charge.<br />
This is essential legal protection covering<br />
you against legal claims ariving from your<br />
tuition.<br />
NEWSLINK n APRIL 2024 45