Care Motoring is delighted to announce that we have been accredited to deliver a brand new BTEC level 2 course in Driving Science.  This is a vocational qualification, equivalent to a GCSE, administered by Edexcel and delivered through A2om - Alpha to Omega School of Motoring Ltd - www.a2om.com - to whom we are now proud to be affiliated.  For more information on this exciting new addition to our CareLearner course, click on the BTEC link in the menu bar.

Do you do the lottery?  Do you hope every week that ‘it could be you’?  Do you know the odds of winning the lottery?  Yes, I’m sure you do, but it’s still worth a go isn’t it?  After all, someone’s got to win!

What if I told you there was another game of chance where the odds are 30 times greater than the lottery?  Interested?  In fact, you have a one in 200 chance of winning, now how about that for good odds?

So, what is this game?  It’s the Road Death game!  Yes, we Britons have a one in 200 chance of dying in a road crash.  How about that?  Much shorter odds by train, that’s 1 in 65,000 and by air, shorter still, 1 in 7.6 million in fact!  This is according to an unpublished report by the Department for Transport, obtained by the Times.  Follow this link to read the article:

 http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article3621890.ece

Drivers who take driver training greatly reduce their chances of being involved in a crash, simply because they have raised awareness of the mistakes other drivers make, and are ready to deal with them, together with heightened hazard perception skills coupled with the right level of anticipation to deal effectively, and in good time, with these hazards.  And, as a very welcome added bonus, this safer style of driving also saves money!  It reduces fuel usage, which also reduces the CO2 emissions, reduces wear and tear on the vehicle and significantly reduces driver stress and associated fatigue!  In fact, most drivers who take this training save themselves at least £120pa.  If you would like further information on how you can start to make savings, please contact us now.  The Road Death game, that’s one lottery you definitely don’t want to win!!

This was the headline of a ‘news in brief” account I read recently in my local paper.  It concerned a VW Golf, without a driver, which moved out of the car park and crashed into the wall of a convent nearby.  The report stated a faulty handbrake was suspected and went on to report that it was the third time in a year that a car had damaged walls at the convent in this way.

Recent discussions with drivers has revealed to me that many people believe you should not leave your car in gear when parked, citing the reason for this belief being that their driving instructor always told them to leave the gear lever in neutral.  This highlights a lack of understanding behind the reason for the driving test safety check before switching on the engine, ie check handbrake is on first, then check the gear is in neutral: because there is a very sound safety reason why the car may have been left parked in gear, which is that if the handbrake fails, the car will be held by the gear-box now acting as a second brake.  All drivers are aware of the use of gears as a way of slowing the car down, (although this is not the principal method taught today), of braking in fact, but it appears many have not related this fact to when the vehicle is left in a parked position.

The advice should be:

Leave your car with the handbrake on and in gear whenever you are parked in a position, such as a car park, even with a slight slope, where a faulty handbrake could cause the vehicle to roll off and cause damage, even injury!

Leave you car in gear, but with the handbrake off:

• when leaving the vehicle for an extended period of time, eg when going on holiday
• when parked outside overnight during icy conditions

The reason for the above is that the handbrake, which operates on the rear wheels only, can seize up, thereby preventing you from moving the vehicle.

Far from being bad practice, leaving your car parked in gear is a wise safety precaution.  Just remember the important safety checks you were taught before starting the engine: check first that the handbrake is on and then that the gear lever is in neutral.

We regret to announce that Collingwood, underwriters for ‘Click the Pepper’ insurance and ‘Instructor Cover’ have cancelled all trading agreements with them as from the 1st February.  If you have bought a policy from either of these companies, Collingwood will continue to honour all existing policies so any enquiries should be directed straight to Collingwood Insurance.

It is hoped that this is only a temporary problem and that we will see the ‘Click the Pepper’ insurance for learner drivers up and running again soon.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=522943&in_page_id=1770

 Please read this article, then rethink your actions if you text whilst driving, or speed in a 30mph area!  Texting might seem harmless to you - you can do it with your eyes closed and you can do it fast, so where’s the problem doing it when you’re driving?  And 30mph feels so SLOW!  In fact, it feels like a crawl, doesn’t it?  Well, the young lady in this report must have held all these beliefs - she’d already been caught 3 times for speeding before this happened!  And she clearly believed so much in her multi-tasking skills, she believed she could drive, 50% above the speed limit, and text at the same time!  Well now she has 4 years to think about these beliefs (although she’ll most likely be out in 2, but that’s still an awfully long time for her 4 year old daughter!), and to consider what her life will be like in the future, blighted as it has now become through such thoughtless actions.  Perhaps she could consider helping others to learn from her mistakes and so give back to road safety?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_YV3Cru7aE

Click to watch this YouTube video.  Comments please!

Click on the following link to read this tragic report in full:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/7232821.stm

This is the reality of risk taking - just how many lives were affected by this young man’s casual approach to risk?

Although this proposal, as reported in today’s Daily Mail, may at first seem worrying for the elderly driver, I’m sure most people would agree that it makes sense to ensure both eyesight and mental skills for the elderly are fit for the purpose of driving.  Driving is a potentially dangerous activity, and we should all take care to avoid driving if unfit in some way.  This can include our emotional and our mental states, as well as physical fitness.  At no matter what age any one of us can be struck down with a mental illness, such as depression, which temporarily makes us unfit to drive, and we should each be responsible enough to accept that, just as we would have to if we broke a limb.  Therefore, although these measures might at first appear to be discriminatory towards the elderly, it is a sad fact of life that our mental faculties, as well as our eyesight, do decline with age.  However, just as we know we can improve our brain power with mental exercises, so all of us can do something to maintain our driving ability by raising our standard of driving whilst we are still young, and ensuring we have regular refresher lessons, at least every 10 years, to help us to retain that ability.  Any driver over the age of 55 can have reactions as fast, often faster, than someone much younger if they have learned to spot and react to any potential hazard much earlier, thereby cancelling ‘thinking time’ from the stopping distances table.  Make sure you are a proactive, as opposed to a reactive driver.  And do ensure you have regular eyesight check-ups and that you wear your glasses if prescribed for driving - you know it makes sense!

Click on this link to read the full Daily Mail article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=510738&in_page_id=1770

Following the sad, sudden loss of SafeSpeed campaigner, Paul Smith, I should like to let all readers know that Paul’s partner of 24 years, Claire, has vowed to continue the campaign and so I would urge all interested in seeing a return to, in Paul’s words, “sensible road safety policies”, to join the campaign at: http://www.safespeed.org.uk

The following is contained in the latest SafeSpeed newsletter and I thought it appropriate to include here:

And in parting Paul recently created the 100 word Highway Code :
With every edition the Highway Code gets bigger. The latest edition recently published, has swelled to 133 pages. The Safe Speed campaign says that this ‘bloat’ is causing the
essential safety messages to get lost and has produced their own version of the Highway Code in just 100 words.

Safe Speed’s Highway Code in exactly 100 words:
================================================
Drive on the left.
Make sure you can see and be seen.
Keep a constant look out all around.
Be aware of signs and regulations and why they are there.
Be predictable.

Recognise and anticipate danger and keep clear space from it.
Always ensure that you can stop within the distance that you know is clear.
Develop your skills.

Give courtesy, co-operation and space to others. Don’t obstruct them.

Never take risks, drive unfit or compete with others.

Safety is paramount and far more important than priority.
Take personal responsibility for your safety and the safety of those nearby.

Enjoy.
==================================================

Safe Speed founder Paul Smith explained: “We’re not seriously suggesting that
the official Highway Code should be replaced with just 100 words of advice to
drivers, but the reason we have done this is deadly serious. We need to point
out to Department for Transport that they have lost sight of the essential
foundations of road safety, and their new Highway Code further loses sight of
these foundations in a morass of rules.”

“You cannot replace skilled human judgement with a rule book - however big it is
- but that’s exactly what Department for Transport is trying to do.”

“Our Highway Code even includes things that the official version does not. For
a start it reminds people that road use can be enjoyable. Without that
enjoyment we wouldn’t have the interest to develop the skills that safe use of
the roads requires.”

“Another problem is that the Highway Code tells us what to do, but not how to
decide when it is safe. We need to recognise danger and develop our skills for
that.”

“We hope that these founding principles will help road users everywhere - not
just drivers - to focus on what’s important and stay out of trouble.”

“Some of the statements may not be immediately obvious to inexperienced road
users, but all the common crash causes are covered. When we get it right we
don’t crash - but in order to get it right we need the right beliefs, the right
skills and the right attitude. When things go wrong - think back to your last
incident - and you’ll probably be able to recognise the cause of the incident
in those 100 words. Did you fail to spot the danger? Did you take a risk
knowingly? Were you unfit through tiredness, drink or drugs?”

“Use this code, learn from your mistakes and use the roads as safely as you
possibly can. It’s enjoyable to do so.”

I am extremely saddened to learn of the sudden death of Paul Smith, tireless campaigner for sensible road safety policies.  Although his style was most definitely not the gentle, diplomatic approach, he certainly ruffled a few feathers and refused to get off the DfT’s back until he saw evidence of a change in policy away from the crude sticking plaster effect of speed cameras, which he believed have done untold damage to our road safety record, towards the sensible policies of proper traffic policing.  However you felt about Paul, we have lost a true ally in the fight for safer roads in this country, and he will be sadly missed.  I should personally like to extend my heartfelt condolences to his partner Claire, his friends and his family.  RIP Paul.

Jackie