Care Motoring is pleased to announce that we have been invited to take part in a national campaign, launched just a few weeks ago by the Driver Education and Research Foundation (derf), to encourage young novice drivers, as well as learner drivers, to take part in the Defensive Drivers’ Promise initiative by agreeing to take extra training post-test in defensive driving techniques.  Here at Caremotoring, that is exactly what we do - our e-learning programme will be focussing exclusively on these techniques, the essential driver thinking skills, so that our learners are given an understanding of what is meant by defensive driving before they pass their test.  In this way the progression to the Defensive Drivers’ Promise post-test will seem a natural one.  Linked to this, we will be offering  Diamond Plus, based on a combination of Pass Plus and the Diamond Advanced Motorist Test, administered by the Driving Instructors Association (DIA).  For more details please fill in the contact form or use the contact details given on the contact page.

For more information on the Defensive Drivers’ Promise campaign, vist www.derf.org.uk

This was the front page headline in today’s EDP (Eastern Daily Press), warning readers that it has emerged drivers are 3 times more likely to be killed in a rural area than in a city.  This is no surprise to those of us in road safety, having been aware for a long time that the highest casualty rate is on rural roads (the lowest on motorways, which sort of puts paid to the ’speed kills’ argument!).  Naturally speed is quoted in the article, which is correct when you consider many of these crashes are single vehicle, the driver losing control on a bend, or perhaps as a result of skidding on mud, but the speed may not necessarily have been above the posted legal limit: many crashes on rural roads are due to the driver being unaware that his speed, which may be significantly below the speed limit, is still too fast for the conditions.  Stephen Haley, in ‘Mind Driving’, Skill 7, Risk Assessment and Control, clearly explains the difference in ability to stop in time in single track space, between meeting a stationary object around a slight bend, and meeting a moving object coming towards you, both of you using the standard stopping distance rule: the result of the 2nd is catastrophic!  Where space is limited to one vehicle, a driver’s speed should be significantly reduced on approach to a bend, no matter how slight, to account for all the possibilities, all the what ifs?:

• What if I meet another vehicle coming towards me and using all the available space?  Is a horn warning appropriate here (think horses!)?
• What if there is a large, slow-moving vehicle just around this next bend, could I stop in time?
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• What if I meet a horse and rider? (Are there any clues, eg fresh horse manure on the road?)
• What if I meet people walking, maybe with dogs?
• What if a deer, or other animal ran in front of me now?  (Visually scan the area around as you may catch a glimpse of such animals before they appear on the road)
• What if I hit a patch of mud, or grease, when I need to stop for another road user?
• What if I meet a group of cyclists?

In the countryside the list goes on!  Deceptively beautiful and quiet but holding more dangers for the unsuspecting driver than the busiest town centre or motorway!

Enjoy your drive along the lanes of this beautiful countryside of ours, but don’t be lulled into a false sense of security.  Take CARE!

As from 1^st October 2007, candidates who arrive for a driving or theory test without either a full photocard licence (BOTH photocard and paper counterpart) or an old style paper licence with a valid passport, will not be allowed to test and will lose their fee. Currently candidates are  allowed, under certain circumstances, to sign a declaration if they arrive without the paper counterpart. This practice will cease on October 1^st.

Please note a driving licence must be replaced if it has been lost, stolen, defaced or destroyed. Full details of how to get a replacement are available from DVLA via www.direct.gov.uk/motoring or can be obtained by telephoning them on 0870 2400009.