Do you often find drivers are ‘tailgating’ you?  Do you feel you are being pressurised to drive faster?  Or do you choose not to look in your mirror so as to avoid all this?  If you have answered ‘yes’ to any of these, then you may be driving at a speed which is well below the limit and below that which conditions would allow.  Drivers who do this cause irritation to other drivers, who then take risks, effectively making you the dangerous driver!  The following tips should help you keep up with the flow:

• check your speedo - are you actually travelling well below the speed limit (eg 30 or 40 in a 60?) when it would be perfectly safe to go faster?
• raise your eyes higher - see our tip on ‘upside-down traffic lights’
• gradually increase your speed, a little at a time, until you find that (legal) speed which is still comfortable for you but keeps all but the most persistent of tailgaters away from you!  (We do all suffer from them from time to time, I’m afraid, most especially when keeping to a 30mph speed limit!)
• if you are catching up with another vehicle ahead, slow down early by simply releasing the throttle (lift your foot right off the accelerator); maintain a 4 second gap with the vehicle ahead - this will allow you good reaction time and will assist another driver if they choose to overtake
• if the gap you’ve left is filled, a momentary release of the throttle will give it back to you.  Don’t worry, you won’t be pushed further back, as the maximum you will lose is 2 seconds; it will take an awful lot of overtaking vehicles to make any significant difference to your progress!
• make sure you are constantly aware of what is happening around you by using your mirrors (including your side mirrors) frequently; gathering information throughout your driving is vital
• seek professional help.  Your handling of your vehicle controls may not have changed since you gained your licence but vehicles most certainly have!  Manufacturers have done a lot to make cars much easier to handle but drivers often fail to take advantage of this.  Although it is not possible to change ‘overnight’, having the knowledge about what it is possible to do, and the opportunity to practise in a quiet area, may well increase your confidence and bring back the pleasure to driving.

We, at caremotoring, would be delighted to help you, and hope you will make us your first port of call, but you may also like to explore other opportunities open to you:

• The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM)
• Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA)
• Your local County Council Road Safety Department - many now run the SAGE project, Safe Driving with Age.  (This is certainly the case for Norfolk County Council)

With the summer we never had now behind us, it’s time to make all those necessary vehicle maintenance checks so you are prepared for the winter:

• antifreeze
• oil
• screenwash with antifreeze
• tyres: minimum legal tread depth is 1.6mm but caremotoring recommends at least 2mm
• washers and wipers
• lights (already there seem to be quite a lot of vehicles with one headlight out, and this is illegal)

If you have front fog or spotlights on your vehicle, please remember it is illegal to use these when visibility is greater than 100 metres so they should NOT be used at night to give you extra light, or because you think they look nice, because they dazzle other drivers and so can be potentially dangerous.  The same applies to rear fog lights, so do check you have not left these, or the front ones, set to ‘on’ inadvertantly.

Brake lights too, make sure they are all working, and be aware that these are also intensive lights: they act as a warning to following drivers, and can help warn of your presence when waiting to turn right.  However, if you use them whilst stationary at red traffic lights, these are dazzling to the driver behind, especially as most cars now have a brake light strip above the rear window, just the right position to shine right in the eyes of the driver behind!  Caremotorists show consideration to other drivers, and this is one such example - please apply your handbrake when waiting at red lights, and release the footbrake.

Before setting off, especially first thing in the morning if your car has not been garaged, ensure all windows are clear: remove moisture which has misted over and never drive with just a ‘peep-hole’ through iced-up windscreen!  And don’t forget to clear side mirrors, lights and number plates too - easily forgotten in the morning rush unless you make this a habit.

Speed limit signs are there to tell drivers the maximum permitted speed on that stretch of road, where conditions allow. The national speed limit sign does not mean it is safe to do 60mph if you are driving a car - how many roads can you name with the national speed limit where it would be total folly to drive at 60? So remember, when you leave a 30 limit, and enter the national speed limit, it simply means you are no longer restricted by law to 30mph, it does not mean it is now safe to do 60!

Currently the whole process of learning to drive, and the driving test itself, are under review by the Government. As a result of this, there have been many announcements in the press, often resulting in misunderstanding by the readers, who then verbally pass on their interpretations. These interpretations evolve, in much the same way as ‘Chinese Whispers’ evolve, and the end result is a complete exaggeration of the truth! So, if you hear some incredible rumour about the process of learning to drive, the driving test and post-test restrictions, ask the experts first. Please do call us and we will gladly give you the latest, accurate, information.

In order to maintain a safe gap with the vehicle ahead, choose a stationary object on the side of the road, eg a traffic sign, and count 2 seconds from the moment the car ahead passes the object - saying the sentence above, at a steady pace, will take 2 seconds. If you pass the same object before you finish the sentence, you’re too close. And if someone is ‘tailgating’ you, increasing the gap ahead puts you in control by allowing you greater braking time should the need arise.

In order to see further ahead, and so plan your actions earlier, think of your car windscreen as “upside-down” traffic lights, so that the upper part of your windscreen (immediately below the view of the sky) is green, and is where you should be looking most of the time. Move your eyes from side to side, coming forward to “amber”, then into your rear and side mirrors, then back to “green”. Use the “red” area for slow speed, tight manoeuvring only. Train yourself to use the “green” area (most people use the “amber”) on bends and around roundabouts – you’ll be surprised how much more you’ll see!

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.