 Welcome to my Blog, where I'm aiming to highlight driver training and motoring news and issues which I believe will be of interest and use to learner, novice and experienced drivers alike. I hope you find the Blog interesting and informative!  FREE MOBILE PHONE APP BLOCKS TEXT DRIVING An innovative FREE Android Mobile Phone Application will help you to keep your eyes on the road and stay safe! iZup Lite uses GPS to determine if you are driving or not. iZup Lite contains a customisable auto-reply feature that immediately notifies callers that the recipient is driving and will respond to the text when their journey is complete. There are three configurable auto-response messages that can be turned on or off. I recommend this App to any driver with a compatible phone.  FREE SAFE DRIVER TEST Take an online FREE Safe Driver Test which will help you find out which of your individual personality traits could trigger dangerous driving habits. It's completely anonymous, no personal data is required and only you'll see the results. At the end you'll be offered personal advice on what you can do to reduce your chances of driving dangerously and being involved in a crash.  DRIVING WITHOUT REASONABLE CONSIDERATION A retired firefighter was fined in early 2012 after stopping an ambulance on a 999 call from overtaking his car in Colchester, Essex. The man was driving at about 45 mph when the ambulance tried to get past him with blue lights flashing and sirens. The man admitted that the right thing to do would have been to go on to the grass verge and admitted driving without reasonable consideration. He was fined £250, with £80 costs and five points were added to his driving licence. Driving without reasonable consideration, also referred to as driving without due care, can be applied to various behaviour including delaying emergency vehicles and splashing pedestrians.  LEARNING TO DRIVE CAN BE "SEXY"! According to a new survey by Confused.com, more than one in three young adults feel that young people who can drive and have a car are more sexy than non-drivers and more likely to get a boyfriend/girlfriend. More than one in three said that having a car and being able to drive will improve your chances of getting a date with them! Females are more likely than males to look for a partner who can drive. It doesn't matter too much what car you drive though as only 12% of young adults admitted to dating someone because of the sort of car they drive.  DRIVERS WHO CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY FACE LONGER JAIL TERMS Dangerous drivers who cause serious injury to others will face five years in prison under plans for a new offence announced last week. The offence of 'Causing Serious Injury by Dangerous Driving' will more than double the penalties for those behaving recklessly on the roads. It will help address a gap that exists in the current legislation between the offence of Dangerous Driving, punishable with up to two years in prison, and Causing Death by Dangerous Driving, with a maximum 14-year sentence.  DEER ALERT! It is not uncommon to see deer around my area and I've had two or three run out in front of me over the years. At least one of these was in the middle of the day. Fortunately I keep my speed down between dusk and dawn in areas where I know there are deer (especially around Bowood) so I haven't hit any. I have, however, been the first person on the scene at a collision involving several young drivers and a deer. The deer was killed and at least two cars were written off. Some of the young passengers were in serious shock and they were lucky nobody was injured. I have also driven past a couple of accidents involving deer where the emergency services, including an ambulance to attend to a motorbike rider who'd collided with a deer, were on the scene. Periods of greatest risk are autumn and spring at dawn and dusk, especially in wooded areas. Every year, people are killed or injured in road collisions with wild deer around England. There have been over 2,000 recorded deer-vehicle collisions since January 2009 on the motorway and A-road network alone. It is estimated that there are up to 74,000 deer-vehicle collisions every year in the UK. Most deer are killed, but thousands are left to die of injuries. A key to reducing the number and severity of deer-vehicle collisions is for drivers to be 'deer aware'. This means you should slow down and watch out when you see deer close to the road. The Highways Agency advice to drivers is: a. when you see deer warning signs, check your speed and stay alert b. green reflections could well be a deer's eyes reflecting in your lights b. if your headlights are on, use full-beams when you can; but dip them if you see deer, as they may 'freeze' c. more deer may follow the first one you see d. be prepared to stop, but try not to suddenly swerve to avoid a deer; hitting oncoming traffic or another obstacle could be even worse e. if you have to stop, use your hazard warning lights f. do not approach an injured deer; it could be dangerous You should treat a collision with a deer as an emergency, especially if someone is injured or if vehicles or deer in the road are a safety risk. Ring 999 for the police or ambulance service immediately. To report any injured deer to the RSPCA please ring the 24-hour cruelty and advice line on 0300 1234 999.  COST OF RUNNING A CAR JUMPS 20% IN ONE YEAR According to The Daily Mail, a survey by Sainsbury's Finance reveals that "Drivers are paying at least 20% more to run their cars than they were a year ago...Rises in insurance premiums and petrol prices account for the bulk of the increase...The average running cost is now £3,090 - 21.1% more than the cost on 1st April 2010. This includes a 30.7% average increase in insurance and a 5.4% rise in servicing costs. Fuel costs, based on driving 10,000 miles a year in a Ford Focus, also went up from £1,400 to £1,721 a year. This 22.9% increase comes as oil prices are forced up by unrest in the Middle East, fuel duty increases at home and the recent VAT hike to 20%". Ben Tyte, head of motor insurance at Sainsbury's Finance, said: "The cost of motoring has soared in recent months as all costs, but particularly fuel prices and insurance premiums, continue to rise. The cost of driving can be kept better in check by shopping around, particularly for fuel and car insurance". Good advice indeed! Larger supermarket sites which include petrol stations are often cheaper than elsewhere and they have the effect of reducing prices at other petrol stations nearby (I tend to find the price of fuel in Chippenham is cheaper than in Trowbridge and this is probably as the result of Sainsbury's, Tesco's and Morrison's having stores with petrol stations in close proximity). Always shop round for car insurance using internet comparison sites (e.g. Go Compare, Compare the Market, Moneysupermarket, Confused.com) together with Direct Line and Aviva who only sell direct. Taking a Pass Plus course after passing your driving test can also reduce insurance premiums by up to 20%. Many insurance companies will give the Pass Plus discount on the basis that you provide them with the Pass Plus Certificate within 2 months from the date your insurance policy commences; so you've nothing to lose in asking!  POSSIBLE 50%+ WOMEN'S CAR INSURANCE INCREASES! Urgent news from MoneySavingExpert.com, the UK's biggest consumer help website! The recent EU court ruling that from Dec 2012 gender can't be a factored into insurance prices means, as women under 40 pay much less than men under 40, they need to expect insurance price rises. This ruling will change insurance for everyone. Don't necessarily expect prices to meet in the middle. Costs for the currently cheaper gender could rise by more than the other drops by. Under the traditional system women, especially if younger, have paid less than men as they generally have less crashes. 17-30 year-old men paid an average £2,050 per annum for car insurance, whereas women paid almost £800 less (the difference usually evened out at age 40+). Therefore, younger women could face massive price increases while younger men may see prices drop slightly. Always shop round for the cheapest, suitable insurance, especially as prices have already increased by 41%, using comparison sites (e.g. Gocompare, MoneySupermarket, Comparethemarket) and with Direct Line and Aviva who only sell direct! See this Yahoo Finance article for more information.  Does your insurance company know? DOES YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY KNOW? Another way of reducing car insurance costs along with saving money, which you'll never recover when you come to sell your car and could in fact have a negative effect on your car's resale value, is not to modify your car. For example, adding alloy wheels costing £1000 to a car valued between £3-5000 can increase your premium by 15%, an air filter can add 2.5% to the premium and an aftermarket exhaust system (or component part thereof) can add 7.5% to your premium. So, if your car was valued at, say, £4000 and the insurance premium was £2,000 the addition of after market alloy wheels could add up to £300 to the premium! If you're thinking that you can get away without telling your insurance company, think again. If you don't declare modifications to your insurance company, your insurance could be invalid. When my stationary learner car was hit in the rear by another vehicle whilst in a traffic queue (i.e. absolutely and utterly not my or the pupil's fault) the first thing the insurance Loss Adjuster (professionals who investigate insurance claims by interviewing the claimant and witnesses, consulting police and hospital records, and inspecting property damage to determine the extent of the company's liability) did when they came to assess the damage and cost of repairs was to check that my tyres had legal tread depth. They did, of course, but if they hadn't the insurer might have rejected my claim as the result of my vehicle not being roadworthy. Do you think an insurance loss adjuster would spot aftermarket alloy wheels, exhaust systems, body kits, tinted windows, etc and highlight them to the insurance company in the event that they had not been declared? If you're not sure, have a look at the orange modified Peugeot 206 alongside the title of this article! As a result of the level of claims being made, especially personal injury claims, insurance companies are increasingly invalidating insurance policies and rejecting claims (which can also result in you being charged for driving without insurance) whenever they believe that they are able.  HOW TO DEAL WITH EMERGENCY VEHICLES & LEVEL CROSSINGS Click on the Links to learn how to deal with emergency "Blue Light" vehicles and use Level Crossings safely (i.e. where a road crosses a railway line).  WINTER DRIVING When the weather changes, your driving has to change as well - the biggest change when snow and ice comes is slow down. It's not only your speed needs to slow down - aim to accelerate more gently, change gear as smoothly as you can and no sudden steering movements. Also be prepared to slow down your pace of living - allow longer for your journey, or when the weather is really bad, make a positive decision to stay at home and catch up with some of that stuff you've been meaning to do for ages! Make sure that you get the strength of your anti-freeze checked before the onset of winter, avoid using unnecessary electrically operated items such as in car entertainment to avoid flattening the battery (you do need to use the demisters, air con to help demisting, heated rear windows, wipers and lights!), regularly check your lights are working and ensure they're clean, ensure at least 2mm tyre tread (ideally 3mm) to retain grip on slippery roads, use the correct washer fluid additive mix and ensure the washer reservoir is kept topped up as you'll use more in the winter. Ensure you take with you a fully charged mobile phone and in car charger, a shovel in the boot and a "winter kit" in the car consisting of the following: A couple of blankets or good sleeping bag; A spare, warm coat; A pair of good outdoor boots and warm socks; A hat (a wooly/thermal hat is best); Warm mittens or gloves; Chocolate bars; Dried fruit and nuts (avoid salted nuts); At least one bottle of water; Kitchen roll; Torch and batteries; A fluorescent vest or jacket; Medication - if you are on regular medication ensure you have a supply. Keep moving... Start off in second gear and then use as higher gear as you can, this will help to stop your wheels spinning. Only use low gears to hold the car back going downhill - avoid braking as much as possible. Leave much bigger gaps - everyone needs more space to stop. Triple or quadruple the space you would normally leave between yourself and vehicles ahead - this way you will avoid their accidents. Use your headlights to help other drivers see you. Signs and markings will be hidden in snow. You may know the roads and be aware of who has priority, but does the other driver? Sat-nav decices will probably default to the shortest route which could include B roads or country lanes; in the winter the chances are that these road will not be gritted. When undertaking journeys in the snow set your sat-nav to stick to main roads and/or check the route against an old-fashioned paper map. When stopping your anti-lock brakes might activate - you will feel a pulsing through the pedal and possibly a rattling noise from the front, this is normal, keep your foot on the brakes. If you don't have anti-lock brakes, gently pump the brake pedal to keep your wheels rotating as you slow down. If you feel the car skid, release the brakes. Ice forms quickest and lingers longest in shaded areas, on bridges, overpasses and on quiet roads. Take extra care in these situations and anywhere where water runs across the road. The first sign may be an eerie silence coupled with overly light steering. If you skid, immediately release the brakes or accelerator until the wheels start to grip again. If you have four-wheel drive remember that it might help you to keep moving, but it won't prevent you skidding and it won't help you to stop quicker. If you get stuck... Clear as much snow as you can away from the wheels. Use grit, sand, cat litter, sacks or old carpet under the wheels to help the tyres get grip. Don't rev your engine and spin your wheels - this will dig you in deeper, use second gear and gentle use of the gas pedal to rock the car back and forward until it grips. If you become absolutely stuck ensure the exhaust pipe is clear of snow, clear snow from the roof and (if you have one) tie a fluorescent jacket or vest to the aerial so you can be seen from the air, stay in your vehicle, only run the engine and heating for 20 minutes in each hour and use your phone to let people know where you are and that you are OK every hour or two. Only leave the vehicle if you can see a building close by. SLOW DOWN LEAVE BIGGER GAPS BRAKE GENTLY USE HEADLIGHTS See the You Yube video below for a salutary lesson and click on the following link for a more amusing slant Winter Driving Test (based on my experience of DSA senior management, I wasn't convinced that this was a joke. I only realised when I read the motorway bit, since this would require a legislation change to allow learner drivers onto motorways!) Brought to you in conjunction with Smartdriving.co.uk. |