At the MSA GB 2019 National Conference I was invited to share some memories of mine and Carol’s time with the MotorSchools Association of Great Britain (MSA GB) and these words reflect that  presentation and an article in the May 2019 issue of Newslink. 

As well as our own story, this meander down memory lane gives me a chance to consider the many changes that have taken place within the driver training and testing sector since I became an ADI in 1977 and started working for MSA GB in 1984.

So where did it start for Carol and me? After knowing each other for a couple of months we got engaged and then married six months later in July 1975; in 1976 our first daughter, Karen, was born.

In 1977 I took my first steps into the world of driver training, when I joined BSM and qualified as an ADI, later becoming manager at the BSM Branch in Wigan.

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VAT Part 1

No one who has managed an organisation such as the MSA GB can get away without coming up against some legal challenges from time to time. The first challenge was back in 1989, VAT!

When VAT started in 1973, it would appear, from what few records survive, that the association was more concerned about the effect this would have on members than its possible impact on MSA GB.

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I thought I would write a bit about Brexit. After all, everybody else is. What happens regarding Brexit will influence road safety and driving in the future.

As we all know the government’s Brexit withdrawal agreement has been defeated for a third time in the House of Commons and the UK and EU have agreed a delay to 31 October. But what difference does that make to drivers and driving instructors?

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According to statistics released recently, the number of road users who have completed a driver retraining course since their introduction in 2010 has topped ten million. Nine million of these have attended a speed aware course. Inappropriate speed is still a major cause for concern and is a significant problem in many European countries. The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) suggests that Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) might be the answer to the problem.

ISA uses a speed sign-recognition video camera and/or GPS-linked speed limit data to advise drivers of the current speed limit and automatically limit the speed of the vehicle as needed.

ISA systems do not automatically apply the brakes, but simply limit engine power preventing the vehicle from accelerating past the current speed limit unless overridden. Vehicles with this kind of ISA system factory fitted are already on sale – helped in part by the Euro NCAP’s decision to reward extra points for vehicles that include ISA.

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Just Tyres have analysed data on the number of road traffic accidents in countries around the world to find out which country has the safest and most dangerous drivers. You can view the findings in their graphic below.

Key points:

• The safest country in the world to drive in is Norway, with only 20 road deaths per million of the population in 2017
• Other countries in the top 5 safest countries to drive in include: Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Denmark
• The most dangerous country in the world to drive in is the USA, followed by Romania and Bulgaria

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‘Problematic quantification’ is not an expression I can claim to have heard in the past, and it’s certainly not one I’ve ever used myself.

However, at a recent meeting of The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) the expression came up in a discussion about the review of the legal framework for automated vehicles being conducted by the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission. The consultation is open until 8th February. If you want to know more, details can be found on the Law Commission website 

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So what’s new? In December 2018 I wrote about the government’s proposed ADI cycle training scheme. Back in November the report on the NASP meeting with DVSA talked about the agency’s proposed Mock Test guidance. Now we learn that DVSA is to start trialling sending text messages to driving test candidates before they sit their practical driving tests.

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In May (Everyone has an opinion on road safety)  I reported that I had attended a meeting to discuss the Department of Transport ‘Call for Evidence Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy: Safety Review’.

That meeting was attended by a wide variety of stakeholders including representatives from transport operators, cycling and walking organisations, associations representing other road users, disability groups, road safety professionals, researchers and academics, community health bodies, ADIs, cycle trainers, and other interested parties.

Following on from that Call for Evidence wit emerged in August that ADIs were to be offered bespoke training to ensure cyclists’ safety is at the forefront of their minds when they teach new drivers, as part of the Department for Transport’s Cycling and Walking Safety Review. The review’s aim is to make walking and cycling the natural choice for shorter journeys, or as part of a longer one, rather than driving. This, of course, fits into the higher order skills outlined in the GDE Matrix Level Three “modal choice”

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During July the Department for Transport produced a whole heap of data on who holds a driving licence and why some don’t want to. The figures are part of the statistics and data about the National Travel Survey, which is based on an annual survey to monitor trends in personal travel.

One of the big stories coming out of the figures was a perception that ADIs were going to struggle in the future, as young people were losing interest in learning to drive. Indeed, that story made it on to Radio 5 Live. Yet in fact the actual findings painted a very different story, as I will explain.

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I recently attended a meeting called by the Department of Transport to discuss its Call for Evidence Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy: Safety Review.

The meeting was attended by a wide variety of stakeholders including representatives from transport operators, cycling and walking organisations, associations representing other road users, disability groups, road safety professionals, researchers and academics, community health bodies, cycle trainers, and other interested parties.

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