Archives for June 2015

The government of the United Kingdom (UK) has been accused on the car phone use which has resulted in many fatal road accidents across the country. The accusation has been hurled on political leaders failing to be tough against the offenders whom they can get some votes from during elections.

The person behind the accusation is Gloucestershire Chief Constable Suzette Davenport. She has accused the Government of intentionally failing to be tough against the offending drivers who use mobile phones behind the steering wheel, because in doing so, wouldn’t be winning votes during elections.

“If a driver has been caught twice using a mobile phone behind the steering wheel within a period of time, the government should be considering things such as disqualification from driving for a short period of time, because I firmly believe that if the authorities wouldn’t do something different fundamentally, we’re going to lose the essence of the law,” said Davenport, a leader for road policing for the Association of Chief Police Officers.

With the May, 2015  General Election looming across Britain, Davenport opined the Government doesn’t want to be tough in implementing the laws in order to win votes. But she doesn’t think this inaction or leniency of the government would be popular to a lot of people.

She also said that there’s a lot of things she talk about with government and with a lot of different interest groups. The government listens to those people if an election is just too far away, so today she is sure they don’t want to run and pick up with anything they feel isn’t likely to be helpful to them in the coming election. But they should bear in mind that using mobile phones at wheel will create some risk.

On the other hand, Roads Minister Robert Goodwill MP has denied Davenport’s claim saying the government is currently considering to increase the penalty for using a mobile phone whilst driving from three to six penalty points.

However, the increasing of penalty points is a lot more different from an action taken right after an offending driver is seen using a mobile phone whilst at wheel. Even how many penalty points are added to the existing provision of the law, it won’t take any difference if no action is taken to implement this.

So, it was suggested that the crime commissioners, the police and chief constables will look at the resources they put into this prohibition of phone use at wheel as compared to the other more-easy-to- detect crimes such as speeding.

The incumbent government officials should always think of the facts they preach about mobile phone use at wheel rather than thinking more of the votes they will get in the coming election.

These are the facts:

(1.)  Study shows that slower at recognising and reacting to road hazards are experienced by drivers using a hand-held or hands-free mobile phones.

(2.)  Even the most careful driver can be distracted by a text or call, and just a split-second a lapse in concentration could result in a road accident.

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Driving lessons liverpool Tips: Driving in fog is now the most dangerous situation a driver has to experience in the practice of his/her profession. It’s actually more than any other situation such as driving in wintry weather or in heavy snow. There are more road accidents recorded in driving in fog than in any other climatic condition.

So, the award goes to fog if we will look for the most dangerous weather condition. Hence, it takes a truly foolish and suicidal driver to drive in fog at high speed. When fog becomes worst, make sure to park your car somewhere that is safe and wait until the fog will pass or subside. However, if you find yourself within such situation where you couldn’t avoid driving in fog as pushed by circumstances, you should do the following:

(1.)  Reduce your speed because in doing so, you’ll still have plenty of time to avoid collision against other unseen oncoming vehicles.

(2.)  Turn your headlights to dip because it could increase your sight ahead and your visibility to the other motorists.

(3.)  Turn on your fog lights if visibility is less than 100 metres.

(4.)  Turn on your demisters and your rear and front wipers because they will increase visibility.

(5.)  Brake early and gently so that your brake lights could warn drivers behind you so that it would be far from any possibility that their cars will collide with your vehicle.

(6.)  Drive to the point that you could always stop within the distance that you could see to be clear in front of you.

(7.)  Travel at a safe following distance when you’re following traffic.

(8.)  If fog prevents you from seeing the oncoming traffic at a junction, you should wind down your windows and listen for the traffic.

(9.)  Keep yourself always on alert because other drivers may have been driving in an appropriate manner such as failing to use their lights or reduce their speeds.

Remember that it’s difficult to locate your road position if you’re unable to see road markings ahead. To help yourself in this dangerous situation, you may frequently change your focal point. Move your eyes around the scene and scan your surroundings, searching for views that will help you gain some useful perspective.

Keep your foot on the brake pedal when you’re waiting to turn right into a minor road. Doing this, will activate your rear brake lights and the approaching motorists will see you. Never follow slavishly the tail-lights of the vehicles in front of you because they may take the wrong direction and crash over there. Also, it’s essential that when you’re on a motorway, it’s important that you’ll know the locations of reflective studs which have different colours.

When it’s red, it’s located between the carriageway and the hard shoulder. If it’s white, it’s in between lanes. Amber, if it’s between the central reservation and right-hand edge. And green, if it’s in the exit or entrance of a slip-road.

If the fog clears suddenly don’t relax and think that you’re already out of danger. Remember that fog is often quite patchy, starting from a light mist it will suddenly turn into a thick cloud in a matter of metres. You can turn just a corner only to find your car blanketed with a dense of fog.

In Europe, almost half of all parents of learner drivers have supported the black box technology for driving lesson Liverpool. They account for around 46 % of the number of parents in the European continent. This new technology is allowing them to monitor their child’s driving behaviour and speed.

A study conducted by tyre manufacturer Goodyear showed that the strongest of all the parents’ support for the black box technology is overwhelming in Italy with 73 %. Another strong support comes from Poland and Romania with the same 72 %.

But, how about driving instructors? According to the study it’s only 47 % of all driving instructors across Europe are backing for the black box technology which is also known as telematics. There’s however no known reason why a large gap has surfaced between the driving instructors’ and the parents’ support for the technology.

It may be understandable because with the telematics, probably the monitoring can be done by the parents not only to their kids behind the wheel but also to the instructors themselves and then everything would be clearly seen if they really have got their money’s worth.

The findings were published by a Goodyear Europe, Middle East and Africa or Goodyear EMEA. The company made the survey on the more than 6,800 parents of learner drivers from 19 countries across Europe. Obviously, this overwhelming support of parents to the new technology is an indicative of their heightened concern over the growing number of novice drivers involved in road fatalities across Europe.

The study also showed that the black box technology has been a subject of a growing research and trend indicating that novice drivers are more likely to improve their driving skill when they’re aware that they are being watched by their parents at wheel.

European Driving Schools Association President John Lepine said: “The voluntary use of telematics or black box technology by young drivers is actually helping them to keep to rules of the road and curb any “moments of madness” they might be tempted to undertake. As long as they remain voluntary there are few objections to their use.”

The emphasis on Lepine’s statement is more on freedom which should not be compromised in exchange for safety of novice drivers. Thus, it should remain voluntary. So, if a novice driver doesn’t like to be monitored by the black box, then he or she has all the right which should be respected in a free society.

However, the kid who wouldn’t want to be monitored by his/her parents behind the wheel probably has some reasons which need to be settled as it may have some negative connotations. Because if there’s nothing wrong, then what’s the reason of hiding from the black box?

On the other hand, there’s another initiative which is designed at improving road safety that has garnered strong support from both driving instructors and the parents. It is known as graduated driving licence.

The study also showed that 42% of parents of novice drivers across Europe favour this graduated licence system. In the UK, support amongst parents for this system is the highest across Europe where 66 % whilst the lowest was recorded in Sweden with only 15 % supported the idea.