BEATING DRIVING ANXIETY ON YOUR DRIVING TEST

Beating Anxiety on Your Driving Test

1. Put any thoughts of drinking alcohol or taking drugs – at least the night before your driving test – out of your mind.

2. Have some food and stay well hydrated. There’s nothing worse than having the jitters before and during your test and focusing on a growling stomach will disturb your concentration.

3. Take an hour long driving lesson with your Driving Instructor before your test. This’ll give you the chance to have a last-minute practice, brush up on manoeuvres and warm up for your Driving Test.

4. It’s perfectly acceptable to let the examiner know if you have any additional support needs. Examiners give instructions in good time but if you don't understand ask them to repeat.

5. During your test, make safety your number one priority. If you’ve been told to go left, but you are in a right only lane for example, go where the lane takes you. You might have to pull over and allow your Examiner to reroute, but what is important is that you demonstrate your ability to follow traffic rules and are always aware of your surroundings.

6. After your test, whether you pass or not, pay close attention to your examiner’s feedback. This is what will be most useful to you afterwards.

7. Finally, stay safe, trust yourself and your instructor and treat your test as a learning experience, regardless of the outcome.

 Fire chiefs warn of growing risk of e-bike ‘explosions’

 

A total of 149 fires caused by exploding e-bike batteries were recorded by the London Fire Brigade (LFB) in 2023, an increase of 71pc from 2022.

Three people died as a result of the incidents while around 60 people were injured.

And at least a further 40 e-bike fires have been recorded so far this year.

The fires are typically triggered when the lithium battery of an e-bike becomes damaged or is charged using the wrong equipment, said Charlie Pugsley, the London Fire Brigade’s deputy commissioner.

He said: “Growing e-bike ownership is a good thing if they help people get around and it supports our climate objectives.

“But what really worries us is the speed and severity of these battery fires when they break out.

In December last year, the LFB revealed how a mother and son were forced to jump from the first-floor windows of their home in Ilford, east London, after an e-bike that had been left charging overnight burst into flames indoor. Both survived but had to be treated in hospital, while large sections of the house’s first floor and roof were destroyed.

The amount of energy packed into lithium batteries makes them particularly dangerous when they explode, leading to fierce flames and billowing smoke that fills the area within seconds, Mr Pugsley said.

The LFB is now advising households not to charge e-bikes when they are sleeping, to avoid placing them next to exits or stairways that could block escape routes and to always use the correct charger, among other things. Households have been advised to store them outside or in outbuildings, where possible.

Mr Pugsley raised concerns about growing spread of illegal e-bikes with more powerful motors and batteries, as well as DIY conversion kits that can lead people to charge batteries with the wrong charger.

Despite the legal limit for e-bikes being 250 watts of power, a string of models with capacities of up to 2,000 watts are openly sold online, described as “road legal”. In UK speed limit for electric bikes is 15.5mph, this means that the motor's assistance must stop when bike reaches this speed.

“In the vast majority of cases, it is not the fault of the consumer because they have bought the bikes in good faith.

“But obviously for those who buy the motorbike-style ones that is a deliberate choice.”

He added that proposals recently set out by the Government to increase the legal limit of e-bike power to 500 watts should not go ahead until more research had been done around the safety implications of such a move.

Learner Driver who killed three friends in Crash

 

Learner driver who killed three friends in crash

 

 A learner driver who killed three of his friends in a crash during which the car split in half has been jailed for four year and eight months.

Jake Loy, 19, lost control of his Honda Civic and smashed into another car just after midnight on the A711 in Dumfries, Scotland, after taking it out on a public road for the first time, without any supervision required by a provisional driving licence.

His three 16-year-old passengers – Tyler Johnston, Ian Cannon and Finlay Johns – were killed in the crash on March 16 2022. The three occupants of the other vehicle and Loy were seriously injured.

The court heard the other driver had been adhering to the 60mph speed limit and although Loy’s speed was “unknown”.

A judge heard how Ian had posted a message in a group social media chat before the crash that he was “scared” in the vehicle and that Loy was a “terrible driver”.

Ian Cannon, Finlay Johns and Tyler Johnston, all 16 years old, were killed in the crash 

 

Sentencing him to four years and eight months imprisonment, Judge Lord Drummond said: “Not only were you unqualified, you had no real familiarity with this car or its characteristics at speed or under adverse conditions.

“Your driving at the time of the collision formed part of a more prolonged and deliberate course of bad or aggressive driving with a disregard for the danger being caused to others.

“The victim impact statements all bear witness to the terrible devastation you caused to the lives of their family members of those you injured. This sentence cannot alleviate their anguish.”

Loy, of Moffat, Dumfries shire, was also disqualified from driving for eight years and must sit the extended test before he is able to drive again.

He showed no emotion as he was led to the cells. Family members in the public gallery were seen crying after the judge had concluded his sentencing.

 

Donald Findlay KC, defending, told the court that his client has “simply no memory” of the incident. He said: “Loy is distressed by what happened and the consequences to his friends.

“It is telling and quite moving to me when he said that if he could take their place he would. He would rather it be him. There is very clear and strong evidence of what is known as survivor’s guilt. There was no badness nor malice or intent of any kind.”

DVSA is selectively inviting people to book their driving test.

after Driving Test photo

DVSA is selectively inviting people to book their driving test.

DVSA will send emails out:

·    on 15 July to critical workers in England, Scotland and Wales who had a test booked during lockdown 

·    from 16 July to candidates in England whose practical car test was put on hold due to lockdown

Both emails will include a link to book a new test date as the candidate booking system remains closed.

This link will only work for people who have been invited to rebook their test.

When DVSA emails candidates whose tests were put on hold due to lockdown, they will initially invite around 10,000 each day, split in batches to spread out demand on the service.

All available appointments will be shown on the online service. Do not contact DVSA customer service centre as they will not be able to book any alternative test slots.

Making sure your pupils are ready

Driving Instructors should speak to your pupils before they rebook their tests to make sure:

·    they are ready to take their test

·    you are available to take them

As examiners will only be at test centres when they have a test booked, dvsa have increased the minimum notice period for booking a test from 60 minutes to 10 hours.

Wearing a face covering

All candidates must wear a face covering when taking their driving test, unless they have a good reason not to. This includes if:

·    they have a physical or mental illness or impairment, or a disability that means they cannot put on, wear or remove a face covering

·    putting on, wearing or removing a face covering would cause them severe distress

When they arrange their test, they’ll need to say if there’s a good reason they cannot wear a face covering. The email will tell them how to do this.

Smoking in cars carrying children is set to be banned

Smoking in cars  by driver or paggengers, carrying children is set to be banned after MPs overwhelmingly backed the plan in a free vote.

Shadow public health minister hails great victory for child health after vote which divided Conservative backbenchers

The House of Commons supported the plan, first put forward by Labour despite the misgivings of some cabinet members, including Nick Clegg over whether it will be too difficult to police.

Under the proposal the government will now have powers to introduce a new offence of exposing children to smoke in vehicles, with breaches of the law likely to incur a small fine.

David Cameron, who missed the vote, gave his personal backing to the idea, despite the government saying last week there was no need for the legislation.

For visitk story visit :   http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/10/mps-smoking-ban-cars-children

Middle-lane hoggers on Motorway may face fines

Drivers who needlessly hog the middle lane on motorways face fines of £100 as well as three penalty points under new government measures designed to crack down on careless motorist.

Fines for a number of other offences on the road – including using a handheld mobile phone while driving, or jumping traffic lights – are also expected to be increased from £60 to £100.

Traffic police will decide which motorist is hogging the middle lane and issue on-the-spot fines.

Although some commentators have argued that fines are not necessarily the right approach for careless driving because cases are often not clear-cut, motoring organisations have long called for better lane discipline by drivers, which they believe could solve many congestion problems.

The Highway Code states: "You should always drive in the left-hand lane when the road ahead is clear.

"If you are overtaking a number of slower-moving vehicles, you should return to the left-hand lane as soon as you are safely past.

"Slow-moving or speed-restricted vehicles should always remain in the left-hand lane of the carriageway unless overtaking."

More than a million drivers have been convicted of using a handheld mobile phone behind the wheel since 2003, when using one other than for making an emergency call was made illegal.

Careless, reckless or hurried driving has been recorded as being a contributory factor in 16% of accidents, according to statistics from the Department for Transport and Driving Instructors are encouraged to have more emphasis on safe driving when giving driving lessons.

A failure to look properly was the most-reported contributory factor in accidents of any severity and was mentioned in 42% of incidents.