Chipped Revolution, the history

Chip and pin driving licences, how many times have I mentioned this over the last few years ... I've been following very carefully the process amongst the European community and the step into this technology since 2005, as it averages 9 years for the technology to be trialed and the needs identified and agreed, it is no surprise that we are standing on the edge of 2014 and still no formal announcement, only a press release that we will see the end of the counterpart in 2015.

I nearly fell over laughing during the cut the red tape campaign, I would seriously like to know how many people were involved in the live online debate surrounding the paper counterpart, figures which are 'currently unavailable', because this was the greatest spin of all time, if you were asked what red tape you would like cut, I doubt that outside of the DVLA the first thing that springs to mind would be the driving licence counterpart.

The Driving Licence Committee have been huffing and puffing over a secure data card since 1999, this led to a meeting of seven EU countries and the UK in Wales, the aim was to discuss the future of technology, it's advances and the fact that the UK had a serious fraud problem surrounding driving licences, which open the pathway to identity fraud and access to securing bank accounts for money laundering among other things., in one year 2500 fraudulent applications were received by the DVLA.

The smart card licence was originally intended to cut out the DVLA input so that points and bans would be electronically registered by the court service and update would take place immediately, under trial this proved to be unreliable but leaves potential for an effective international database.  The commission initially refused the complete introduction of the smart card licence, with contactless features, as they felt the UK was the only country with a problem regarding fraud, however Sweden disputed this, and now Latvia has led the way with a contactless chip licence, initially technology meant the chip had just five years as a life span, however, technology has now improved and ten years is possible, each member state would be responsible for regulations regarding the replacement of defective or faulty cards.

The DVLA is currently running a customer survey https://www.snapsurveys.com/wh/s.asp?k=138424830018 which closes on 7th December, this is a result of the May meeting regarding licensing services across the European Union. The suggestion is that all electronic services will match the smart card introduction, CPC records, dangerous goods licence, vehicle registration etc. The next meeting is June 2014, where in roads for the 2020 road safety targets will be discussed as well as mileage registration for vehicles and a smart registration.  The chip needs to be a minimum of 8kb, with the potential for 16kb, the biggest concern being larger memory equals more cost.

So chip and pin, as part of the contactless technological revolution are on their way, baring in mind that the writing has been on the wall since the mid nineties, not only has it taken a long time and a lot of informal workshops and trials to come to fruition, but it seems as usual we are the last to know, as a business that needs to see driving licences as a matter of course, should we not have been in on the act?

Cutting the Cost

Now that sounds like a good idea, cut back on expenses and have more money in the bank, yet really our expenses are pretty much consistent, so how about the learner, they are looking to cut costs, save money and end up with a driving licence, before they join one of the more expensive pass times, motoring.  Driving is a luxury, it was always only the wealthy that drove a car, only a boom time promotes us living outside of our means but what do we do when the crash happens, as it invariably does, once you have a car key it is very hard to hang it back up again, and a car seems to now indicate a step on the ladder of personal success, starting with the banger and leading to the top of the range vehicle.

I was an eager learner, I loved to drive and I loved to drive fast, looking back too fast in some situations I'm sure, with the eye of an ADI trainer I know it wasn't peer pressure, it wasn't inexperience that made me push the pedal to the metal it was the thrill of speed, and as any fairground attendant will tell you, that feeling is perfectly natural.  Did anyone think of driving and road safety in the 1980's not in my group of friends or work colleagues, it was all about the car, the wheels the seats and the shine.  I remember crowding around an RS2000 with friends thinking wow shiny, then we would pile in and go for a ride, it was mainly for the show value, as in the group were a few Ford Mexico's and RS turbo's and of course the XR3i, I don't remember any reckless speeding because if you were going too fast nobody could admire the paintwork. There were of course moments of fast driving on country lanes but never in town, yet fatality rates amongst young drivers at that time were far higher than now.

So is the pride in driving disappearing under a haze of finance, has crippling insurance costs added to the reduction in fatal accidents amongst young drivers, because it is something regularly mentioned by pupils, they think about not being able to afford insurance in the event of an accident that is their fault, as finance is always a consideration, surely matching the approach of other countries would make the driving education a more serious subject too.

Educating young people in driving as a responsibility during the school process will switch off as many as it switches on, having to work through a theory based programme that costs money, and this is serious finance, using the Netherlands as an example, also a sunflower country, the cost of theory based tuition is 95e for 90 minutes, all paid in advance, a lesson is 60e for one hour, and from the school finishing at the school if you want to be collected from somewhere else it is another 12.95e with a fee of 25e for collection and return to a different site, everything is advance paid, what a great idea, it also means they take it very seriously, money does talk.

As the research suggests that those who can least afford to drive are the ones most likely to be involved in a serious or fatal collision, that surely ticks the road safety box. I was browsing some driving forums in different EU countries and they all recommend coming to the UK to learn to drive, the test itself is considered harder but the cost is minimal in comparison, now surely someone must sit up and smell the coffee here.

AI Solutions: The Driverless Revolution

AI Solutions: The Driverless Revolution: Driverless cars, the future, I can remember Tomorrow's World showing the image of driverless cars, and now the travel pods are c...

The Driverless Revolution

Driverless cars, the future, I can remember Tomorrow's World showing the image of driverless cars, and now the travel pods are coming to MK, supposedly, lets not hold our breath just yet, but the reality is companies such as Google are investing huge amounts of money into this technological revolution to be the first on the market which in turn will greatly increase their share value.

How will the AV improve things for the driving instructor though, will we need driving licences or a machine licence? If the advent of these vehicles is expected to be all encompassing making our roads a safe and secure environment, and eliminate the potential for the type of accident reported recently where a 21 year old woman kills a pedestrian borne out of impatience, then why have we until 2030 to have a chip and pin driving licence across all EU states as surely they won't be needed? What will happen to speed cameras, fines for poor driving behaviour and bans for joy riding? I guess it still leaves the door open for vehicle theft unless you have an inbuilt retina scan, log in and drive, which currently isn't in the mix.

The goal is to have a driverless vehicle on the road by 2020, of course America is leading the way, with some states now having made provision for AV's, lets hope the sat nav is good after all we have had a few teething problems with those over the years.

From a driver point of view is it an attractive proposition, letting the computer do the work, we have slowly become used to an amount of computer generated control over the years, with satellite navigation systems, parking sensors, low brake pad warnings, cruise control and ESP to name a few, so it had to be the natural progression for the car to do the work.  However the next move from cars will of course be trucks, do you fancy 44 tonne or 88 tonne of truck driving towards you with a Johnny Five lookalike behind the wheel, ready to off load at it's destination, or am I taking this too far in the future.

It would definitely eliminate accidents such as a recent Essex fatal collision where two elderly people were killed on a crossing by a double decker bus travelling too fast in a 30 limit, to stop. Can it really eliminate all fatalities though, it would be difficult for that to be a reality, if a cyclist wobbles in your direction on a bend on a country road, or appears from the woods to your left, even if uber technology picked it up that doesn't stop the person in charge of the cycle having a collision.

You are in a traffic queue, the last vehicle and coming along behind is a regular car and the driver is texting you can see them approaching and your vehicle screams impact alert, impact alert, would you have a total heart failure prior to collision, is that a possibility.

The question for driver trainers is will someone have to be trained to drive the vehicle, that seems to be a suggestion that manufacturers have avoided as the vehicle has to be seen to be an easy evolution not one that requires a rocket scientist and a thousand page manual to run through a controls familiarisation.

For those of you, who like me, that actually enjoy driving will that pleasure be a distant memory, or is the advent of driverless vehicles just an experiment, an expensive one at that, as just because you can do something does it mean you should.

AI Solutions: Privatisation of Our Roads

AI Solutions: Privatisation of Our Roads: Well it seems selling out the tax payer is on the horizon, at what point are we actually going to be in a position where the UK has an...

Privatisation of Our Roads

Well it seems selling out the tax payer is on the horizon, at what point are we actually going to be in a position where the UK has any assets at all. For the driver, and I don't mean driver trainers I mean road users, we are, after all, adding to the driving population by a way of career, things are about to get worse. So with the post test training still hot around the edges as far as the ERSC are concerned and on the table for the UK until at least May 2014, are we really helping by preparing these people for an uncertain future of driving.

The current Government consultation, which I thought carefully about before participating, defines the future of the roads, yet how many out of 64 million plus people, will get involved, and why would they, because as previous consultations show, the publicity surrounding these matters is always weak. Will more than 1,000 respond, hmm, we shall see.  Should our national associations be taking part, of course they could, we produce drivers, they use the roads, many are happy to defend the young driver and complain about insurance costs, so surely getting involved in this is important too, or it's half a job.

The Highways Agency is about to become a company in it's own right, if this goes unchallenged, the road network is worth £107.4bn so a hefty asset.  So HA a private company, Government owned, a share holding company, with the Secretary of State as the only shareholder, yet with the asset still showing as part of the DFT, is that legal?  I have to guess so.  If the Secretary of State then chooses to sell shares in the HA then the roads are privately owned, so not quite the huge railway error, but not far short.

So have you taken part in the consultation? Will you? Do you think privatisation is a good idea? because from where I am sitting it hasn't helped us so far. Maybe I am thinking too far ahead, but if the money we are spending now on changing the driving test and making sure our drivers of the future, despite the not too distant future of driverless cars, are competent and responsible, then why are we not covering the next level.

Many pieces of the trainee driving instructor training jigsaw are in the mix, with the spotlight highlighting a change would be beneficial and that wannabe ADI's are unprepared under the new system, yet the new driver is unprepared for all of the major changes on our roads.

http://www.aicoachingsolutions@aol.co.uk

Multi Tasking and Driving

How many times does a pupil say, I can't multi-task or I have no coordination skills at all.  Well if they do say this then they are likely to be more in touch with their own personal limitations than the majority are according to a new study.

Most of us believe we can do more than one thing at a time, this is particularly true when it comes to driving a vehicle, yet this study suggests it is our own personal belief that gets us into trouble when faced with a dangerous situation, because we believe we can continue to go through the motions of driving and add another complication to the mix and cope.  The study suggests that road fatalities are falling year on year across the World for many reasons, but the least likely is increased skill.

Top of the list as always is finance, the cost of crude oil and the Government taxes, but road safety campaigners who are fighting for more training and post test skills, along with improved tutoring and the dreaded words driver centred learning could be barking up the wrong tree.

The study backs up some previous research that says we believe we are better than we actually are at all things, including driving of course, it confirms the fact we learn by example, so people are going to be more careful in a room that is spotlessly clean than one that isn't so.  On the roads we copy other drivers, but with 38 million live driving licences in the UK changing the habits of all these people is an unrealistic task.

In the first third of the 1900's roads were very basic, with little road sign information or obvious rules, the fatality statistics were very high compared to today, as engineering and speed enforcement improved so has that figure.  On a road that has clear road markings, preferably with reflective coating, it is less likely that someone will disobey the rules, however if one person steps out of the line it is more likely that someone who had not considered breaking a rule will do so.

Is this learned behaviour? Well yes and no, some have a desire to copy and others carry a risk gene which affects all of their behaviour, so within coaching we talk about limiting beliefs, yet the research suggests we stretch those self limiting beliefs depending on the environment we are currently in. One person stops on a double yellow line and walks away from their vehicle ignoring the stares and obvious displeasure from others, will within a few moments see someone else copy this behaviour, although if they had not previously seen someone park there they would be unlikely to 'take a chance'.

When a driver displays risky behaviour, other drivers are quick to criticise, yet the driver sees it as not being risky behaviour as they feel in control of their vehicle and actions, so self justification. When we view our physical appearance we see above average to well above average, in terms of driving it is the same, a driver considers their driving to be above average.  In a classroom environment if you ask a group of experienced drivers they will rate their driving a minimum of 6 out of ten with majority choosing 8 or 9, research tells us that they often rate themselves higher than that maybe 9 or 10, but may be uncomfortable doing so in a large group.

The study is quite indepth as it challenges the merits of post test training, conforming to rules plays a strong part, we do operate in a sheep style when driving because we view ourselves as a community on the roads, hence the thank you when someone gives way similar to the back slapping of a goal scorer. One person runs a red light, the majority will not and stay in the confines because boundaries and rules promote fairness. The lone few will push the boundary but that group will grow if the behaviour remains unchallenged, giving weight to the prosecution theory as the right way to reduce road fatality.  Increased Police presence creates a halo effect and reduces crime and rule breaking, good clear road rules and markings create a similar scenario, education is a powerful tool and the cheapest route but the process is lengthy in comparison.  So to reduce fatalities which will actually be cost effective long term requires a clear socially acceptable plan.

In the UK it would be unlikely that we will take the hard line suggested, purely from a financial aspect, so education, reaching the most amount of people for the least amount of money but with the longest time span for success, will still be the way forward, but as the study says we think too highly of our own skill, correctly or not to be led completely in the direction campaigners desire.