AI Solutions: The Pressure is on

AI Solutions: The Pressure is on: So road safety figures have fallen to the lowest they have every been, since records began in 1926. There are around 37m driving licen...

The Pressure is on

So road safety figures have fallen to the lowest they have every been, since records began in 1926. There are around 37m driving licences in the UK that are live, so the right to drive on our roads is quite high, yet the numbers are falling year on year, this means whatever we are doing must be right?

I've had a few discussions the last couple of days with the cynics, massaging of figures, cars are safer, no money for fuel, insurance costs, the list goes on. However are we as a nation safer and more aware than in previous years. A recent survey by Central DT found that out of 300 members of the public questioned more than three quarters believed our roads to be a dangerous place, our position on the EU road safety scale is always in the top three, but only 63% thought we were higher than number five, with 4% saying we were number 27. Is it this startling contrast between reality facts and figures and perception that keeps people safe.

For young drivers we have black box technology which will increase their awareness, by rote learning, however is black box technology the future for us all? It looks as if black boxes in cars will become a compulsory requirement as the Vision Zero date comes closer, with Ecall needing tracking for it to work, and the fatigue policy rolling out tacho requirements for van drivers and company car drivers, to reduce driving hours without a break.  So maybe all drivers will become more conscientious driving by rote as the data is recorded, will this replace the SPECS cameras planned to cover the UK motorway network for 2016.

With consultations having short time spans and legislation coming in to shake up a lot of the system, the RTA reaching it's conclusion for new laws is this the Government making work for itself, is it the back office reaching out for ways to save money, because the ADI looks to be getting a lot more spending out and not any more finance coming in.

Because of the apathy amongst the majority of instructors when it comes to taking part in processes, consultations and meetings, and generally having their say, the majority of the proposals will be pushed through and we will not be able to go back.

AI Solutions: Standards checks?

AI Solutions: Standards checks?: Or check tests? What really is the difference, will we as trainers notice anything we need to do differently in our everyday work, we...

Standards checks?

Or check tests? What really is the difference, will we as trainers notice anything we need to do differently in our everyday work, we asked for change to take place, a minority of ADI's asked for modernisation and it came dressed as the standards check. Tax payers handed over large sums of money for research, some of which will never reach publication and some went towards EU research.

So that is the stick, where is the carrot?

Well from where I am sitting we haven't had a carrot, we need better professional recognition, for road safety to be taken seriously and lives to be saved, cut price, cut throat lesson offers need to stop, all it does is undermine all of this spent money and hard work.  Cheap lessons send out the opposite message to the one we are trying to convey.

As driving instructors begin to take more training and qualifications they will also need time off to study, if the lesson prices are cut to the bone how will that be possible. So are the standards checks about road safety, really? The proposed penalty structure for the registrar? Really? Fine the ADI, as if we don't pay enough.

I have championed saving lives and have always had active involvement in trying to make our roads a safer place for our children and then their children, it has to start somewhere, but I also believe in supporting the ADI, what part of publishing ADI data, civil sanctions, and paying for check tests is about saving lives? It does of course boost revenue if every part of the service is paid for.

If the more structured approach is to do more than sort the wheat from the chaff, but really tackle road safety, then learning to drive privately with no formal instruction prior to test has to stop, otherwise it makes a mockery of dressing this up as a life saving exercise and turns it into a political one, ticking the EU directive criteria for the sake of it.

Education is the way forward, better teaching standards from ADI's has been identified as a step in the right direction, the question has to be how can we achieve this realistically, a standards check is not enough, one hour snapshot into our daily work is never going to be a clear picture, how many ADI's do not like losing paid work for this exercise, and now they may also have to fund this check. CPD really was the better option, taking part in academic qualifications, exercising the brain, learning something new, adding to our portfolios, would also save the tax payer money in the long run by cutting out the middle man.

Encouraging the majority of ADI's to take part in this consultation is hard work, some will not know, some have no internet, some have no access to the information, if you do not join the electronic age then you are left out, I think that is unfair. Technology may be the future, but if you are earning £50 for ten hours work there will be other things to pay and that won't include the broadband bill. Having to conform is the opposite to the essence of Great Britain, where we have always had freedom of choice. Despatch should still be sent out as a hard copy to instructors on the register, so then those who really do not want to take part have a choice.

Learning to drive, being in charge of a vehicle is serious stuff, it's time now for this industry to stand up and be counted and not have another consultation where less than 1% have their say. The consultation tells us what the Government want and then hold out the choices, yet we should be saying actually we do want some of this but we want this too. We do not want to get caught up in consultations of the past that have been challenged eventually because the questioning was strategically structured to obtain the required responses, we want a fair process for effective moves forward and to see the road safety figures continue to fall.

To research some of the history behind these decisions is a good move if you are not familiar with how the proposed changes came about, it spans more than ten years, so a long time coming, but politically doctored along the way.  What do you want? Do you want the proposed changes or to really have your say with ideas of your own?  Now is the time to lobby ministers before the ink is dry.

If you believe you are good at what you do then fighting for the career you would like to see evolve is the only way.

AI Solutions: Client Centred Quality

AI Solutions: Client Centred Quality: There is a lot of predicted change in the world of driving instruction, it is making the news in the trade magazines and has genera...

Drink Anyone?

Do we need changes in the law? We would like to think so, otherwise ministers would just leave it alone, or would they. Back in the days of the Wigs and the Tories it was all about law for those less fortunate, law to settle disputes, law regarding taxes, the list goes on, but has it really changed.  A law is rushed through parliament when something has happened that is damaging to society, the Government responds but when is it enforced? This is going somewhere so bear with me. Enforcement is equally slow, the Corporate Homicide and Manslaughter Act is a good example, introduced in 2007 but not enforced until 2008, this law is being rewritten regardless of an update in 2010, so obviously it wasn't right the first time. A robust law that is losing it's teeth it seems.

So drink driving, the latest angle to prevent young drivers from drinking is that they will lose their car, so where will we store them then, or is it expected to be such a rip roaring success that nobody will drink and drive again.  Although young drivers, also known as adults, are in the frame, research from Europe suggests that over 45's are more likely to drink and drive, particularly those in rural areas. Well I can agree with that, I know of a little pub in Suffolk where all of the locals have a drink and drive home, probably because it is so remote their is no taxi service, and the nearest house apart from the ones by the pub are about five miles away. Not one of those is under 45.

So as a society have we already typecast the young driver? The figures for young drivers who drink and drive are based on stop and breathalyse as young drivers are more likely to be stopped, or do something that brings them into the spotlight, have we made a terrible error and let the regular drink driver off of the hook?

How many times is Mr Average stopped, driving along in his car with the children and his wife, who are just as likely to have had an afternoon in the pub garden while the children play, I know it happens I've seen it, sitting with my children sipping diet coke while a few pints and some footy later they all pile into the car and drive off.  The risk is the same but they are harder to spot.  Will their recklessness make the paper over the teenage tearaway, I think we all know it won't because that does not carry the same worth in the media.

The Government is working on it's belief that a twelve month ban is enough of a deterrent nobody will get behind the wheel after just one drink, I have been involved in research for my book that says that just is not true.  Of course a driving ban has always been the punishment for drink driving, or longer if the outcome had serious consequences.  However, if a driver is prepared to break the law for the sake of a couple of drinks, then why on Earth would they obey the law after a driving ban and leave the car at home. So then we have an unlicensed, uninsured drink driver on the road. There are so many more ways that drink and drive could be dealt with, unfortunately our politicians believe that a measly £740k campaign is the answer. Sorry chaps I don't agree.

copyright 2013 A.Green, this article may not be reproduced in whole or part without express permission of the author

 

AI Solutions: 112 - what number will you dial?

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