​When taking training as ADIs or PDIs there are a few resources that are recommended by the DVSAIt often helps to know that your training is based on tried and tested information. Practical Teaching Skills for Driving Instructors is listed by the DVSA as recommended reading. Co-author, Susan McCormack, is co-Managing Director of Tri-Coaching Partnership so you can be assured that our training material is in alignment with the DVSA.
Susan is also responsible for writing our Train the Trainer course, which is designed so you can deliver practical structured training to a PDI. If you are already delivering driving instructor training, or want to dip your toe in the water, find out more about our product, the Train the Trainer course here.

​The 18 points outlined in Shapp’s plan are:

• Abolishing the confusing “dynamic hard shoulder” smart motorways, where the hard shoulder operates only part-time and is a live running lane the rest of the time
• Substantially speeding up the deployment of “stopped vehicle detection” technology across the entire “all lane running” smart motorway network, so stopped vehicles can be detected and the lanes closed more quickly. Highways England is to accelerate its plans and install the technology within the next 36 months, setting a clear public timetable for the first time
• Faster attendance by more Highways England traffic officer patrols on smart motorways where the existing spacing between places to stop in an emergency is more than one mile, with the aim of reducing the attendance time from an average of 17 minutes to 10 minutes
• Reducing the distance between places to stop in an emergency to three quarters of a mile where feasible so that on future schemes motorists should typically reach one every 45 seconds at 60mph. The maximum spacing will be 1 mile
• Installing 10 additional emergency areas on the existing M25 smart motorways on the section of smart motorway with a higher rate of live lane stops and where places to stop in an emergency are furthest apart
• Considering a national programme to install more emergency areas where places to stop in an emergency are more than one mile apart
• Investigating M6 Bromford viaduct and the M1 at Luton, Sheffield and Wakefield where there is evidence of clusters of incidents. Where an intervention is considered likely to make a difference, we will look to make changes at these locations
• Making emergency areas more visible – all emergency areas will have a bright orange road surface, dotted lines on the surfacing showing where to stop, better and more frequent signs on approach and signs inside giving information on what to do in an emergency. These will be installed by the end of spring 2020
• More traffic signs giving the distance to the next place to stop in an emergency, so you will almost always be able to see a sign. Typically, these will be between approximately 330 and 440 yards apart
• More communication with drivers. We recognise that we could do more therefore we are committing to an additional £5m on national targeted communications campaigns to further increase awareness and understanding of smart motorways, how they work and how to use them confidently
• Displaying ‘report of obstruction’ messages automatically on electronic signs, triggered by the stopped vehicle detection system, to warn drivers of a stopped vehicle ahead, this is currently being trialled on the M25 and then a further trial on the M3
• Places to stop in an emergency shown on your satnav by working with satnav providers to ensure the locations are shown on the screen, when needed
• Making it easier to call for help if broken down by working with car manufacturers to improve awareness of the use of the eCall ‘SOS’ button in newer cars to call for help
• We have changed the law to enable automatic detection of ‘red X’ violations and enforcement using cameras and we will be expanding the upgrade of smart motorway cameras (HADECS) to identify more of those who currently ignore the ‘red X’. The penalty is 3 points on the driver’s licence and a £100 fine, or the driver can be referred to an awareness course
• An update of the Highway Code to provide more guidance
• Closer working with the recovery industry on training and procedures
• Reviewing existing emergency areas where the width is less than the current 15 foot wide standard. If feasible and appropriate we will widen to this standard
• A review of the use of red flashing lights to commence immediately. We have listened to the calls for recovery vehicles to be allowed to use red flashing lights. We will commence work immediately on a review.

​These provisional estimates suggest the number of drink-drive related deaths in Great Britain rose to a 10-year high in 2019.
The figures show between 240 and 320 people were killed in collisions where at least one driver was over the drink-drive limit – leading the DfT to produce a central estimate of 280 deaths.
The provisional estimate for 2019 is higher than 2018 – when there were 240 drink-drive fatalities – although the DfT says the rise is not statistically significant.
It is also the highest figure since 2009.
For the first time, the DfT has also published figures for the number of people killed or seriously injured in drink-drive collisions. This is possible due to the availability of severity adjustments for non-fatal injuries, which take into account changes in accident reporting systems.
The central estimate of the number of drink-drive KSIs in 2019 is 2,110 – an increase of 11% from 2018. This is the highest level since 2011.
However, the total number of people killed or injured in drink-drive collisions fell by 9% to a record low – from 8,680 in 2018 to 7,860 in 2019.
Download the statistical bulletin from the GOV.UK website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-in-great-britain-provisional-estimates-involving-illegal-alcohol-levels-2019/reported-road-casualties-in-great-britain-provisional-estimates-involving-illegal-alcohol-levels-2019

Casualty reduction targets “single most important policy decision” (roadsafetygb.org.uk)

If the UK wants to be taken seriously as a leader in road safety, it must stop resting on its laurels, taking credit for casualty reductions that happened in previous decades and recognise its recent poor performance. 
That’s the damning verdict of David Davies, executive director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS).
Writing for Local Transport Today, Mr Davies expresses particular criticism of the Government’s reluctance to adopt national targets to reduce road deaths – something he says is the “single most important policy decision that the UK Government could take”.
For almost three decades (1983-2010), the UK Government set ambitious casualty reduction targets. According to Mr Davies, the targets were seen as “fundamental” to the substantial reductions in death and injury that followed. 
However in 2010, policy changed and targets were abandoned.
Since then, evidence points towards Britain being in a period when the number of road fatalities is ‘broadly stable’ but not falling – in the words of the Government.
Mr Davies accuses Westminster governments of the last decade of having “ducked the issue”, paying no heed to the EU target to halve road deaths by 2020, which they endorsed in 2011.
This time last year, the Government spoke at the World Health Organisation’s Road Safety 2020 conference in Stockholm, supporting the global target of “50 by 30” in the UN road safety declaration (a 50% reduction in road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030).
At home, it set a new casualty reduction target for Highways England. Meanwhile, the governments and administrations in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and London have adopted targets for their areas. 
Mr Davies says “the missing but vital piece of the jigsaw” is a target for the UK.
He notes that simple but ambitious road casualty targets, “preferably in line with the global targets that the Government supports”, should be the cornerstone of strategy going forwards. 
Mr Davies concludes that while targets alone do not guarantee outcomes – they need to be backed by commitment, plans and resources – without them “we face another decade in which some 1,800 people will die and 30,000 will be seriously injured each year on our roads”. 

Young and novice drivers: Department for Transport on ‘L’ plates2 March 2021

The Transport Committee has published its report on young and novice drivers. It welcomes the work underway at the Department for Transport (DfT) as evidence that the Government is committed to tackling safety for drivers aged 17–24. However the Committee’s report recommends dates for the DfT to report progress on these key projects and sets out priorities for further work.

• Read the report: Road safety: young and novice drivers [HTML]
• Read the report: Road safety: young and novice drivers [PDF, 864 KB]
• Inquiry: Young and novice drivers
• Transport Committee

Key recommendationsA body of work is underway by the Department for Transport. The Committee expects to be kept informed of progress on:

• The Driver 2020 research project is exploring several technological and educational based measures and calls for a progress update by July 2021. This should include the progress and preliminary findings of its research into the effectiveness of telematic technology to improve road safety.
• The commitment to pilot a system of 'modular' learning with compulsory driver training in different driving conditions. The Committee calls for an outline of criteria which will measure the effectiveness of this pilot to be set out in the Response to its Report and an update on progress by October 2021.
• Should Northern Ireland proceed with plans to introduce Graduated Driver Licensing, the Committee recommends that the DfT liaise with the NI Executive and provide interim findings with the DfT’s conclusions by October 2021.

The Committee’s report recommends the Department undertake further work in these areas:

• A study of crash rates for older novice drivers, those aged over 25 but relatively new to driving. Research conducted by the insurance industry shows that a significant number of these drivers are involved in crashes but the details are not recorded.
• Research to investigate whether drivers who learn though intensive driving courses are at increased danger during their first two years of driving.
• The DfT should resume the study into the social and economic consequences of Graduated Driving Licensing schemes promised in its 2019 Road Safety Statement. This will provide evidence on the impacts of restrictions on the social and economic opportunities available to young and novice drivers.
• Meanwhile, the theory part of the driving test should be developed to include adequate questioning on driving at night and while carrying passengers.

Chair's commentsThe Chair of the Transport Committee, Huw Merriman MP, said:
"The tally of young people who lose their lives on our roads is a sobering reason to review the Department for Transport’s work in this area.
"Eighty-eight young car drivers died in 2019; a further 287 people including passengers and pedestrians, were killed in crashes which involved young drivers.
"Fully equipping learner drivers for driving in different situations will be essential to the Department for Transport’s success in this area.
"The Department is exploring different ways to extend the learning experience and we acknowledge the work in progress. We expect to be kept informed.
"We have not recommended Graduated Drivers Licensing be introduced.  The Committee balanced the current work of the Department with the lack of evidence demonstrating the impact of GDL on the economic and social prospects of young people at this time, particularly in rural areas.
"The committee also took into account the need for young people to be given the freedom to drive without further restrictions being imposed upon them.
"However, we are asking the Department to resume its research in this area. With GDL likely to be piloted in Northern Ireland, we encourage work with the NI Executive on sharing the learning which emerges.
"Various factors are at play in this debate. Our road vehicles are safer; technology is helping through traffic management tools and telematics devices and the driving test has been improved.
"Fewer young people are choosing to learn how to drive but we must strive to ensure that we keep young and novice drivers safe on our roads."
BackgroundBetween 2005 and 2019 the number of young drivers killed or seriously injured on UK roads reduced by 52 percent.
Figures for fatalities and serious injuries among car drivers aged 17–24 dropped year-on-year until 2012 when progress steadied for several years.
Today young car drivers remain over-represented in the statistics for involvement in fatal road traffic collisions.
In 2019, young drivers made up seven percent of all licence holders but were involved in 16 percent of fatal and serious crashes.
The sad impact of this is felt by their families and all of those involved.
Further information

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