RoSPA Advanced Drivers [Northants] Newsletter Publishing Date: 1 October 2018

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1 Website- The content of any articles submitted for publication and which represent the personal views and opinions of the author are intended to promote consideration and discussion, but may not reflect the teaching methods of RoSPA Advanced Drivers and Riders, which are based on Roadcraft We love to hear when you pass your tests. Please note that RoSPA head office do not notify local groups of their member s successes. Please ensure that you take refresher drives before your 3 year retests, (contact your tutor), and let us know when you ve passed. Your success is our success. Thank you. I wish to give grateful thanks to Peter Turner, who took over my role of newsletter editor and very successfully produced the last two issues. [Ed] Latest News about Steve Parker, our Regional Coordinator We re sorry Our last open meeting had to be cancelled at the last minute as our speaker, Steve Parker, had to be admitted to hospital. We hope that all members and associates were contacted in time and that no-one turned up at the meeting venue. It s with our apologies that some were disappointed. We all wish Steve a speedy recovery. Amy Brant (RoSPA) has written to us: Due to family and health reasons, Regional Coordinator Steve Parker has decided to step down from his role covering the East and South East Groups. Steve will be available throughout October for those of you who may like to liaise directly and I can confirm that Steve will be continuing as normal in his role as a RoSPA Examiner. This has led to the opportunity for a regional coordinator role covering the East and South group network, a total of 15 groups. Should you wish to register your interest in the role of Regional Co-ordinator, East and South East, please do so by ing me at abrant@rospa.com outlining your current experience and why you feel you would be the right person for the role. The closing date for registering your interest is Friday 12 th October. After this time we shall invite those who have been successful in registering their interest to meet face to face for an interview. Please circulate the application throughout your network. If you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact myself or any other member of the regional coordinator team.

2 Regional Coordinator Advert East and South East Regional Co-ordinator Advert 2 Version: Introduction The Regional Coordinator role is an integral part of RoSPA Advanced Drivers and Riders structure. The role supports the group network, enabling groups to be part of the national movement, and provides an essential link between groups and RoSPA Head Office. Regional Coordinators fulfil two essential functions: To represent the views of RoSPA Advanced Drivers and Riders Groups to the RoSPA Head Office team, and vice versa, and provide appropriate advice accordingly. To advise and support the Groups and to ensure they are an active part of RoSPA Advanced Drivers and Riders network Regional coordinators attend a minimum of two meetings at RoSPA HQ per year to ensure good communication and sharing best practise A regional coordinator is not required to live within the vicinity of the groups that they support in their role. The role is for 10 hours per month, 100 per month plus expenses Role Requirements To convey the views of accredited groups to RoSPA and to keep Groups informed about policies and good practice. To do this, the Regional Co-coordinator will need to work closely with the RoSPA Advanced Driving and Riding Manager, creating a strong link between groups and RoSPA. To answer queries and questions from the group network using the EBS system and any other polices and guidance documents used for RoSPA Advanced Drivers and Riders. To help start new groups, targeting areas in which there is little or no RoSPA Advanced Driver or Rider group presence To visit up to four groups per year (travel dependent) To maintain regular contact with the Groups in their allocated Group network, encouraging communication and sharing good practice between them. This includes a monthly newsletter update to all groups within their network, good communication via the telephone, and creating a first name relationship with Chairman and Secretary contacts. To attend two meetings a year at RoSPA HQ and potentially other occasional meetings. Regional Co-ordinator Advert To promote RoSPA Advanced Driving and Riding.

3 To promote RoSPA Advanced Driving and Riding. To help and support RoSPA Advanced Driving and Riding Groups. To help and support RoSPA Advanced Driving and Riding Manager Skills and Previous Experience Required Essential A full member of RoSPA Advanced Drivers and Riders Active member of a local RoADAR Group The ability to devote sufficient time to the role of Regional Coordinator The ability to work as part of a team and individually Good verbal and written communication skills The ability to prioritise and manage groups in a constant and fair manner The ability to travel to individual groups Did you see it? --- See What? The new rules about eyesight requirements in some counties The Sunday Times. Should you drive into certain counties you may be stopped by the police and asked if you can read a car number plate from 20 metres. Drivers who fail on-the-spot eyesight tests will be banned from getting back behind the wheel, as part of a new initiative to improve road safety. The Hampshire, West Midlands and Thames Valley Police forces will conduct eye tests on drivers they pull over. The assessment will require the motorist to prove they can clearly read a car number plate from a distance of 20 metres. Anyone who fails the test will have their license immediately revoked, and as such won t be allowed to drive on the public road. In addition, the forces will use the data compiled from these tests to see just how prevalent the poor eyesight issue is. Sergeant Rob Head of Hampshire Police said: Not being able to see a hazard or react to a situation quickly enough can have catastrophic consequences. The initiative isn t the first time that driver eyesight has been put in the road safety spotlight. In July, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency launched its EYE 735T awareness campaign, which urged motorists to take the number plate eyesight test themselves. Police forces were originally granted the powers to ban drivers with poor eyesight in 2013, with the introduction of legislation known as

4 Cassie s Law. Enacted in response to a grassroots safety campaign, the law is named after Cassie McCord, who was killed when she was hit by a car driven by an 87-year-old man who had failed a police eye test. How to judge for yourself the distance of 20 metres You do this by reading a clean number plate of the old style from a minimum distance of 20.5 metres (approximately 67 feet or 5 car lengths). If reading a new style number plate (these letters are narrower) you must be able to read it from a minimum distance of 20 metres (approximately 66 feet). If you are having a problem, then see your optician at the earliest opportunity and explain the difficulty. Chris s Contributions With thanks to Chris Milner for finding and submitting the following material. A new package of EU transport proposals that promise to revolutionise road safety in coming years have been welcomed by IAM RoadSmart although the UK s biggest road safety charity has stated that a huge opportunity has been missed by not specifically including enhancements to driver training in it. The Third Mobility Package was put forward by the European Commission a few weeks ago, including proposals for new safety features to be fitted on all new cars being sold across the EU. It has been suggested these changes could have as drastic an impact on road injuries and fatalities as the compulsory wearing of seat belts did. Road traffic accidents remain the biggest killer of young people in the EU. However, the announcement is not enough to make the changes happen instantly - the EU member states and European Parliament will need to give their backing to the plans. The commission is proposing new initiatives for road safety as 23,500 people lost their lives on EU roads in 2017 and another 135,000 people were seriously injured. This means the EU s vision of halving road fatalities between 2010 and 2020 is now looking tough to achieve. The commission has proposed a policy framework for to respond to the new challenges in road safety based on the Safe System approach. This aims for a more forgiving road system, designed to protect people from death and serious injury. Among the dozen features the EU is calling to have vehicles fitted with are: advanced emergency braking (cars), drowsiness and attention detection (cars, vans, trucks, buses), distraction recognition and prevention (cars, vans, trucks, buses), event (accident) data recorder (cars and vans), full-width frontal occupant protection crash test - improved seatbelts (cars and vans), intelligent speed assistance (cars, vans, trucks, buses) lane assist (cars, vans) The EU Commission states that while these features would not increase the prices of new cars, society will benefit to the tune of 73 billion Euros through lives saved and injuries avoided. However IAM RoadSmart is disappointed that the EU has not gone a step further and embedded driver training in its policy framework in a similar way. Neil Greig, IAM RoadSmart director of policy and research, said: The directive and measures suggested here are very welcome, but as we often say the key to accident prevention is to stop them happening in the first place not minimising their effect once they have occurred. It would have been very useful to have worked into this directive a requirement for a graduated driving licence scheme that also includes a second phase of training post-test. New drivers are most at risk in the first six months of solo driving and many EU countries, including the UK, simply abandon them to learn from their own mistakes. Saving people s lives on the road cannot be left to the car alone. New technology brings many benefits but also requires new training approaches to ensure that those benefits are maximised. Safer cars require safer drivers as well as safer roads to ensure the system delivers the excellent targets set by the EU for a further 50% reduction in deaths by 2030.

5 Congratulations to those passing their tests. Peter Radcliffe Gold 3 year retest. (With our apologies for being late with Peter s award notification) Thiaga Kathirasoo Gold Tutor: Brendan d Arcy David Drage Silver Tutor: Peter Turner The Funny Bit Passenger: I heard you had the latest emergency braking system fitted to your car advanced technology? Driver: Yes, In an emergency braking situation, you just pull that lever hard and it releases an anchor out the back of the car. Passenger: Have you had a chance to use it yet? Driver: Yes I gave it a trial. Passenger: And was it a sucess? Driver: Not really, I and the car carried on, but my rear axle and back wheels didn t.