MORE than five million British motorists are currently breaking the law by driving unsafe vehicles, according to new research.

As many as 850,000 motorists could be driving with bald tyres under the legal tread limit, while up to 768,000 have broken lights and around 654,000 have brake problems.

The most common fault identified among these cars was worn tyres, with 12 per cent of motorists driving with tyres that have a tread depth of less than 1.6mm.

As many as 22% of these drivers have known about the dangerous fault on their vehicle for more than six months.

A total of 31% claimed they could not afford to fix the problem, while 11% said they had not had time to get their car repaired.

180,000 of the five million un-roadworthy cars being driven on UK roads are still being used because their owners are holding out until they are eligible for the government’s scrappage scheme.

Chevron Driving School is one of the largest and fastest growing driving schools in the South East, with our head office in Merstham, Redhill, we cover Surrey, Hampshire, Sussex and give Driving Lessons in much of London.

Press release from the DSA regarding the recent recall for Toyota and Peugeot Citroen vehicles:

Toyota and Peugeot Citroen car recall

Following vehicle recall notices issued by Toyota and Peugeot Citroen, the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) has announced conditions for allowing affected vehicles on the driving test. Recall notices affect the following vehicles with the specified build dates:

Toyota
AYGO (Feb 2005 – Aug 2009)
iQ (Nov 2008 – Nov 2009) The iQ is already considered unsuitable for test
Yaris (Nov 2005 – Sep 2009)
Auris (Oct 2006 – 5 Jan 2010)
Corolla (Oct 2006 – Dec 2009)
Verso (Feb 2009 – 5 Jan 2010)
Avensis (Nov 2008 – Dec 2009)
RAV4 (Nov 2005 – Nov 2009)

Peugeot 107 (Feb 2005 – Aug 2009)

Citroen C1 (Feb 2005 – Aug 2009)

In total, Toyota and Peugeot Citroen are recalling around 320,000 UK-based vehicles. As yet, VIN number ranges have not been released.

Using these cars on the driving test

If one of the vehicles affected is presented for test, it will only be conducted if either:

• the vehicle has a manual transmission gearbox and is fitted with dual controls to help the examiner control the car in the unlikely event of a failure
• documentation is supplied to show that the remedial work has been carried out – this will usually be in the form of the Toyota or Peugeot Citroen recall letter stamped by the respective dealer and containing written confirmation

Candidates who cannot proceed with their test should contact DSA customer services to arrange for their test to be rebooked once the remedial work has been done.

As there has been no prior warning of this action, if the test is not conducted the fee will be refunded or a free retest given on the first occasion that a specific vehicle is presented for test. Customers can ring DSA customer services on 0300 200 1122.

Proposals to simplify motorway speed limits for buses, coaches and heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) were published today by the Department for Transport. 

Honda has announced the recall of 646,000 cars globally to fix a switch defect that could cause a fire.  Toyota Announces Comprehensive Plan to Fix Accelerator Pedals on Recalled Vehicles and Ensure Customer Safety and Peugeot Citroen, Europe’s second-biggest carmaker, is recalling some cars made with Toyota in Europe.

The recall includes Jazz models, built in Japan, China, Brazil, Thailand, Malaysia and India, Honda said.   Three cases of fires due to the defect have so far been reported - two in the US and one in South Africa.   In September, two-year-old Vanilla Nurse was killed in Cape Town when the car she was sleeping in caught fire.  Just over 171,000 Jazz cars in Britain will be recalled in March.

‘Toyota Motor Europe announced the recall of 8 Toyota models in Europe, to solve a potential accelerator pedal issue. The involved models and production periods are as follows:

- AYGO (Feb 2005 – Aug 2009)
- iQ (Nov 2008 – Nov 2009)
- Yaris (Nov 2005 – Sep 2009)
- Auris (Oct 2006 – 5 Jan 2010)
- Corolla (Oct 2006 – Dec 2009)
- Verso (Feb 2009 – 5 Jan 2010)
- Avensis (Nov 2008 – Dec 2009)
- RAV4 (Nov 2005 – Nov 2009)

The precise number of involved units is still under investigation, but may reach up to 1.8 million vehicles. No Lexus models and no other Toyota models are affected.  “For Peugeot 107s and Citroen C1s, we are going to carry out an identical campaign as Toyota,” a spokesman said.   The Japanese car giant has now recalled millions of cars worldwide with faulty pedals.   Both models are made in a Czech plant, a joint venture with Toyota that assembles around 200,000 Peugeot and Citroen cars every year.  Peugeot said “under 100,000″ cars will be recalled. It did not say when the recall would begin.

The DSA today released a statement saying: “The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) will continue to take Toyota and Peugeot Citroen vehicles out on tests until formal risk assessments have taken place and, if necessary, vehicle recall notices have been issued.”

Chevron Driving School instructors who offer driving lessons in any of the affected vehicles will be kept informed of further developments and how to have their vehicle inspected.

From today, UK drivers disqualified for serious motoring offences in Ireland will no longer escape punishment when they return home, under a new law. The ban also extends to Irish drivers disqualified while in the UK, who will find the ban enforced when they return to Ireland.

International action on disqualified drivers

The new law means that if you are banned from driving in the UK, you will be banned in Ireland, and vice versa.

The measures are the result of a deal agreed between British, Irish and Northern Ireland ministers.

The new law is the first practical step to recognise driving disqualifications in Europe under the terms of the 1998 European Convention on driving disqualifications.

Road Safety Minister Paul Clark said: “We’ve cut the number of deaths and serious injuries on our roads by 40 per cent since the mid-1990s – that’s more than 19,000 fewer deaths or serious injuries in a year. This means we now have some of the safest roads in the world.

“But we need to continue to work to make our roads even safer and if a UK driver commits a serious offence while in Ireland it is right that their ban should still apply when they return home.

“From today this new law will ensure that disqualified drivers are not able to escape their punishment and so keep dangerous drivers off the roads.”

Chevron Driving School Based In Croydon,  welcomes this new legislation and believes that preventive driver training, both in the corportate and private sectors can further improve the road safety statistics.

The Driving Standards Agency had to re-schedule 47,500 practical exams following the bad weather due to snow and ice clogging up the road network and making it too dangerous for learner drivers to be out on the roads.

Driving Instructors are working round the clock to clear the massive backlog of almost 50,000 cancelled driving tests.

Thousands of driving tests had to be cancelled across the UK since late last year as treacherous road conditions made it too dangerous and in some cases impossible to carry out.

Tests have been running as normally as possible during the big freeze, but the Driving Standards Agency started having a large national problem from December 21.

And the delays have affected driving instructors and driving schools as well as the pupils, with driving schools loosing money as a result.

Chevron Driving School is one of the largest and fastest growing driving schools in the South East, with our head office in Merstham, Redhill, we cover Surrey, Hampshire, Sussex and give Driving Lessons in much of Croydon and London.

It is normally thought that tachographs were only fitted to lorries and buses, however the European Union (EU) directive of driver’s working hours mean that ANY VEHICLE which is used for commercial use must also be fitted with a tachograph. 

The  EU rules on drivers’ hours apply to all journeys made on roads open to the public where the maximum permitted weight (including any trailer or semi-trailer) exceeds 3.5 tonnes.  Any vehicle or combination (trailer attached) exceeding 3.5 tonnes must be fitted with a tachograph (digital tachographs must be used on vehicles registered after 1st May 2006).

This means that potentially 1000’s of drivers and on our roads and unknowing companies may be liable for prosecution from the Vehicle and Operators Services Agency (VOSA) for breaking EU rules.

There certain exemptions, such as plant equipment, i.e. generators or chippers, however, if ‘goods’ such as tools, cables or chippings could (not necessarily does!) be carried on the towing vehicle then the towing vehicle must be fitted with a tachograph.  When the trailer is unhitched, the tachograph will not need to be operational.

Livery stables that tow clients horses will also need tachographs fitted as well.

For more information regarding the need for tachographs fitted to commercial vehicles (any vehicle used for work) visit the business link website or call our advisers.  If you also need advice of trailer towing training courses please contact us and we do our best to help.

The Department for Transport have released new proposals to improve the skills and safety of new drivers who want to tow trailers along with others, please see below for details.

Proposals to improve skills and safety for new motorcycle riders, drivers of lorries and buses and new drivers who want to tow medium sized trailers were published today by the Department for Transport (DfT) in conjunction with the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).

The main aspects of the new requirements for Trailer Towing are:

New car and light van drivers wanting to tow trailers may also be affected. The consultation proposes that drivers will be able to tow a slightly larger trailer on a normal car driving licence (category B), if they take a further test or undertake training. There will also be a restriction on the overall size of the vehicle/trailer combination that can be driven on a category B+E licence entitlement (car/light van plus trailer).

Visit the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) to see the other new requirements for motorcyclists and lorry and bus drivers.

Chevron Driving School provide trailer towing courses and trailer towing lessons for anyone who is looking to tow a trailer, caravan or horse box, contact us to find out more about learning how to tow a trailer safely and trailer towing courses.

As well as driving lessons Chevron Driving School also offer more technical and skilled driving tuition, such as trailer towing training and courses.

Any motorist who passed their standard car driving test after 1st January 1997 will need to take a trailer towing driving test if they wish to tow a trailer on the back of their vehicle, the trailer test is required by law and applies when the gross weight of the vehicle and trailer is above 3500Kg (without trailer) and 4250Kg (inclusive of trailer).

A driver without a B+E licence can tow a trailer, if the combination of the vehicle and trailer to be towed is less than 3500kg and gross weight of the trailer to be towed is less than the un-laden weight of the towing vehicle. A driver who has passed their test after 1997 can tow a trailer with a gross weight of around 1.5 tons, as long as the towing vehicle and trailer being towed are closely matched.

Chevron strongly recommends these courses for your own peace of mind, even if you have a pre-1997 driving licence, as towing a trailer of any description is very different to just driving a standard vehicle and there are many more safety considerations that drivers should aware of. At Chevron Driving School we believe that safety is paramount, especially if you are about to tow a trailer, and anything that can be done to improve this is of utmost important.

Chevron Driving School provide trailer towing courses and trailer towing lessons for anyone who is looking to tow a trailer, caravan or horse box, contact us to find out more about learning how to tow a trailer safely and trailer towing courses.

A new ‘intelligent’ speed camera will soon be making its way onto the UK’s roads.

The new cameras – nicknamed ’supertraps’ – don’t flash, can cover multiple lanes, and have the ability to differentiate between lorries and cars.

They will be trialled in France and, unlike the current yellow cameras in the UK, these new devices will blend with other street furniture.

The Highways Agency is also planning to spend £58 million on new digital cameras designed to spot drivers using the hard shoulder on motorways. The first that many drivers would know about the camera’s presence could be when they receive a fine through the post.

The new ‘supertrap’ cameras, due to the device’s ability to distinguish between trucks and cars, will also target speeding lorry drivers. On many roads, lorries must adhere to lower speed limits, but convictions are difficult because current Gatso-type cameras do not differentiate between vehicles.

The new speed camera has been met with criticism from motoring groups, which say that the stealth-like design of the device does more to catch speeding drivers than to slow them down.

Chevron Driving School is one of the largest and fastest growing driving schools in the South East, with our head office in Merstham, Redhill, we cover Surrey, Hampshire, Sussex and give Driving Lessons in much of London.