A whopping one in six drivers currently on the roads would fail their driving test if they were made to take it again, a new survey has revealed.

Up to 16% of motorists believe that they would struggle mainly with the Theory test if they had to sit the exam again – Leading for many to question the standard of those behind the wheel on UK roads.

Some of the more common reasons for failing a driving re-test include being unable to remember what road signs mean, and questions regarding safety when overtaking and even down to stopping distances in different conditions.

However motorcyclists seem to have fared better in the results of the research – Due to needing to stay more alert when on the roads, the results suggest that bikers would succeed in far greater numbers than car drivers in a re-test.

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Safe driving from Britannia!

Smart cars of the near future could refuse to start if the driver exceeds the drink-drive limit. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), working with a consortium of car makers including Ford, GM and Volkswagen has developed an alcohol detection system for vehicles that will prevent those over the limit from driving.

The NHTSA unveiled a prototype car fitted with its new Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety technology. The technology includes a steering wheel-mounted breathalyser and an engine start button that detects blood alcohol level via an infrared light.

Both will operate as passive systems, detecting alcohol level as the driver breathes normally, presses a button or holds the wheel. If the system detects the driver is over the limit it will refuse to start the car.

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A move to scrap the paper driving licence and digitise drivers’ records ended in chaos for holidaymakers yesterday as DVLA’s website suffered a technical breakdown.

In the biggest change since the introduction of the photocard licence, the DVLA officially abolished the paper driving licence on 8 June in a bid to streamline services and save money.

But British holidaymakers’ plans were ‘left in chaos’ after the agency’s website, which provides a code which can be passed on to car hire companies in replacement of the counterpart, crashed on the day of its official launch.

Drivers trying to get a DVLA code to give to car hire companies instead of their paper driving licence were left frustrated as the site showed an online error message.

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Smart cars are paving the way for the future of drink-driving prevention – By refusing to allow a person who has been drinking to drive them.

The revolutionary technology, titled DADSS (Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety) works via a breathaliser mounted on the steering wheel as well as an intelligent engine “Start” button that is capable of detecting alcohol in the drivers blood via an infared light.

These will operate passively – Meaning that as the driver breathes normally, or attempts to start the car whilst under the influence of alcohol, the car will refuse to start.

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Safe driving from Britannia!

Today, the paper counterpart to the photocard driving licence will no longer be valid or issued by the DVLA.

Here are the ways the changes could affect you:

If you already hold a paper counterpart, it no longer has any legal status. You should destroy your paper counterpart, but you still need to keep your current photocard licence.

If you hold a paper licence which was issued before the photocard was introduced in 1998, this will remain valid and should not be destroyed. If you need to update your name, address or renew your licence, you will be issued with a photocard only.

If you drive for a living and are asked to provide evidence of your driving record, you can do this online for free by accessing the Share Driving Licence service. The service should be used by both paper and photocard licence holders. You can generate a “check code” to pass to the person that needs to view your licence details.

If you will be hiring a car and are asked for evidence of what vehicles you can drive or confirmation of any penalty points, you can request a unique code from www.gov.uk which allows you to share your licence details or download a summary of your record.

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As summer rapidly approaches, many of us will be planning our holidays for the coming weeks and months, and along with this comes the task of hiring a car when on your holidays – not an easy task for anyone who has experience of this!

Due to changes being made from Monday 8th June onwards, the paper driving license counterpart will become invalid – And as the information regarding your license will be held only on the DVLA’s computerised system, when you rent your car whilst abroad the rental company will need to access your details online.

All sounds simple, right? Not quite.

To enable this, you will need to order a special code from the DVLA website, using your driving license number, National Insurance Number and Postcode – However this code can only be used for 72 hours after being generated, so you will need to order it just before you travel.

From Monday onwards, we expect to hear tales from the headache of renting cars abroad – Let us know if this includes you in the comments below!

Safe driving from Britannia!

When learning to drive, one of the main things people discuss is the topic of driving instructors – How to choose the right instructor, how many lessons to have, when to book the Theory and Practical Tests – But one point many often overlook is the subject of learning to drive with private practice.

Even  professional bodies such as the DVLA highly recommend supplementing your professional driving lessons with some private lessons, as this helps to get the best of both worlds in your experience of learning to drive. But there are some thing to look out for:

Firstly always make sure that your private practice is legal – You can’t just jump into a friend or family members car and start driving! You need to have correct learner insurance on any vehicle before being allowed to drive it, and you will also need to sit with another driver in the passenger seat who is 21 or older with a minimum of 3 years driving experience.

Safe driving from Britannia!

An unmarked police car crashed into a market stall in South London during a police chase following an armed robbery at the nearby post office on Tuesday morning.

The black Citroen hit a stallholder and then smashed through a vegan food stand at Surrey Street Market in Croydon just after 9.10am.

Flying Squad officers were called at 9.10am to reports of an armed robbery at the Post Office in Croydon High Street. A police officer jumped out of the car to chase the suspected armed robbers on foot. The car then carried on moving, hitting the flower seller before crashing in the Vegan food stall.

53-year-old flower seller Russell Smith was treated by the London Ambulance Service after suffering cuts to his knees. The two staff of the Vegan stall were both in the tent of the stall at the time and got knocked to the ground and did not sustain any injuries. Grace Magecha who runs the vegan stall described how the car was going fairly fast and so she and her colleague didnt have time to move out of the way.

She estimated about £500 worth of equipment was wrecked and said she does not know when they will be able to reopen. Co-owner Greg Kirby noted how the incident was ‘all a bit farcical’ as not only did the police car crash into their stall but one officer ran past them and dropped his gun.

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