The DSA will close over the Easter holidays and the time scale for cancelling or changing your test will change also.

With Good Friday and Easter Monday both bank holidays, the DSA will close on Thursday 28th March and not re-open until Tuesday 2nd April.

When cancelling or changing your test, in order to not lose your test fee, you must give at least three clear working days notice. Sundays and public holidays to not count as working days.

For more information please visit the Driving Standards Agency website.

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The Scottish Government is to press ahead with cutting the drink-driving limit, the Justice Secretary has said results of a consultation show three-quarters of people want it reduced.

The Scottish Government proposes to lower the limit from 80mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood, the limit for drivers across the UK, to 50mg/100ml.

Formal discussions will now take place with the police and the UK Government to bring in a lower limit in Scotland. Kenny MacAskill said: “Drink-driving can shatter families and communities and we must take action to reduce the risk on our roads.”

The Scotland Act 2012 transferred the power to set the drink-driving limit from Westminster to Holyrood. Lowering the limit to 50mg would bring Scotland in line with other European countries such as Germany, France and Spain.

A total of 74% of those who responded to the Scottish Government consultation back a reduction in the limit, of which 87% agree with reducing it to 50mg.

Mr MacAskill said: “On average, 30 families every year have to cope with the loss of a loved one and around 900 people are treated for injuries caused by someone who thought it was acceptable to drink alcohol and get behind the wheel and drive. We cannot let this continue.

“Lowering the drink-drive limit will help make Scotland’s roads safer and save lives. The evidence is clear and the vast majority of those who responded to our consultation support the Scottish Government’s plans for change.”

He was speaking at an event in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary aimed at highlighting the harm caused by drink driving.

“The consultation now allows us to progress formal discussions with the police and the UK Government on the recalibration and testing of drink-drive enforcement devices to ensure prosecutions are as robust as possible,” he said.

“Before a lower limit is introduced we will also consider issues such as how motorists driving into Scotland from England will be made aware of the lower limit. We are exploring options with Transport Scotland, police and justice and road safety partners as we move forward with our plans.

“Once we have progressed these issues over the next few months, I will be asking the Scottish Parliament to approve regulations to lower the limit.”

Australian investigators have suggested that long-distance lorry drivers who drink coffee have fewer accidents than those that don’t.

Coffee and other drinks containing caffeine were thought to cut the risk of crashing, as they boost alertness.

UK road safety experts are keen to point out that although coffee may help, the only real cure for fatigue is sleep.

Whether you are a long-distance lorry driver, taxi driver or travelling to see friends or family, you should follow these rules:

Plan your journey to include breaks along the way. It is recommended to have a 15 minute break every two hours.

Don’t start a long journey if you are feeling tired.

Try to avoid journeys between midnight and 6am, as this is when our body is likely to feel tired.

Should you be on the road and start to feel tired, drink two cups of coffee or a high-caffeine beverage and allow 15-20 minutes for it to kick in.

Think before you drive!

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South Yorkshire Police are using an unmarked lorry to catch motorists who text on their mobile phones while driving.

Police said the lorry allowed officers to see inside the cabs of other lorries as well as providing a higher viewpoint into cars.

The campaign is supported by the family of Jemma O’Sullivan who was killed when a lorry driver who was sending a text message crashed into her car.

The driver was jailed for five years.

Ms O’Sullivan’s parents have funded a project called “Jemma Bear”.

They have donated 500 teddy bears to the force’s Family Liaison Officers to comfort young children involved in traffic collisions.

The 22-year-old died when she was involved in a four-vehicle collision on the northbound carriageway of the M18 in South Yorkshire in September 2010.

The lorry driver, Christopher Kane, 67, of Oakbank Close, Swinton, admitted causing death by dangerous driving.

Jemma’s father Vincent O’Sullivan said: “We now know first-hand how difficult it is to receive a visit from the police with bad news or to have to deal with trauma at the site of an accident.

“It is even more difficult if there are young children present.”

Insp Pete Serhatlic from South Yorkshire Police said: “The launch of Jemma Bear linked to our police enforcement is a sad but timely reminder to every single driver out there that you are responsible for your actions when you get behind the wheel.”

It is so important to judge your health and tiredness before setting off on a journey.

Unfortunately for an elderly driver in Bournemouth, falling ill at the wheel had fatal consequences. The man is thought to have become ill whilst driving and died when he crashed his Daewoo Matiz into a stationary vehicle.

Emergency services were called and worked hard to save the man. Sgt Stuart Pitman said his thoughts were with the man’s family and he thanked drivers for their patience whilst the road was closed.

Medication, alcohol and tiredness can all contribute to poor concentration and difficulty in driving. Think before you drive.

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Carlos Tevez, a Manchester City football player has been charged with driving whilst disqualified and driving without insurance.

Cheshire Police arrested him on the 8th March when the 29 year old player was caught driving in Macclesfield.

He has been given bail and is due to appear in court on 3rd April.

Footballers are very much in the spotlight and should set an example to their fans of all ages. Losing your licence as a player, I can imagine would be detrimental to your work life and social life, but nobody is above the law and we need to take responsibility for our actions.

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Plans to offer practical driving tests from fire stations were given the go ahead today by road safety minister Stephen Hammond.

Driving tests will be available from the Salford fire station in Greater Manchester every Tuesday and Thursday from 16 April. A number of other fire stations in the Manchester area could also offer tests in the future. All tests will be conducted by DSA examiners.

The move is part of an initiative to offer a more local service for driving test candidates. As well as using conventional test centres, the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) is working with public and private sector partners to provide driving tests in areas that don’t have a local test centre.

Practical driving tests are already available from some branches of Halfords, and earlier this month Nottingham Trent University also started hosting tests.

Hammond, said: “By working alongside Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service the Driving Standards Agency is ensuring people taking their driving test have access to a more convenient option.

“This partnership is a great example of how the public sector can work together to reduce costs and provide a better service.”
Chair of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority, councillor David Acton, said: “This is a really exciting partnership as GMFRS is the first fire service in the country to see its stations host driving tests.

“It’s an example of the Service’s innovative approach to road safety, because fire-fighters are called to road traffic collisions to cut people from the wreckage of cars and sadly many of them involve young drivers.”

Research has shown that many drivers are wearing inappropriate footwear and that fashion often outweighs practicality.

Women wearing high heels are risking the heel getting caught and both genders wearing certain shoes or boots with poor grip risk their foot slipping of the pedals when driving.

It is advised to keep a spare pair of shoes in the car for driving, ideally ones that can be fastened securely or laced up and ones that have good grip. Wearing a good pair of shoes is just as important as not drink driving, wearing your glasses or not texting on your phone, as correct footwear makes driving less hazardous.

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The debate over whether women are better drivers than men is likely to rage for a long time to come.

However, there is one area behind the wheel where they certainly appear to come out on top – although it’s nothing to be proud of.

According to a report, the fairer sex is more likely to swear while out on the road.

Researchers found that almost half (48 per cent) of women use foul language while at the wheel, compared with 40 per cent of men.

Breaking figures down to specific incidents, more than a third of women questioned said they swore when they were ‘cut up’ by another driver, compared to just over a quarter of men.

Those using satellite navigation devices, however, were the biggest culprits in the cursing league. The systems appear to frustrate and irritate drivers with more than half (55 per cent) of those who use one swearing while on the road.

The study, for Direct Line, revealed the younger generation were far more likely to use expletives than the older generation.

Over half (58 per cent) of those aged 20-29 swore when behind the wheel, compared with just 15 per cent of those aged 40-49.
Direct Line car insurance spokesman Simon Henrick said: ‘People often use bad language during times of stress and many normally mild mannered people use expletives to express their irritation when behind the wheel.

The concern is that the use of aggressive language and offensive gestures towards other motorists can escalate an already stressful situation and it can also quite feel intimidating for passengers in the vehicle.’

The study, which questioned 2,013 motorists, found acts most likely to cause swearing included drivers pulling out of junctions without leaving sufficient distance, drivers not signalling and motorists using their mobile phone while driving.

The only motoring incident that significantly upset men more than women is when a motorist uses the overtaking lane when not overtaking, with more than double the number of men (15 per cent) than women (7 per cent) admitting this makes them use foul language.

The rising level of noise in urban areas, especially traffic noise could see a decrease in the number of some species of songbirds.

Researchers from Canada surveyed 113 different sites and found that the number of species appeared to be lower in areas where noise levels were higher.

They suggest that noisy environments masked the sound of the bird song and if females could not hear the lower frequencies, potentially they would not mate and the number of offspring would decrease.

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