When people fail the driving test they blame someone else. Blame for not passing the driving test can fall on: (a) the driving examiner (b) the driving instructor.

You and only you are responsible for passing the driving test. By being responsible for passing, you are also responsible for failing.

There are many stories about driving examiners. Learners see them as figures of authority, as individuals who have a power to alter the course of their future in just a few minutes. Some learners perceive them as frightening individuals who somehow get pleasure out of failing learner drivers.

It’s all too easy to blame the examiner for not passing us rather than having to admit that we were not good enough on the day.

The decision whether you pass or fail does rest with just one person and not with a set of scientific measurements. But blaming examiners for not passing you does not help you in any positive way at all.

If you failed, it is your fault. By taking responsibility for yourself, you take the power away from the examiner in your mind. By removing their power, you lower your anxiety about them. Start to think about examiners in a different way from now on.

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Did you have a good Bank Holiday weekend? We hope that you did. There was many a reason to celebrate, get merry and have a drink or two.

The events held for the Queen’s Jubliee were wonderful and so many people enjoyed them. We want to talk about the theme of celebration. We all love to celebrate (so we should!), after working hard we want to enjoy ourselves.

The problem comes though when we want to celebrate and forget to be responsible. One of the ways people do this is getting into their car and driving after celebrating. If you are having friends over  and they have drove, suggest taking a taxi back home. Or try and arrange a car pool, so that one person is sober and is able to take everyone home. You could also invite people to sleep over. It’s better to crash out on the floor for the night rather than crashing your car and causing an injury to yourself and other drivers.

We want you to celebrate, but we also urge you to be responsible. If you are going to drink leave the keys at home!

A pensioner who has 13 convictions for 44 offences, two of which are dangerous driving convictions has just notched up his third.

Mr Jarvis, 65 dangerously overtook a line of cars down a narrow road with no regard for the articulated lorry heading towards him. When police caught up with him, Jarvis then rammed his vehicle into the police car.

Jarvis of Bedminster admitted dangerous driving whilst disqualified and also admitted driving without insurance and failing to arrive at court for a previous hearing.

The judge said “Jarvis has an apparent disregard for the driving bans” and it would appear so.

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Driving test examiners and coastguards are holding strikes today and possibly other dates throughout June over disputes regarding job losses and closures.

There are plans to close a number of coastguard stations and driving test centres which will result in hundreds of job losses. The union are protesting again this and ongoing issues surrounding cuts to pensions, jobs and pay.

The DSA (Driving Standards Agency) has advised candidates to go to the test centre at the time their test is due as not all examiners will strike.

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We have known it for too long: if you are going for a night out, don’t drive ager! If you are going out with friends, select someone who will drive back. Ensure that they wont drink. It’s worth taking it in turns and have it so a different person is in charge of driving the group back after a night out.

It makes perfect sense to hand over the keys to your non-drinking friend when you are drunk. There is no point in driving when you cannot pay proper attention to it. We all know that it is not a healthy practice, under any given circumstances. This would only worsen the situation. Accidents happen when drink driving and so this should always be avoided. There is never an excuse to drink and drive. So please do not.

As we are entering into the summer now and all of you are heading off to beer gardens and outdoor events, there will of course be drinking involved. This does not mean however that you can become relaxed when it comes to driving. So please exercise caution and please do not drink and drive.

Nickelodeon star Amanda Bynes has been charged by Los Angeles prosecutors for driving under the influence. Authorities say that two months ago she was involved in a minor prang with a sheriff’s patrol car.

At the time she refused to give a sample to determine whether she was under the influence of drink of drugs. This may go against her when they determine her fate and could result in her losing her driver’s licence for a year.

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You put in hours of practice, you pass the test, you get the car and then you’re given the car insurance quote from hell. All young drivers experience this and there appears to be no evidence that this will change in the future. It is common knowledge that young drivers will pay higher insurance premiums due to the risk they are perceived to represent. They are considered high risk not simply because of their age, but also because they may be new or inexperienced drivers and are therefore more likely to have an accident. Indeed statistics (of which there are mountains) show that young drivers are more likely to have an accident than say older drivers. But it needn’t be all doom and gloom; there are things that you may do as a young driver to reduce your premiums! The best way of doing this is to choose a low risk model when deciding on what car to have. This will make you less of a risk to insurance underwriters and can take money off your premium. Failing that where you keep your care can sometimes be an issue as well as the purpose that you are to use the vehicle for. Alternatively you could be put on your parents insurance for a while before you apply for insurance for yourself. Although these things are not going to drastically reduce your premiums overnight they will go some way into reducing them to more manageable sums!

Arthur MacVean, 63, has been found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving after he hit 26 year old David Young back in June 2010.

Mr MacVean had been driving in a 30mph zone at speeds in excess of 65mph, when he lost control of his car and ploughed into a wall and collided with Mr Young. Mr Young died at the scene.

Mr MacVean has used various defences against the incident first stating there was a problem with his car.

“The engine seemed to be racing. The car had a mind of its own. I think the electronic throttle was jammed.”

However, mechanics who examined the car after the accident found no faults with the car.

Mr MacVean’s legal team then stated that he could be in the early stages of frontal lobe dementia however, a Crown expert refuted this; especially since he had never had a problem driving before and went on to buy another car only three weeks after the fatal accident.

Mr MacVean is awaiting his sentence which is scheduled to take place on June 27th.

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It is every driver’s responsibility to ensure that the car they are driving is road worthy and this includes that their headlights and brake lights are all in working order.

Faulty brake lights are one of my pet hates, some drivers appear to have the attitude that it’s not such a big deal however, brake lights warn others that you are slowing down or stopping your vehicle and this in turn could prevent an accident.

Many cars have two brake lights and a tail light and it is worrying to see that many cars on our roads have only one of the three working. Police officers can stop you and enforce that the light is fixed within a fixed period of time.

Drivers should ensure that their car is in perfect working order before they set of on any journey, even if you are driving just 10 minutes down the road.

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We all remember our mothers, teachers, grandmothers, fathers and elder siblings saying something like, “if you’ve used it, then bin it,” when we were little. It was annoying hearing it but that advice is valuable and we all need to take it seriously. In a report released from the Highways Agency they state that 250, 000 sacks of litter are cleared from motorways every year. This figure will shock many, it certainly shocked us. It is especially shocking as litter is something that can be easily reduced. Like our elders said, all we need to do is bag it and bin it. There’s never a reason to drop litter.

And please, never ever throw litter out of your windows when driving. Not only is this lazy it’s extremely dangerous. When you are travelling at such speeds and you discard litter from your window, in can hit against another car and can cause terrible accidents.

Dropping litter also has awful effects on the environment and animals who depend on the environment to survive. Each year thousands of animals are killed through swallowing litter or getting trapped in plastic bags that have been thrown into lakes and ponds. This can easily be avoided by putting litter in dustbins.

We ask you to take pledge to not drop litter on the streets and make the roads better for everyone.