Doctors will be obliged under new guidelines to report patients who continue to drive even though they are not medically fit to do so. Elderly drivers are expected to be among those particularly affected as a result of the draft guidance from the General Medical Council (GMC), which described the issue as “difficult territory” for doctors.

The guidance states that GPs have to tell the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) if a patient is driving against medical advice.

As it stands doctors do not need a patient’s consent to inform the DVLA, which is legally responsible for deciding whether a person is medically fit to drive, when a patient has continued driving in such instances.

The strengthened advice obliging them to do so is part of a public consultation on the GMC’s core guidance on confidentiality. It aims to help doctors balance their legal and ethical duties of confidentiality with wider public protection responsibilities.

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Being a driver in the UK means that we are all used to a variety of weather conditions – From scorching summers with the roofs down, to the cold and snowy conditions in the winter , we do experience both extremes of weather.

Unfortunately driving in the rain is a part of this as well. It is necessary for all drivers to become used to being behind the wheel in wet and windy conditions as you will undoubtedly have to face this at some point in your life. Always make sure to keep a spare umbrella in your boot or back seat, and get to know how to turn your windscreen wipers on and off – You will need to use them at some point!

Safe driving from Britannia!

This week has been termed Road Safety Week, with a campaign being launched to ‘Drive Less, Live More’. Each year Road Safety Week has a different theme and this year it is about encouraging drivers to consider how and when they travel, paying particular attention to those unnecessary journeys when, even though more convenient, taking the car is unnecessary. Motorists are being asked to ditch some of those drives and give walking, cycling, or public transport a go wherever possible.

Figures show that two-thirds of trips are made by car, including four in ten trips of less than two miles. Average walking trips per person have decreased by 27% since 1995. A quarter of adults in England are obese, with the cost to the NHS of people being overweight is estimated at £4.2 billion a year. Incorporating activity such as walking and cycling into everyday life is effective for losing weight.

In 2013, 1770 people were killed and 22,377 people seriously injured on UK roads. The vast majority of casualties are attributable to driver error. On average a family can save £642 a year by swapping a car-based school run for waking or cycling. Also, 22% of UK greenhouse gas emissions come from road transport.

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You have finally accomplished it – You have passed the driving test! After a long time taking driving lessons and gruelling advice from your instructor and examiner, you are finally allowed on the roads on your own – It’s perfect, right?

Wrong. A startling figure of younger and inexperienced drivers are killed or injured in road accidents, particularly within the first year of driving. How can you avoid this? By more driver training of course. The Pass Plus course is designed with new drivers in mind, in order to help improve your road sense after passing your test to reduce the likelihood of an accident.

Get some more training behind the wheel, and you will be glad you did.

Safe driving from Britannia!

Finally being able to drive your own car can be an exciting prospect for many – For this reason, many newly qualified drivers are those who have taken their lessons and passed their test as soon as they possibly could, meaning that they are around the age of 17 or 18 in many cases.

Whilst this may be give great sense of freedom for younger drivers, it is essential to be aware of the dangers regarding teenage drivers. A recent study has identified that the main problems with teenage drivers are drivers drinking alcohol when behind the wheel, texting on their phones whilst driving, failing to wear seat belts, driving at irresponsibly high speeds, and riding with teenage passengers.

If you are a teenage driver, or if you even know one, make sure not to engage in this risky behaviour, or you could end up losing a lot more than your license.

Safe driving from Britannia!

Floods have started to hit the UK, namely Yorkshire and the North East, therefore it is important to know how to stay safe when driving.

While many cars will get through quite severe floods, there are a number of dangers. In  addition to shorted-out electrics, there is a risk of the engine sucking in water which, being incompressible, will smash connecting rods, pistons and even crankshafts. If the water is fast-moving, there is also a risk that car could be carried off into deeper flood water with you inside.

If you meet a flood, the first thing you should do is try to avoid it. If you can’t, you should make sure there is not more than six inches of standing water or four inches of moving water. Park up and watch other cars and trucks, look out for hidden dips and gullies. If you go through, stay on the crown of the road, crawl through slowly in first gear and keep the engine revs up.

Avoid going too fast into even quite shallow puddles as that can lead to aquaplaning, where the front tyres will no longer steer the car and you lose control. It is also inconsiderate and illegal to soak pedestrians.

When you emerge from the water, dry the brakes by using them gently, and if there were leaves in the water, check the radiator for blockages.

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With Christmas just around the corner now, many of us may be thinking about starting our Christmas shopping soon – Indeed, many of us may already be well under way with our festive gift-buying, or, if you;re very lucky, you may have managed to beat the rush and have it sorted already!

However if you are one of the millions of Britons going to be hitting the shops soon, remember that the roads at this time of year can be much busier than you are used to, particularly in city centres or around retail parks.

We advise you to drive carefully at this time of year, as you would all year round!

Safe driving from Britannia!