Motoring News » DVLA

End of foreign language driving tests

Alan — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:56:06 +0000

Some government ministers have aired concerns over the fact that people can take driving tests in foreign languages. They have said that this might mean they are unable to understand road signs written in English. Many have said that a culture of political correctness has meant that foreigners can take driving tests in their native tongue.

Over 90,000 theory tests were conducted in a foreign language in 2010, something which the Minister for transport, Mike Penning has described as, “amazing.” Figures show that most foreign tests were conducted in Urdu, with the second highest number being conducted in Polish. Over one and a half thousand people have qualified to drive a bus in something other language than English.

The theory test, which has been translated into different languages, has been done so at the expense of the taxpayer. For practical driving tests however the candidates must pay for their own translator. Mr Penning said, “it shocks me that people who do not understand English to a basic enough level to pass the driving theory test are on our roads. Road safety is the priority of this government, political correctness should take a back seat to safety on our roads. I will be taking steps to change the law so the tests must be conducted in English.

“Instead of spending taxpayer money on translations, I want to see it spends on helping these people learn English so they will be safer drivers.” It seems however that European law will not make this possible as it would violate antidiscrimination measures. Mr Penning said that he is trying to find a way around this restriction. Other measures have also been announced by the current government to make the driving theory test more challenging. From early next year the test questions will not be published.

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4000 people over 90 on welsh roads

Alan — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 02:28:07 +0000

The DVLA has recently revealed some interesting figures about drivers in Wales. It says that there are around 4,000 people driving on the roads who are over ninety years old. This could be quite a concern given that the Institute for Advanced Motorists (IAM) has said that there is a significant increase in the number of accidents for elderly drivers when on 70mph roads.

Some people have called for seniors to be banned from using motorways and that they should be retested regularly to make sure they are still safe to be on the roads. Roy Orringe, from Wales, is 89 and has said, “If I didn’t have my car I don’t know how I would cope. The bus service is not good enough and I need the car to get around. Other than a crash in 2006 and a speeding ticket, I have a completely clean driving record.”

Data about those involved in crashes is rather contradictory to those who claim older drivers are not safe on the road. Generally drivers who are over seventy are involved in few crashes compared to those who are under thirty. However, there are places on the road where the figures for the elderly crashing cars are much higher – especially at junctions that are entering roads with high speed limits.

Currently the system as to whether the elderly are healthy enough to drive only requires them to be honest about their health. All those over seventy have to renew their licence every three years and this does not require a visit to the doctor.

The DVLA has said that they system is working however, with a spokesman for the organisation saying, “They have a legal obligation to tell us, as do their doctors if they find a reason why their patient cannot drive.”

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Diabetic drivers may lose licence

Alan — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 03:14:42 +0000

A new European rule is about to effect a great many of the UK’s diabetic drivers. The rules covers diabetics who can have a ‘hypo,’ where they need to have a sugary snack urgently to counter the amount of insulin in their system. The rule is to address the problem that these people can have a blackout if they do not consume sugar and this can be dangerous on the road.

The rule will cover people who have two or more hypos in a year. The directive will be taking effect next month and Diabetics UK has made protests to the government about the change of law. The charity has said to the government that the evidence to say these people are a risk on the roads is just not there.

Some diabetics have already found troubles with the new laws as some offices of the DVLA have started banning them from having licences already. The interpretation of the law is that even if they have the hypo when asleep it can be counted as one of the two a year that can lead to a driving ban. Simon O’Neill of the charity has said, “We stand by the argument that nocturnal hypoglycaemia is an unnecessary consideration when assessing whether someone has the capacity to drive.

Professor Geoff Gill is from Aintree University in Liverpool and has said, “Nobody wants people who are a risk to themselves and other drivers to be out on the roads, but this law will mean that diabetics who have been driving safely for years will lose their licenses. Many of these people depend on their cars for their livelihood. It is clear that a balance needs to be struck here. We need our roads to be safe but we need to allow people their independence.”

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Man follows his satnav regardless of what his eyes tell him

Alan — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 08:33:49 +0000

Robert Jones was charged up with heavy regarding his reckless driving. He left his BMW on the edge of the cliff. He followed the instructions of the sat nav device and headed for his friend’s house. He did not appreciate that he was taking it straight towards a rocky cliff. He then felt that “something went wrong” with his BMW when he clashed with a fence just few inches from a 100ft drop.

Robert said that he had total faith in his satnav. It showed him that the narrow path he was on was a wide road even though it was actually getting narrower and steeper. Despite the obvious discrepancy Robert trusted his satnav and said that he is quite helpless without the device and he could not get anywhere without it. He feels himself lucky enough that his car did not go all the way on the top of the cliff and it was a real nightmare for him.

It almost took nine hours for the recovery team to come up and save his BMW from the cliff and pulled it in a safe place at Todmorden, West Yorks. One of them said that it is good to trust on your satnav but how Robert could not trust his own eyes when he is seeing that the road is getting steeper and narrower was a little confusing. It is sheer a lack of common sense of the driver. Police have charged Robert but and confirmed that if someone is found to have such a lack of care then it is reckless driving and the incident is going to be investigated thoroughly.

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Appeal may mean thousands can claim back parking fines

Alan — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 06:44:00 +0000

A possible can of worms has been opened as far as parking tickets are concerned, after a motorist successfully challenged a ticket he had been given in Richmond upon Thames. Nigel Wise contested the ticket that was issued to him by a mobile unit, and claimed that that device was not formally approved for use by the Dept. of Transport. His appeal was upheld and the council ordered to pay £50 costs to Mr. Wise.

Richmond Council estimates that its personal liability could be as high as £1.05m if it has to refund all 20,000 plus parking tickets that have been issued from 2009-2011. As these units are also used by a further 24 authorities across the country, the potential for refunds runs into many millions of pounds. The proposals to refund the money, which has been drawn up by the leader of Richmond, are being considered next month by the council.

The mobile units in questions are the CCTV units which use cameras that are fitted to periscopes on Smart cars. They have been a common sight on the streets of London for several years, and their use has gradually spread to the outlying provinces since the law changed in 2008.

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DVLA stealth tax argument grows

Alan — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 15:10:25 +0000

The DVLA is being accused of stealth taxation as £62 million was collected in 2010 for just renewals and replacements of driving licenses newly released figures showed. British motorists must pay £20 every ten years to ensure the photo is updated on the credit card sized license. This netted the DVLA over £42 million just last year via figures received in a Freedom of Information request.

At £56 for stolen or lost licenses, the DVLA made an additional £20 million last year. The Association of British Drivers spokesman, Hugh Bladon said it is type of stealth tax just a way of taking money out of the motorist’s pocket.

Paul Watters of the AA also said you say that the road tax brings in £45 billion each year so how come the cost cannot be taken out of that. A spokesperson for the DVLA insisted that people’s looks change and photos must be taken to update the licenses regularly. The DVLA must recover the costs of their operation via these for the services it provides.

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Treasury chasing car VAT fraudsters

Alan — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 07:20:51 +0000

Treasury officials are concerned about the loss of revenue due to criminals who have been avoiding payment of VAT on vehicles coming in to the U.K. According to Treasury Secretary David Gauke, they have been able to get around the current manual system, and the plan is to have everything computerized with a mandatory online notification of any vehicle brought into the country for use on U.K. roads.

A consultation in now underway at HMRC in cooperation with DVLA to determine the best way to set up an online system that will ensure VAT gets paid in the full amount and on time. The new system, which is set to go into effect in 2013, is supposed to prevent this sort of VAT-fraud and thereby bring an additional £125m to the Treasury in the first year, according to Gauke.

The updated procedure will allow the DVLA to get immediate notification of the VAT status of each vehicle; if no payment has been made or there is reason to believe the vehicle’s owner may try to avoid paying, DVLA will not register that vehicle. Richard Bysouth of HMRC said that they are inviting input from people who are bringing in road vehicles for either private or business purposes.

The expectation is that with this online system, it will be almost impossible for anyone to get out of paying the allotted amount of tax, and drastically reduce or eliminate the ongoing fraud. It is also meant to make the process simpler for everyone. The consultation is designed to inform all interested parties of the new procedure and work out the best way of implementing it.

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DVLA and Home Move Box team up to help drivers with paperwork

Alan — Sun, 29 May 2011 07:21:36 +0000

Home Move Box has teamed with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in order to remind motorists that the address on the vehicle registration certificate and the driving license needs to be updated after they move house. A free box of essential products is provided by Home Move Box as a service and also has pertinent information for moving to help to get settled and established in their new house.

The joint venture, per the last meeting between the two, will drop DVLA brochures in each welcome box so when someone moves and uses the box they will be automatically reminded to change their address and how to do it via the Home Move Box service.

The Director of Corporate Affairs for DVLA, David Evans said this is an excellent way to show how DVLA works with their various partners and that the perfect way was chosen to get the message across to the correct people at the correct time. He also said how grateful the DVLA was to Home Move Box to allow them to include their leaflets in the welcome packs.

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Motoring paperwork to become simpler

Alan — Thu, 26 May 2011 15:40:35 +0000

Help for thousands of British drivers making motoring a little easier by reducing the amount of red tape may be near. The Department of Transport initiative is directed at simplifying the things not only for the individual car user but also for local authorities and businesses. The idea is to scrap three rules with the shake up of regulations even though their impact, in real terms could be relatively minor.

Speed bump rules could be relaxed by easing the restriction on maximum and minimum height and on the different required levels of lighting. Perishable items such as snacks that are left behind less than 48 hours could be disposed of by bus companies, whereas currently they are prohibited with the existing regulations.

The most significant of the changes could be that of the reinvention of insurance cover so no electronic or paper certificate would be needed to prove that a policy was valid and in force. All this is part of the new Red Tape Challenge an initiative of the Cabinet Office that reviews, weekly, a new sector in an attempt to eliminate unnecessary rules that are in the system.

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DVLA selling info to car park bandits

Alan — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 01:20:18 +0000

Something is definitely wrong in the DVLA according to the BBC’s Watchdog, which has information, that drivers’ personal data is being sold to private companies that are using it illegally to extort money from innocent citizens. The DVLA is said to have made £2.7 million from the sale of data to parking companies, just in the last year.

The sale of personal data is legal, provided the companies buying it are approved members of the British Parking Association and fully complying with its Code of Practice. It appears that some of these parking companies are flouting the rules and getting away with it. This is going on even though the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has said that strict rules are in place to prevent misuse of the data.

These companies are hired by airports, supermarkets and other public areas of business to enforce their private parking regulations and to collect money owed in parking charges. To this end the DVLA provides drivers’ information to the companies, for a fee. The parking companies have no authority under the criminal justice system, and under DVLA regulations they cannot impose ‘penalties’ or ‘fines’, only ‘charges’. Some of them are doing it anyway.

Under the current regulations, parking companies must respond to complaints or questions about their charges within 14 days. Watchdog has numerous reports from citizens who waited more than three months for a reply, and then got an unsatisfactory response, if any. Photos used as ‘evidence’ of parking violations were not dated, and even when the citizen was clearly in the right, the charges were still applied.

The BPA’s Approved Operator Scheme (AOS) is theoretically enforced by a board consisting of representatives from RAC Foundation and Institute of Advanced Motorists, as well as other consumer organizations. The Watchdog investigation will be broadcast on Thursday night.

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