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Failure to wear a seatbelt could result in penalty points as well as a fine, under new road safety plans being considered by the Government.

The Government is considering issuing penalty points to drivers who fail to wear a seatbelt as part of a new road safety action plan aimed at reducing the number of deaths on the UK’s roads.

Despite the fact that, in 2017, 27 per cent of car deaths involved people who were not wearing a seatbelt, the punishment for committing the offence in England, Scotland and Wales is just a fine of £100, which can be increased to a maximum of £500 if the case goes to court.

Now, the Department for Transport (DfT) is considering introducing penalty points for such an offence, as part of a package of 74 potential actions to improve road safety in the UK. This follows a report from the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) calling for Great Britain to adopt the same rules as Northern Ireland, where drivers who don’t wear a seatbelt are handed three penalty points.

Another key area of focus in the DfT’s plan is rural roads, for which an advisory panel will be set up to look at how rural road safety can be boosted via the improvement of roads and traffic signs, as well as by tackling issues around speed limits and enforcement.

The DfT has broken down some of its other plans by which age groups they will affect. For children, a £225,000 grant has been given to Good Egg Safety to deliver a safety training programme for retailers to help parents correctly fit baby and child seats.

Research will also be commissioned into whether mobile phone use among young pedestrians leads to an increased risk of road collisions, as well as how children aged seven to 18 with special educational needs and cognitive disabilities can be taught to understand the dangers near roads.

For young adults, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency is developing a behavioural change campaign designed to encourage learner drivers to broaden their experience by using more rural roads and driving at night before taking their test.

One in four people killed on road not wearing a seatbelt

There will also be research into the benefits of Graduated Driving Licences, while THINK! will continue campaigning against drink-driving, mobile phone use while driving, speedin and passenger distraction.

With adults in mind, the DfT will be looking at the feasibility of alcolocks, while a greater focus on roads policing will be spearheaded by a two-year project with the Home Office and National Police Chiefs’ Council to identify best practice and gaps in services to see how policing can be improved.

Finally, for older drivers, RoadSafe has been given £50,000 to deliver a digital platform to share best practice to reduce road safety risks for elderly road users.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: “Today’s action plan is a key milestone in our road safety work and sets out the important steps we are taking to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads.”

Steve Barrett, head of car insurance for Direct Line, commented: “Through better enforcement and greater public awareness, we can hopefully increase seat belt wearing rates and reduce deaths and serious injuries on our roads.”

David Davies, executive director of PACTS, added that it was “unusual to find a road safety measure with so much benefit and no downsides”.By Graham Hill thanks to Auto Express

Drivers in the UK have spent more than £3m buying International Driving Permits since February in preparation for a no deal Brexit.

UK motorists have bought 584,000 International Driving Permits (IDPs) since February 2019 in order to still be able to drive in Europe following a no deal Brexit.

This means drivers have spent in excess of £3.2 million on them in the last six months, according to figures revealed by transport minister Michael Ellis in response to a written Parliamentary question.

Previously, IDPs were available from 89 Post Office branches, as well as from the RAC and AA. Around 100,000 were issued each year to British motorists looking to drive outside Europe. In February, though, the rules were changed so that IDPs were only available from 2,500 Post Office branches and nowhere else.

The Government issued advice to drivers saying UK driving licences may no longer be valid in EU and EEA countries following a no-deal Brexit, which could have occurred on 29th March or 12th April 2019, before the deadline was moved to 31st October

This led to a spike in demand for IDPs, with 282,000 applications in March and 163,000 in April. A number of Post Offices saw long queues, prompting a House of Lords report to call for IDPs to be available online.

Nicholas Lyes, head of roads policy at the RAC, commented: “It’s truly astonishing that more than half a million International Driving Permits have been issued since the Government took the service in-house. In one month alone, the number of IDPs issued was almost three times higher than the amount normally issued in an entire year.

“This shows that people who were planning to take their vehicles abroad most definitely heeded warnings about being ready to drive in the EU in the event of a no-deal Brexit. During the Spring, this led to long queues and even shortages of IDPs at some Post Offices.

“As we head towards the next Brexit deadline of 31st October 2019, it is vital that Post Offices are set up to cope with a sudden surge in IDP requests so that drivers are not confronted with frustrating pre-holiday delays. However, much of this will be dependent on the terms of the UK’s departure from the EU.” By Graham Hill Thanks To Auto Express

New tyres come with grading that show their performance in the wet, noise levels and fuel efficiency. However, new cars with maximum tread are only in that condition for a limited time, the question is – how do the tyres perform once they are worn and in particular when the tread drops to the legal limit of 1.6mm.

With this in mind Michelin has stepped up its campaign for mandatory tests of tyres at the legal tread depth limit in a bid to reduce waste, cut CO2 and lower costs for customers.

It has backed an EU resolution by France, which, if adopted, could see tyre performance rated when worn as well as when new. The new procedure could be adopted this autumn, and a working group has been set up at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) to define the procedures for these tests, the reference tyres and regulatory thresholds.

Michelin says that although many tyres perform well when new, there are huge variations in performance at the 1.6mm legal minimum. It also claims that manufacturers can engineer tyres to perform well when worn but choose not to because there is no testing.

Michelin has campaigned for several years against the best practice theory of changing tyres at 3mm, suggesting it is too wasteful and quoting a study by Ernst & Young that predicted that running tyres to 1.6mm rather than 3mm would mean a reduction in tyre production of 128 million units in Europe alone, along with a CO2 saving of 6.6 million tonnes, and cost savings of more than £6 billion.

Some of that saving would be felt by fleet operators, many of whom adopt the best practice of changing tyres at 3mm. Having the confidence to run tyres until 1.6mm thanks to official testing would also allow employers to meet health and safety requirements.

Pierre Robert, vice-president of the ambition test programme at Michelin, said: “Dry grip improves by up to 10% on a worn tyre, and 70% of road accidents occur on dry roads. Fuel consumption is also better on a worn tyre, with up to a 20% improvement.

“But wet grip decreases, and currently it is difficult to predict performance. Tyre ratings when new are not necessarily a good indicator of performance at 3mm or when worn.”

Michelin also claims that as vehicles are increasingly equipped with new safety technology, it becomes more important that the tyres perform well to ensure the car’s features work properly.

Robert insisted that good performance when worn is a choice by the tyre manufacturer, as water dispersion ability at the legal minimum can be designed into the tread.

Tyres are currently tested and graded for fuel efficiency, wet weather performance and noise when new, giving consumers a clear indicator of performance in these areas.

Michelin says it supports the implementation of a minimum threshold for wet braking when worn to ensure consumers a minimum performance for all tyres on the market, which could see some manufacturers withdrawing tyres from the market if they fail the test.

Michelin also believes rolling resistance and noise should continue to be tested when new, as these improve with wear, although it does not want to change the labelling structure from the new tests.

Testing worn tyres
Michelin provided two circuit tests – one for handling and one for braking – to compare the performance of worn Michelin tyres with identical cars fitted with worn tyres from another premium brand.

For the braking test, we were asked to apply maximum braking force on a very wet road surface from 50mph to measure the stopping distance (calculated by GPS), while for the handling test we drove on a short lap with a mixture of wet and dry corners, gaining an impression of how the two sets of worn tyres performed.

Our braking test, taken twice on the same tyres – first for the Michelin, then for the other brand – showed a difference of more than 15m between the two, the other brand taking almost four car lengths more to stop.

The handling test showed the electronic stability control activating sooner and for longer in the rival brand tyre compared with the Michelin.

It is possible that other brands’ tyres perform better than Michelin when worn, but until mandatory tyre tests come into force, we won’t know before we make the choice. Michelin appears confident enough to face the challenge. By Graham Hill with thanks to Business Car.

Having been diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes earlier this year I checked to see if I should report the condition to the DVLA or my insurance company. I’m pleased to say that thanks to a change in diet, sadly the removal(ish) of chocolate, increased exercise and medication I’m now nearly back to the safe level. However, if you have type 2 diabetes it is a reportable condition. Certainly, if you are taking Insulin.

According to the DVLA website you need to take advice from your GP as other medication is questionable. If it affects your driving then it should be reported. Remember if you have any medical condition that could affect your driving it should be reported to the DVLA as well as your insurer. If you don’t do it you can be fined up to £1,000 by not reporting to the DVLA and if you don’t report to the condition to your Insurer and make a claim they could refuse to pay out.

Here is a list of conditions that are reportable:

Notifiable conditions are anything that could affect your ability to drive safely. They can include:

diabetes or taking insulin

syncope (fainting)

heart conditions (including atrial fibrillation and pacemakers)

sleep apnoea

epilepsy

strokes

glaucoma

If you are unsure about a particular condition take advice from your GP. If you feel that you have a reportable condition you can complete a form online for submission. Go to:

https://www.gov.uk/driving-medical-conditions

By Graham Hill