Archives for January 2016

What would it mean for motorists in the United Kingdom (UK) when they heard the Autumn Statement? But first, what is it all about may be a context which need a better comprehension.

An Autumn Statement is an explanation about the Review of Autumn Spending in Britain. And as it sounds more of an executive topic, a question follows: What would it mean for motorists in the UK?

Recently, Chancellor George Osborne had delivered his Spending Review and Autumn Statement. These two statements of one at the higher position in the government are a thing to reckon with by the concerned citizens of the country including the motorists.

The Autumn Statement is an annual update of several plans for the good of the country’s economy. The Spending Review is the one that sets out what will be the government spending within the next four consecutive years.

In his speech that lasted over an hour, Osborne had made two u-turns unexpectedly and surprisingly pledged to ramp up spending on rail and roads. He also emphasised on giving attention to the problems of insurance claims and investments on road constructions. So, as motorists, there are some factors how these developments could affect you.

(1.)  The national pothole fund  – The Government has committed to spend £250 million for the pothole repairs over the next five years in some areas across the country. This is what Osborne has described as a “permanent” scheme.

The AA group has recently conducted a survey, and it found out that a third of all drivers in the UK has suffered some kind of pothole damage to their cars.

On the other hand, RAC Chief Engineer David Bizley, however, told newsmen that the government’s own  backlog for local road repairs is up to £8.6 billion. It only manifests the shortage scale of the funding.

It can be recalled that last year, a research was published which has found that around 40,000 motorists in the UK have claimed pothole compensations in the year 2013. It was up by 14,000 compared to 2012.

The big question now is: How would it affect you as a motorist?, Automobile Association President Edmund King said, the £250 million pothole fund for over five years is only a very small amount for a massive maintenance backlog. This fund may only fill 4,000 potholes in Blackburn Lancashire but it could never cover the national maintenance backlog.

The government also wants to tackle the compensation culture, which costs the insurance industry £2 billion every year, or £90 for each insurance policy. Then, it has made harder for their policy holders to be rewarded by their insurers.

So, there will be some reforms to be undertaken which will remove the right to general damages for injuries on minor soft tissues and then remove some legal costs by allowing a personal injury claim of up to £5,000. Previously, it was £1,000.

How it affects you as a motorist? Well, it’s really difficult to predict what might be the insurance premiums in the year 2017. According to some reliable sources, prices have always been on the rise over the last succeeding 12 months.

Sitting-in by parents on their kids’ driving lessons Colchester will ensure consistency in the flow of knowledge and skill in driving. It has been recommended by a government agency especially these days when driving has evolved further which is already different from what the parents had learnt many years in the past.

This has been the basis of the argument by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency or DVSA which has pointed out that a parent should sit-in on his or her kid’s driving lessons so that any further instruction or teaching for the concerned learner driver would be consistent.

The DVSA has emphasised that a parent should sit-in on a child’s driving lessons Colchester to ensure that the teaching or instruction he or she would receive from a driving instructor be the same or consistent with that of the parent’s as they would get to their private practice using their family car without the presence of driving instructor.

In view thereof, the challenge for the parent is to recognise that the driving techniques required in passing the theory and practical driving tests have evolved through the years. Therefore, to simply repeat what the parent had learnt many years earlier, has already become insufficient these days.

The parent may also have picked-up bad habits which could rub-off. But, DVSA Head of Policy and Registrar Mark Magee has pointed out at a recently concluded safety event that to mix professional instruction and private practice is both beneficial and effective strategy.

So, the parents should also need to understand what the DVSA is trying to encourage the Approved Driving Instructors or ADIs to do, so that they will work with them and not to be against them and to actually undo some of the works that have been done.

He explained that there is really a plan which is at an early stage purposely to encourage the parents to effectively engage with the driving instructors for their kids’ benefit. But, pilot schemes have suggested that a higher percentage is still reluctant.

So, it has become an indicator of what a good driving instructor should be: He or She should encourage the learner driver’s parents to sit-in on their son’s or daughter’s driving lessons.

Institute of Advanced Motorists Standards Compliance Manager Richard Gladman, who is also a driving instructor, opined that the position of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency is sound about the sitting-in of parents in the learner driver’s driving lessons.

Gladman explained that his institution has agreed with the idea to encourage the parents to be often aware of the kind of training their kids are getting from the Approved Driving Instructor. He said that if it is their objective to augment the training with an independent practice, it would be much more beneficial if it would take the same form like the input of the professional.

Then, Gladman concluded that a good driving instructor encourages parental involvement so that everything the learner driver learns will seamlessly carry over from the driving instructor to him or her. Because a parent who sits-in on professional driving lessons could also assess immediately the quality of the teaching. This is necessary considering the investment of money, time and effort.