Male testsFemale tests Total tests

Blackburn with Darwen / Conducted / Passes / Pass Rate % / Conducted / Passes / Pass Rate % / Conducted / Passes / Pass Rate %
April 2013 / 271 / 152 / 56.1 / 338 / 125 / 37.0 / 609 / 277 / 45.5
May 2013 / 255 / 129 / 50.6 / 311 / 134 / 43.1 / 566 / 263 / 46.5
June 2013 / 189 / 91 / 48.1 / 249 / 96 / 38.6 / 438 / 187 / 42.7
Totals / 715 / 372 / 52.0 / 898 / 355 / 39.5 / 1,613 / 727 / 45.1
Time Period Captured / 2012-13
Male / Female / Female / Totals
1st attempts / 1st attempt passes / pass % / 1st test with zero faults / 1st attempts / 1st attempt passes / pass % / 1st test with zero faults / 1st attempts / 1st attempt passes / pass % / 1st test with zero faults
Blackburn with Darwen / 1,447 / 760 / 52.5 / 7 / 1,445 / 619 / 42.8 / 10 / 2,892 / 1,379 / 47.7 / 17
  1. Issue
  2. Actions
  3. Background
  4. Who we’ve consulted
  5. Who we’re working with
  6. Bills and legislation

Issue

The UK has one of the best road safety records in the world, but more can be done to prevent deaths and serious injuries.

By improving the skills and attitudes of drivers and riders, and providing better safety education, the government can further reduce the cost of emergency services, health and welfare services, insurance, traffic congestion, as well as the personal cost to people affected by road collisions.

Actions

Drink and drug driving

Collisions caused by drink and drug driving regularly result in serious injuries and deaths on our roads. To reduce these incidents, we will:

  • close the loophole in the law where some drivers avoid prosecution by requesting a second test if their breath reading is no more than 50 microgrammes per 100 millilitres – breathalysers are now sophisticated enough give an accurate roadside reading without the need for a second blood or urine test
  • approve roadside drug testing devices for the police by 2015
  • prosecute drivers under new drug driving legislation through the Crime and Courts Act 2013, which inserts a new section 5A in the Road Traffic Act 1988, to come into effect via regulations by 2015

Speed limits

Apart from the emergency services, nobody should drive faster than the speed limit. To keep limits appropriate to each area we have provided revised and reissued speed limit guidance to help local councils improve safety on their roads. We have also launched the speed limit appraisal tool, a computer-based database to help councils assess the full costs and benefits of any proposed speed limit changes.

Cyclist safety

The number of cyclists seriously injured has increased in recent years. To improve safety for cyclists, we have launched the THINK! Cyclist campaign.

Road safety education for children

Many children and teenagers are seriously injured or killed on our roads every year. Teaching children road safety from a young age will help cut down these accidents. To do this we are continuing to promote THINK! education resources and other road safety campaigns.

Motorcycle safety

Motorcyclists account for 19% of all road user deaths despite representing only 1% of vehicle traffic.

To improve safety for motorbike riders, the government is working with trainers and rider groups to review the motorcycle test with the aim of improving accessibility and the safety of the test for candidates while maintaining UK rider standards and meeting the requirements of the EU third directive.

Uninsured drivers

The police seize around 150,000 vehicles driven while uninsured every year. To keep reducing the number of these on our roads, we are:

  • making it an offence to keep any vehicle (including motorcycles) which has no valid insurance unless a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) has been made to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in respect of that vehicle
  • researching the issue of unlicensed drivers to estimate the extent of unlicensed driving and develop ways of preventing it

Driving and riding tests and standards

Better prepared drivers and riders are less likely to have collisions on the road. The government sets standards for testing people’s ability to drive and ride safely in order to reduce the number of collisions. We do this by:

  • testing drivers and riders for all types of motor vehicles
  • publishing and maintaining evidence-based national standards which set out the skills and behaviours needed to be a safe and responsible driver or rider of all categories of vehicles
  • looking for ways to improve how our driver and rider testing assesses these skills and behaviours

Driver and rider training

A safe driver, whether they are new, younger, older or disqualified, needs the right skills and attitudes. We are reviewing and improving how drivers and riders are trained. As a result of this work, we are:

  • adding case studies and safety messages to the theory test
  • looking at ways to support drivers in the period immediately after they pass their test
  • working with the volunteer sector and trainers to offer older drivers refresher courses rather than mandatory re-testing
  • making disqualified drivers re-test before they get their licence back
  • continuing to manage the drink-drive rehabilitation scheme to offer remedial training for people convicted of lower level driving offences – this is offered as an option by the courts

Training and assessment of instructors

We are improving the way driving and motorcycle riding instructors are trained, assessed and registered by:

  • developing evidence-based national standards which set out the skills, knowledge and understanding needed to be an effective driver or rider trainer
  • working with the Sector Skills Councils to make sure that the National Occupational Standards, which are the basis for all driver training qualifications, fully reflect the national driver and rider training standards
  • consulting on making changes to how people qualify to become an approved driving instructor (ADI)
  • replacing the existing approved driving instructor (ADI) check test in April 2014 with a new check to assess whether an ADI’s instruction helps a person to learn in an effective way

Foreign Hauliers To Pay To Use UK Roads

The Department of Transport (DfT) is making progress towards a levy for foreign hauliers in the UK with the appointment of Northgate Public Services to operate a payment system. Northgate has been chosen to create, build, finance, run and maintain a foreign operator payment system for the levy which is set to go live in April 2014. It will be responsible for providing foreign haulier operators with the facilities to purchase a time-based user levy charge in advance of entering the UK through a number of sales channels including online, telephone and sales terminals.

The levy, for vehicles over 12 tonnes, will be used to pay for the upkeep of the road network. Foreign

operators will be able to pick the duration they require, including for one day and a year, depending on their needs.

There will be no proof on the vehicles to say they have paid the levy, but the number plates will be

recorded on a publically-accessible central database to confirm the charge has been paid. Those caught avoiding paying the charge will be hit with a £300 spot fine.

UK operators will already have paid the levy alongside their VED, but the DfT maintains the price of both will remain the same as current costs. By law, the scheme cannot discriminate between UK-registered vehicles and vehicles from elsewhere in the EU so this charge will apply to all HGVs.

Road Deaths Continue To Fall

For reported road crashes in the rolling twelve months ending March 2013: 1,680 people were killed, a 10% drop from 1,870 in the year ending March 2012. The number of people killed or seriously injured fell to 23,660, a 6% decrease compared with the year to March 2012.

Superspan Gantry

The first superspan gantry has been lifted into place on the M25.It has been installed over the M25 nearjunction 24 as part of the £188 million Managed Motorway scheme to upgrade the motorway between junctions 23 and 27.

Weighing 36 tonnes and measuring 40 metres across, it is the first of five superspan gantries which will be installed during the project being carried out by Skanska Balfour Beatty, on behalf of the Highways Agency.

The gantries will display valuable information for road users to help reduce congestion and ease traffic flow.

More Research On The Young Driver Issue

A new report from Co-Operative Insurance, concerning young drivers indicates that:

• 62% of young drivers are in favour of a minimum learning period

• 24% say a crash they had could have been prevented if they had spent more time learning to drive

• Almost a third (29%) say they cannot drive alone after passing their driving test

Young drivers say lessons are failing to prepare them for life on the road and want an overhaul to better equip the next generation of motorists.

After passing their driving tests young people are not ready to face everyday situations including driving on motorways, on their own or in the dark.

As a result of their experiences as new drivers, an overwhelming 62% of young drivers support the

introduction of a minimum learning period.

These facts are amongst the findings of a new report by The Co-operative Insurance which examines views and experiences of young drivers

Almost half (48%) feel unprepared for motorway driving after passing their driving test and around

one in three (29%) find they are not ready for night-time driving. The same number (29%) say they are incapable of driving alone after passing their test.

The study also found that one in seven new young drivers (14%) consider themselves to be ‘unprepared’ to drive at all.

Focus On Parents Driving With Children

The Scottish Government and Road Safety Scotland (part of Transport Scotland) have launched a new

campaign which focuses on the influence parents’ driving can have on the way their children drive.

The ‘Kids in the Car’ campaign is based on the premise that every time parents get behind the wheel with their children in the car, they are giving them a lesson which could save their lives in the future. It draws on research which demonstrates that from a very young age children’s future prospects are influenced to a large extent by their parents’ and carers’ behaviour.

Eye Sight And Driving

It is claimed that regular eye tests for drivers could cut the number of casualties on UK roads by

almost 3,000.

Failing to make sure your vision meets legal standards for the road is an offence.

However motorists are usually only tested for this during their driving test or when they start to learn to drive if doing so with an instructor, where they have only to be able to read a number plate 20 metres away.

Despite any real evidence that crashes happen as a result of defective vision – which is not the same as saying someone cannot read a number plate at the prescribed distance many practitioners consider the number plate test totally inadequate in ensuring that all aspect of vision are right for driving.

A survey of 1,000 drivers found 26% have not had an eye test in the last two years. And 3% - the

equivalent to more than one million UK drivers - have never had one.

It also discovered there were 9% of drivers who need glasses or lenses, but do not always wear them

behind the wheel.

In 2011, 5,285 drivers and motorcyclists had their licences revoked because they could not pass a

standard eye test, an increase of 8% since 2010.