The Driving Tests

Two independent police operations in Lancashire and the north-east have shown dramatically different attitudes to drink-driving in young people.

The Lancashire operation, which involved testing 13,000 people over a 4-week period, showed that a surprising number of young drivers either failed or refused to take the breathalyser test. read more »

Many of the people who fail their practical test blame the examiner. ‘They didn’t like me’, ‘they were just filling their quota for fails’ and ‘I was perfectly in control, they didn’t give me a chance’ are all popular complaints. Thankfully, most of us don’t take things any further. read more »

A practical driving test centre is to be reopened in Barry, South Wales, as part of the DSA (Driving Standards Agency) scheme to provide test centres in publicly run buildings such as hotels, leisure centres and council buildings. read more »

Studies into drivers’ spending habits when it comes to car servicing have shown that the majority of people do not see servicing as an important aspect of car maintenance.

This could be due to an unwillingness to pay out for what could be seen as an unnecessary service, or could stem from low-level ignorance as to the importance of proper car maintenance. read more »

It’s rare you see a centenarian in a car – let alone driving one. But 100-year old Peggy Hovell from Bournemouth is proudly flying the flag for older drivers everywhere.

In her 85 years of driving, she’s not had a single accident – and so when her insurance company tried to bump up her insurance to £700, she made sure she showed them who’s boss. read more »

Two men from Gloucestershire have been jailed for a total of 5 months after they hatched an implausible plot to help one of them to fraudulently pass his practical driving test.

Hadi Mohammed, aged 28, had failed his test at the Gloucestershire centre 5 times already, and on the sixth attempt asked his friend Derbas Hamed, who was already a qualified driver, to step in for him. read more »

In line with new NHS and government plans to increase organ donation in the UK, the DVLA is to include a series of questions that everyone applying for a new driving licence will have to answer.

As of the 1st August 2011, all new applicants will have to answer whether or not they want to donate their organs upon their death, before being allowed to complete the application process. read more »

Pass Plus courses are one of the better known ways to try to lower your insurance premium, but many people don’t realise there are other courses available.

The most popular of these is the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) Advanced Driving Course which, rather than merely giving you experience of different road situations, teaches you how to anticipate traffic movement and adapt your driving style to make you as safe, smooth and seamless a driver as possible. read more »

The Little Princess Trust charity runs an annual Pink Car Rally to raise awareness and vital funds – and now they need your help to find as many pink cars as possible to take part.

Charity leader Sali Gray has been told on very good authority that there are currently 7,569 pink cars on UK roads, of all shapes and sizes. Last year, though, only 39 cars and one National Express coach turned up for the rally. This year she’d love even more cars to join in the fun – but has no idea how to go about contacting owners. read more »