It can be a tough livelihood working as in the delivery market, sharing the road with new, old, good and bad drivers can certainly make the day interesting. But, there’s probably some facts you’re not aware of that perhaps you should be ….
Did you know, as of February this year the police are able to take immediate action against anyone who fails a roadside eye test? Under the new rules, drivers can have their license revoked in a matter of hours rather than days. Put together by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), working closed with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), the new, tougher rules were introduced in an effort to make our roads safer. Road Safety Minister Stephen Hammond said: “Reducing road casualties is a top priority for the Government and our licensing rules play an important part in keeping our roads safe.”
As of 2010, just under four million licensed drivers between 16 and 100 had penalty points against them for various offences. Of those, 21,988 had nine or more points on their licenses, and reports suggest that 8,000 drivers currently on the road have twelve or more points but are still driving. By demonstrating that losing their license would cause “exceptional hardship”, drivers can continue to drive.
Speed limits are there for a reason, but with safer technologies and more robust vehicles available, one speed limit in particular is under review with many keeping a close eye out for the result. HGVs are currently limited to 40mph on single lane A roads, but the Government’s feasibility study into upping it to 50mph could change all that. The study was slated to finish in February, with the results expected in the coming months.
One way of enforcing speed limits is the oft-reviled speed camera. The Institute of Advance Motorists (IAM) conducted a poll on opinions about speed cameras recently as part of their six yearly survey to gauge how the public’s views change. 82% of those polled thought it was acceptable for authorities to use them on the roads, despite 45% believing that the motive behind speed cameras was to generate income. First introduced in the UK under the Road Traffic Act 1991, there’s been a national love hate relationship with them ever since. The Act ruled that evidence from type-approved automatic devices could be used as the sole evidence that an offence had been committed, and have helped improve road safety by reducing road deaths since the 1990s.