Sat nav dangers

A mother killed a cyclist after taking her eyes off the road for almost 20 seconds as she fiddled with her sat-nav in her car, a jury heard yesterday.
Victoria McClure, 38, 'drove blind' as she attempted to use the zoom function on the device while driving down a 60mph road, the court was told.
There was no evidence that she braked before crashing into 46-year-old cyclist Anthony Hilson near Twyford, Berkshire, on a long straight section of road, the jury heard.
Mr Hilson, who was out for an early Sunday morning ride, died after suffering 'devastating and unsurvivable' injuries.
McClure, who was on the way to a baby shower, has admitted causing death by careless driving but denies the more serious offence of causing death by dangerous driving.
Prosecutor Matthew Walsh said motorists on the A4 Bath Road where the married father was killed would have typically had about 500m of clear visibility.
'Assuming for a moment she's travelling at the speed limit of 60mph, it takes about 18 seconds to cover the distance - that's the length of time she would have had the cyclist in her view,' he said.
'In other words, she had a window of about 18 seconds - maybe more, of course, if she was going slower - approaching the cyclist in order to see him.
'But she didn't. Did she try and take any avoiding action, braking or steering?
'Well, from the witnesses that were in the general area, nobody heard the sound of braking or horns or anything of that nature.
'There weren't any skidmarks on the road to suggest emergency braking or any evasive action.'
McClure was at the wheel of her Honda Accord when she crashed into the cyclist on September 16 last year.
The jury was told steering lightly to the right would have been enough to pass Mr Hilson as he travelled in the same direction on his Specialized road bike.
McClure said at the roadside and in a police interview that she had taken her eyes off the road to use her sat-nav, the court heard.
She allegedly told police officers she had been zooming in on her sat-nav and added: 'I looked up and it was too late. In the blink of an eye I just hit him. I didn't think I was going that fast.'
There was no suggestion McClure had been speeding, Mr Walsh added.

Crash scene: The accident happened on a long straight section of the A4 Bath Road (pictured) near Twyford, Berkshire, the court was told

During her police interview she was asked if she could offer any explanation as to where Mr Hilson had come from.
She replied: 'I think the cyclist was there all the time. I think I just didn't see him.'
McClure had admitted causing death by careless driving, Mr Walsh told jurors.
'In other words, she accepts she caused Mr Hilson's death that day, she says by careless driving.
'The prosecution say it goes beyond that, it was more than careless driving - it was dangerous driving.

Accused: McClure outside court where she is standing trial accused of causing death by dangerous driving. She has already admitted the less serious charge of causing death by careless driving

'To in effect drive blind for upwards of 18 seconds is dangerous driving.'
A post-mortem examination revealed that Mr Hilson had died of severe head and chest injuries.
Gill Cox, an editorial designer, told the court she and her husband Pete were on the way to church when she spotted what she initially thought was 'a pile of clothes' in the road.
While her husband, an ex-police officer, went to try and help Mr Hilson, Mrs Cox said she went to McClure's side.
She said: 'She was clearly very stunned and said "What have I done? I have probably wrecked some lives. If I have, how am I going to live with this?"'
Off-duty ambulance nurse Matthew Bailey was passing the scene at the time and stopped to offer assistance.
McClure, of Charvil, Reading, denies a single count of causing death by dangerous driving but has admitted causing death by careless driving.

DSA clamps down on illegal driving instructors

DSA clamps down on illegal driving instructors

Last month DSA and the Metropolitan police carried out a joint operation targeting illegal driving instructors in the Ilford and Barking areas.

Marked police cars were used to stop vehicles displaying L-plates and driving school signage. Candidates were asked if they had paid for instruction and instructors were asked to provide evidence of their entitlement to charge for giving lessons.

Andy Rice, DSA's Head of Fraud and Integrity, during the operation

During the operation, using 2 police cars, 48 vehicles with L-plates and driving school signage were stopped, the candidates asked if they’d paid for instruction and the instructors’ accreditation checked. This resulted in:

• the arrest of 1 person suspected of carrying out illegal instruction
• another person being issued with a warning and told not to instruct until they’d received their new ADI badge
• confiscation of 2 photocopied badges where the original was in another car
• confiscation of 2 out of date ADI badges
• 4 warnings for failure to display a valid badge

DSA’s Head of Fraud and Integrity, Andy Rice, said:

Operations of this nature are a vital part of our attempts to stop illegal driving instruction. Those carrying out the fraud have often not undergone any background checks, or an assessment of their ability to drive or teach, and their car insurance may also be invalid. This puts learners and other road users at risk.

I would like to thank all the approved driving instructors and members of the public who continue to give us information about illegal instruction. It is largely through their efforts that we’re able to continue our effective work in stopping fraudulent instructors.

We investigate all reported cases and work closely with the police to identify offenders and bring them to justice.

ADI Registrar, Mark Magee, said:

The message is clear: if you’re not approved by DSA, but continue to undertake paid instruction, then expect to face the penalty.

Find out how to report illegal driving instructors

safe driving for life

New website to help road users improve their skills

The Safe Driving for Life website (www.safedrivingforlife.info), developed by DSA in partnership with its official publishers, TSO, will be rolled out in 4 phases. The website has useful information for both learners and experienced drivers and riders, instructors and professional drivers and riders.
Phase 1 is available now and includes:

• the learners’ section
• the Safe Driving for Life shop
• practice theory tests for car, motorbike, lorries, buses and coaches
• a suitability tool for people to test whether they’re cut out to be an ADI

The learner driver section of the Safe Driving for Life website

The other 3 phases will all be launched by August 2013, with development continuing beyond then according to user needs and interests.
GOV.UK remains the official website for all government services and information about learning to drive, including booking tests.

spending review

Spending Review: Energy and transport to get share of £100bn

The government has unveiled what it claims is the most ambitious modernisation of the UK's national infrastructure in a generation.

Between, 2015-2020, £100bn will be spent from on projects including road maintenance, new homes and boosting new sources of energy, including shale gas.

Treasury Minister Danny Alexander said it was putting "long-term priorities before short-term political pressures".

But Labour says investment was needed sooner to turn round the economy.

The announcement of the government's infrastructure plans came a day after Wednesday's Spending Review, in which £11.5bn of cuts to Whitehall departments were announced.

The first £50bn will be committed to infrastructure projects starting in 2015-16 and the rest for 2016-20.

The main funding commitments include:

• £3bn to build 165,000 new affordable homes
• £28bn for road improvements
• £10bn to clear "backlog" of school building repairs
• 850 miles of railway to be electrified as part of £30bn rail investment
• £250m for extended super-fast broadband to rural areas
• £370m for upgrading flood defences
• £150m for health research including into dementia

"This is an ambitions plan to build an infrastructure that Britain can be proud," he said.

Mr Alexander said the road building programme was the largest for 40 years and the support for new homes the most substantial for more than two decades.

He said unused government-owned land will be sold to facilitate home building, while there will be new guarantees to help the building of new nuclear plans and tax incentives brought in for shale gas projects.

His speech came as a report was being published showing that the UK's shale gas reserves were much greater than previously thought.

The transport plans focused mainly on roads and railways.

Mr Alexander said £10bn would be spent on dealing with the UK's "decaying" road network with 21,000 miles of roads to be resurfaced and new lanes to be added to

Among to the roads which will be upgraded the A14, which runs from Catthorpe, in Leicestershire, to Felixstowe, in Suffolk.

Mr Alexander said the spending on roads was the same as the cost of filling 19m potholes.

On rail, he restated plans to electrify large parts of the network and increased the budget for the proposed HS2 line connecting London and seven of the largest ten UK cities, to more than £42bn.

He also confirmed that £2m feasibility funding would be provided for London's proposed Crossrail 2 project, but said Mayor Boris Johnson's challenge was to work out how the private sector could meet half the cost of the scheme.