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New year call for safer driving

DRIVING STANDARDS AGENCY News Release (DSA 01/09) issued by COI News Distribution Service. 5 January 2008

* Make road safety your New Year's resolution

* Call to cut road deaths

* Top tips for safer driving

Motorists are being urged to make safer driving one of their New Year's Resolutions for 2009.

The Driving Standards Agency's Director for Safer Driving, Trevor Wedge, is asking all drivers to help reduce the numbers dying on British roads.

"There have been some significant achievements during the last few years in bringing road deaths down. Yet in 2007 almost 3,000 people still died on UK roads" says Trevor, who is also DSA's Chief Driving Examiner.

"Let's all make sure that driving in a safe and considerate way is one New Year's Resolution that nobody breaks."

Below are several tips for safer driving, which could also help save fuel and reduce vehicle emissions:

* Plan your journey and route; give yourself plenty of time and for long journeys make sure that you have regular breaks.

* While driving plan well ahead. Be aware of what is going on in the distance as well as around you, so you are able to anticipate what's going to happen on the road.

* Reduce your speed and keep a safe distance between your vehicle and the one in front.

* Avoid harsh acceleration and heavy braking. Drive at a speed which is safe for the conditions.

* Ensure your vehicle is prepared for wintry weather - check the condition of the lights and tyres, and make sure the windows are clean and clear.

Trevor Wedge adds: "The strapline of the DSA is Safe Driving for Life - if we want to avoid becoming a statistic ourselves, shouldn't we all consider adopting this philosophy?"

There was a constant fall from 2003-2007 in those killed in road accidents. However despite this trend, 2,946 people still died due to such accidents in 2007.

Road accident statistics for 2008 are scheduled to be released in the summer of 2009 and will be available at http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/

Notes to Editors:

For further information contact Michael Watkinson at the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) Press Office on 0115 936 6136.

1. The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) is an executive agency * of the Department for Transport.

2. The DSA's vision is "Safe Driving for Life" with an overall mission to contribute towards a Government target of achieving a 40% reduction in riders and drivers killed or seriously injured in road accidents, in the age group up to 24 years, by 2010.

3. Current information on road casualties is available from the Department for Transport website: http://www.dft.gov.uk

4. The Agency's aim is to promote road safety through setting standards for drivers, riders and trainers, testing drivers and riders fairly and efficiently, maintaining the registers of Approved Driving Instructors; Large Goods Vehicle Instructors; Fleet Trainers; Driving Instructor Trainers and Post Test Motorcycle Trainers; supervising Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) for learner motorcyclists; and driver education and the provision of learning resources.

5. DSA is a trading fund * with an expected turnover of around £199 million for the year 2008/9, fully funded by fee income and revenue from its activities.

6. DSA employs over 2,700 staff, of which some 2,000 are driving examiners based at over 400 test centres across mainland Great Britain. In 2007/2008 the Agency conducted 1.8 million practical tests for car drivers, over 95,000 vocational tests and 94,000 motorcycle rider tests. A total of 1.7 million theory tests were carried out at 158 centres. At the end of the year there were around 43,600 people on the Register of Approved Driving Instructors.

7. DSA was one of the first Government Agencies to introduce an online booking service. Candidates can book and manage their theory and practical test appointments on line at http://www.direct.gov.uk/drivingtest

* Executive agency:

An executive agency is semi-detached from its parent department and manages its own budget with freedom from ad hoc, day to day intervention and much of central, government-wide regulation. They are run under the organisation and direction of a Chief Executive recruited through open competition. An executive agency has accountability for the performance of specific operational tasks as a corporate unit, including focused performance targets set by the parent department and personal accountability of the chief executive for performance.

* Trading Fund:

A trading fund is a means of financing trading activities undertaken by Government that would previously have been financed by annual appropriation from Parliament. A trading fund permits the establishment of a self-accounting unit that remains under the control and management of Ministers and accountable to Parliament through Ministers, but has greater freedom to manage its financial affairs. Effectively that means the trading fund body can use its income to settle its liabilities and retain year-end cash balances.

Establishing the trading fund does not alter the Agency's constitutional position and it remains part of the Department for Transport.