Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency
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New drivers urged to put a plus in their pass this winter

New drivers urged to put a plus in their pass this winter

DRIVING STANDARDS AGENCY News Release (DSA 53/08) issued by COI News Distribution Service. 8 December 2008

With the most common season for motoring accidents now here, the Driving Standards Agency is advising newly-qualified motorists to take a course aimed at producing safer drivers, helping reduce road deaths and injuries in the process.

Winter is a notorious time for driving fatalities. In 2007, December was the third-worst month for car users being killed due in road accidents (133). The second-worst month was January (134) with November being the worst (142).

DSA, whose strap line is Safe Driving for Life, is the Government agency responsible for conducting driving tests and maintaining safety standards on the roads throughout Great Britain.

DSA has several initiatives to help boost road safety standards, including the Pass Plus scheme.

Pass Plus is a continually-assessed training course of six modules, in which the candidate is expected to drive proficiently in town, during all weathers and at night and on dual carriageways, rural roads and motorways. The course is supervised by specially accredited driving instructors.

Though any car driving licence holder can take the course, those who probably benefit most from Pass Plus are drivers who have just recently passed their test.

Rosemary Thew, Chief Executive of the Driving Standards Agency said: "One in five deaths on British roads involves newly-qualified drivers and this is unacceptable. Such a grim statistic gains much of its volume during this time of year due to the dark, cold and wet conditions that accompany winter.

"Therefore, I would urge those who have just passed their driving test to have a good think about taking the Pass Plus training course. With its emphasis on driving attitude, skills and hazards it is a superb marker for safer and better motoring.

"Not only does Pass Plus help improve your driving ability but it can also assist in reducing your insurance premiums. In some cases the cost of the course will be part-subsidised by your local council."

If you would like to find out more about Pass Plus you can visit http://www.passplus.org.uk/index.asp

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.

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