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.