* Aim to increase
road safety
* Clarification of rules
* Deadline day 6 April 2010
People who passed a car driving test before 1997 and want to
supervise learners in some other categories of vehicle have until
April 2010 to get the necessary new qualification.
The new rules apply to those who obtained their car licence
before 1997 and who supervise learners in small lorries (category
C1), minibuses (D1) or vehicle plus trailer combinations (C1+E or D1+E).
They have until 6 April next year to meet the relevant medical
standards and pass the appropriate driving test if they want to
continue supervising learners in those vehicles.
Drivers who passed before 1997 were given so-called “grandfather
rights” to drive small lorries and minibuses. They will be able to
continue driving these vehicles but will only be able to give
tuition in them if they pass the test for the relevant category
before 6 April 2010.
But drivers who do not pass the relevant driving test before then
will have to wait three years from the date they do pass until
they can supervise learner drivers.
Most instructors who provide professional training in driving
small lorries and minibuses will not be affected by the change as
they have already passed a driving test in a larger vehicle.
But a minority with ‘grandfather rights’ have been supervising
learners without having the appropriate pass themselves.
Trevor Wedge, Great Britain’s Chief Driving Examiner, said: “In
the interests of road safety, it is important that learners are
supervised by people who have proved themselves capable of driving
the vehicle in question.
“It was never the intention to allow learner drivers to be
supervised on public roads unless they were with people who had
proven experience of driving those vehicles."
* For further information or to request an interview, contact
Chris Lee on 0115 936 6135 chris.lee@dsa.gsi.gov.uk
dsa.gov.uk | direct.gov.uk/motoring | businesslink.gov.uk/transport
twitter.com/DSAgov
Notes to Editors:
1. The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) is one of the Executive
Agencies that forms the Motoring and Freight Services (MFS) group,
within the Department for Transport.
2. DSA’s vision is “Safe Driving for Life” with a mission to
contribute towards the Government target of a 40% reduction in
riders and drivers killed or seriously injured in road crashes, in
the age group up to 24 years, by 2010.
3. The decision to introduce the proposal to clarify who may
supervise learners driving small lorries and minibuses was
announced on 19 February 2008 in our Response to Consultation
Report for Improved Services for Customers and General Fee
Increases for 2008. The report is on: dsa.gov.uk
4. Information on road casualties is available from dft.gov.uk
5. DSA promotes 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.
6. DSA is a trading fund with planned turnover of £199 million in
2009/10, largely funded through fees and revenue from other road
safety initiatives. It delivers tests from over 400 practical
driving test centres and 158 theory test centres.
7. DSA employs over 2,700 staff, of which some 2,000 are driving
examiners. In 2008/09 DSA conducted 1.72 million practical car
tests, 84,000 vocational tests and 105,000 motorcycle tests. A
total of 1.5 million theory tests were carried out. At the end of
the year there were around 44,768 people on the Register of
Approved Driving Instructors.
8. DSA was one of the first Government agencies to introduce an
online booking service at direct.gov.uk/drivingtest