on the roadoriginal.abd.org.uk/downloads/otr/abd_otr_127.pdf · thursday, june 23. road transport...

Who are we, and what do we do? To join or donate to the ABD, visit www.abd.org.ukThe ABD campaign for l Improved road user training l Real transport choices l Investment in Britain’s roads l Honesty on transport issues

Visit www.abd.org.uk for further details. To join the ABD call now on 0161 408 7070The ABD campaign for l Improved road user training l Real transport choices l Investment in Britain’s roads l Honesty on transport issues

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Sorry mate, I didn’t see you . . . how many times have you heard those words when a driver has pulled out in front of another road user?

In most cases, the driver will have looked, but been fooled into thinking the road was clear, because of the way our eyes and brains see things when we move our heads.

The ABD is seeking to address the problem, by launching a safety campaign to educate road users on the dangers of ‘Saccadic Masking’ - limitations in a driver’s vision, which can effectively create blindspots.

As we move our heads from side-to-side at a junction, our eyes send snapshots to our brain at intervals – much like a video camera records different frames.

The brain then merges the snapshots into what we think is a continuous image – but that is actually an illusion, because there will be blindspots.

And if another road user – often a smaller object such as a motorbike or cyclist – falls within one of these blindspots, they will not be seen. This is known as Saccadic Masking.

The faster drivers move their heads at junctions, the more likely they are to create significant blindspots.

The ABD is putting forward a series of recommendations to the Department for Transport, in an effort to tackle the issue. They include:l Teaching schoolchildren how to cross

the road, especially the need to keep their head still for at least half a second at the end of each sweep to left and rightl Educating young cyclists how to look in

a similar way, especially at junctionsl Encouraging driving instructors to teach

about the dangers of saccadic masking and blindspots, and include it in the theory test

Putting safety first

AGM time isjust aroundthe corner

P2: ABD in the news – media coverage round-upP4: Funding of speed cameras needs scrutinyP6: Working parties, quangos and acronyms!P7: Social media spreading the ABD message P8: Beware a case of mistaken identityP9: Is it greener to travel by bus, or car?P11: Trans-Pennine tunnel plans revealedP12: Pothole problems – repair bills are risingP13: National Infrastructure Conference reportP14: Road sign restrictions are ‘a disgrace’

l Running information campaign for adult pedestrians and existing drivers, to explain the dangers – covering TV, cinema, social media, posters and newspapers.l Including advice on how to look

properly in driver improvement courses, when offered instead of fixed penalties for careless driving.

The ABD says: “If the following recommendations were implemented, accident numbers and the percentage with ‘failed to look properly’ as a contributory factor should fall over time.”

The most common contributory factor to recorded injury accidents has consistently been a driver or rider’s failure to look properly. According to most recent DfT figures, this was a factor in 46% of accidents. A further 9% resulted from a pedestrian’s failure to look properly.

This means more than half of all injury accidents are due to failures of observation - so any action that could address the fundamental causes of this problem could reduce accident numbers significantly.l Watch our video on Saccadic Masking on

Youtube, by searching for ‘ABD Road Safety – Saccadic Masking’


With the EU referendum result now decided, UK drivers are now fair game

for a hike in fuel tax!That’s what FairFuelUK, the award-winning

public affairs campaign that fights for lower fuel duty and more transparent pricing at the pumps, says it has been told by ‘reliable Treasury sources’.

The excuse? For the sake of the environment. The FairFuelUK view? A knee-jerk tax rise on diesel will not lower pollution levels or usage!

The organisation has launched an opinion poll of drivers, and will soon be sending the results to the Treasury, the Transport Minister, MPs and the media.

It says: “We are calling for a grown up sensible Government debate to incentivise not penalise owners of dirty engines to trade up to cleaner units. Do you agree with this objective?

“The heart of our economy is driven by diesel, so inflation and jobs will be at risk if the price of this fuel is increased.

“The out of touch Transport Minister’s announcement means the dirtiest vehicles, which may be most responsive to an emissions tax, would simply not be taxed enough while modern clean vehicles would be over-taxed.

“Yes that’s right, a clean diesel Euro 6 engine will pay the same for fuel as an engine not meeting those standards.”

FairFuelUK is asking MPs to stop this ‘naïve

Fair deal for dieseldrivers is demanded

The British people took the momentous decision to leave the European Union on Thursday, June 23.

Road transport over the last three decades has been influenced (some would say dictated) by EU policymaking which the ABD feels has seen road transport as the poor relation in the transport ‘hierarchy’.

While the UK is now in uncharted territory, and the process under way to find a new Prime Minister after David Cameron’s resignation, the ABD says it will be keeping a keen eye on the parliamentary process to see what changes will ensue.

Advice to members is to watch out for and beware use of “active travel plans” and object to their introduction in their areas.

We shall be taking a strong stance on this issue, leading the fight, and are strongly urging all members and supporters to use this opportunity to raise the profile of private vehicle owners, and put pressure on their elected representatives to represent the views of the largest user group and taxpayer of our roads – the drivers.

The Alliance of British Drivers is a non-party political pro-driver campaigning organisation which remained neutral on the EU membership issue.

But in a poll of members carried out shortly before the EU referendum, there was an overwhelming majority of members who wanted Britain to vote to leave.

(See P4-5 for more details).

Beware of& object tothe “activetravel plan”

Inside our summer 2016 issue:P2: Read all about it - ABD making headlinesP4: Brexit by a landslide - results of ABD’s EU surveyP6: Jobsworths, and the political merry-go-roundP7: Driverless cars - don’t be taken in by the hypeP8: The need for speed - is 80mph limit a good idea?P10: Latest report from ABD’s Drivers CommitteeP11: Warm reception for ABD from Freedom AssociationP12: Westminster bulletin - what’s new in Whitehall?P13: Report from Road User Panel at Transport FocusP14: From cyclists to speed cameras - news in briefP15: Your views - ABD members have their say

Motorists and truckers in EU states like Germany and Poland pay 25p and 42p less respectively for diesel at the pumps than drivers in the UK

ill-informed tax hike in its infancy’ and calling yet again for a grown-up sensible debate to incentivise owners of dirty engines to trade up to cleaner units.

“A well thought out diesel scrappage scheme which is supported by hundreds of MPs will work,” it says. “FairFuelUK supporters want cleaner air too, but this will NOT be achieved using punitive tax hikes.”

FairFuelUK adds: “So why does our UK Government fleece diesel drivers so much, especially when motorists and truckers in EU states like Germany and Poland pay 25p and 42p less respectively?

“Let’s motivate environmental change instead of using a quick Treasury cash grab fleecing hauliers and millions of UK motorists.”

Date for your diary - The ABD’s Annual General Meeting will be

held this year on Saturday October 15th at the Heritage Motor Museum,

Gaydon, starting at 10.30am

The journal of the Alliance of British Drivers

Issue 118 Spring 2016


It was looking like a case of ‘double trouble’ this winter, with two anti-driver Private Member’s

Bills making their way through parliament.

But both of them – one which would have given councils the power to ban all pavement parking, and the other allowing parish and town councils to set their own speed limits – have been withdrawn.

While the ABD can’t claim this was down to us, it did follow a concerted lobbying campaign voicing our opposition, which attracted a lot of media attention.

ABD director Ian Taylor says: “We cannot be complacent, though. The Government has committed to a policy review on adopting a coherent nationwide approach to regulate pavement parking which will involve round-table discussions on legislative implications.

“The people and organisations behind the Pavement Parking bill will probably be around that table, and if possible we too need to try to secure a place.”

In Scotland, the news is less promising. The Scottish government is continuing to pursue legislation to make it an ofence to park on a pavement – citing problems to guide dog owners, wheelchair users and parents with pushchairs.

Ian Taylor added: “Our friends at Disabled Motoring UK have an interest in this which we appreciate. We oppose obstruction of pavements and highways alike, but don’t want to see pavement parking outlawed totally, because it sometimes serves a useful purpose without obstructing – hence our suggested one metre clear space rule.”

The Speed Limits on Roads (Devolved Powers) Bill sought to allow parish and town councils the power to set their own

Double delight - but notime to be complacent

MP Scott Mannhad been promoting

the Bill

Thanks to Malcolm Heymer, who examined the Speed Limits on Roads (Devolved Powers) Bill in detail, the ABD raised seven objections:

1. Parish councils can already lobby highways authorities on speed limits, as can individuals.

2. Highways authorities have legal responsibility to maintain a safe and eicient network and set speed limits that promote safety without unnecessarily increasing journey times. Local referenda to set legally binding speed limits might conlict responsibilities.

3. Speed limits afect all drivers visiting or passing through, not just residents. There needs to be reasonable consistency between limits on similar types of road in diferent areas to avoid confusion. There are already too many diferences in speed policies between existing authorities — this Bill would make the situation far worse.

The objectionsmade by ABD

Inside our spring 2016 issue:P2: P3:P4:P5: P6:P8:P11:P14:P15:P16:

Withdrawn - an anti-driver Private Member’s Bill allowing local councils to set speed limits

On The Road

speed limits in “local areas”, following local referenda, which would then be introduced over the head of highways authorities – without giving them any say.

The ABD felt this would be a disaster for drivers, and again launched a campaign of lobbying MPs and media coverage.

Speed limits set on the whim of residents’ votes is, in the ABD’s view, localism carried too far. Traic speeds would be dictated purely by residents, while other users of the roads would not get a say.

Ian Taylor says: “It is a job for experts, not the votes of amateurs, who would doubtless be egged on by those lobby groups who campaign for speeds to come down to nearly walking pace.

“This would become hell for drivers, at the hands of those who think they own their streets and have no concept of the point of a public highway network.”

On the day of the second reading, our eforts were rewarded: on the request of the government minister Robert Goodwill, the bill was withdrawn. Again, probably not all down to the ABD, but a good result all the same. Time for a small, if cautious celebration

4. Changing speed limits does not guarantee a change in actual speeds.

5. Reduced speed does not guarantee a reduction in accidents; slower is not necessarily safer. Limits set too low create driver conlict and increase speed variance, which is more highly correlated with accident risk than average speed.

6. Residents frequently exaggerate the speeds of vehicles on ‘their’ roads. Speed limit changes should never be considered on the basis of residents’ claims alone; there must be objective surveys.

7. Comparing accident numbers on 20mph and 30mph roads (as Scott Mann MP, the Bill’s promoter did) without taking into account the vastly greater number of 30mph roads is nonsense.

Issue 119 Summer 2016















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Inside our autumn 2016 issue:

A still image from the video ‘ABD Road Safety – Saccadic Masking’, available on Youtube

Phil Carey is one of the speakers at this

year’s annual general meeting, in Gaydon

What are you doing on Saturday, October 15? We’d love to see you at our annual general meeting, being held at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, Warwickshire.

In addition to the formal business of re-electing officials, delivering reports and presenting the accounts, we have a wide variety of expert speakers on the programme.

They include:

Jason Evans and Graham Foster of Disabled Motoring UK, who will be looking at problems for drivers with disabilities, and Phil Cleary from Transport Focus – the Government group set up to advise Highways England.

ABD London member Roger Lawson will be explaining his speed awareness course campaign, and director Ian Taylor will look at some of the campaigns we have been involved with over the past 12 months.

And we are hoping for a good turnout . . . and plenty of challenging questions from the floor! It is all due to start at 10.30am, and the venue is just five minutes from junction 12 of the M40.

Our AGM is a chance to meet other like-minded ABD members for some lively discussion – and also includes free entry to the museum.

We will be breaking at 12.30pm for lunch, and there’s a café in the museum complex.
















l Running information campaigns for adult pedestrians and existing drivers, to explain the dangers – covering TV, cinema, social media, posters and newspapers.l Including advice on how to look


















































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If you are unfortunate enough to be involved in a road traffic accident, and your vehicle

suffers significant damage, your insurer will probably offer a ‘courtesy vehicle’ while yours is under repair.

That sounds all well and good, but the ABD is warning drivers to check the small print carefully.

Because these days the vehicle is more typically supplied to you on what is described in law as a ‘credit hire’ basis – and with a hefty price tag potentially attached.

"So what?" you say. Well, in signing for possession of that vehicle, you are authorising the provider to charge that vehicle against any outstanding claim for the accident in which you were involved.

And this could be at a daily rate which is typically over £300. The total credit hire costs will be assigned on a blame-apportionment basis once liability has been agreed between the insurers of those involved in the accident.

ABD chairman Brian Gregory says: “I am pretty peeved about this whole accident management services scenario.

“For £300 per day, it is possible to hire a piece of exotica such as a Bentley Continental GT Coupé rather than some humdrum cabriolet, coupé, hatchback, saloon, SUV, or indeed van originating from one of the mainstream vehicle manufacturers.

“A high street provider could rent you a vehicle comparable to your accident-damaged one at one-tenth of the credit-hire rate; so where is the rest of the credit hire cost going?

“Well, into the pockets of the insurance company or third party credit hire vehicle provider, presumably . . .

“If non-availability of parts delays the commencement of repairs on your vehicle; a three week credit hire spell could easily result - leading to a consequent £5,000-plus credit hire cost overhead being added to the total repair bill.”

Mr Gregory has contacted Steve Baker MP, who established and chairs the all-party parliamentary group on Economics, Money and Banking, urging him to investigate.

Another ABD member has also referred this whole sector to BBC’s Watchdog programme as worthy of investigation.

“It is high time that the road traffic accident management sector was subject to in-depth official investigation, and subsequent regulation to curb the abuses currently occurring within it,” Mr Gregory said.

Based on 2014 statistics for reported

Call for official investigation into roadtraffic accident management sector

accidents alone - around 150,000 in that year - if provision of replacement vehicles on a credit hire basis adds even £1,000 to the cost of an average insurance claim, that would be £150 million added annually to total insurance claim costs; or roughly £5 per car insurance policy.

Brian Gregory adds: “Apparently the accident management services sector is currently totally unregulated; with both the Financial Conduct Authority and the government's Claims Management Regulator indicating that it is outside either of their remits.

“When car insurers on the one hand prattle on about the rising cost of accident remediation; while on the other they are complicit in the provision of vehicles at 10 times the daily rate that a high-street provider could furnish them, they are part of the problem, not part of the solution.

“The blatant profiteering, by both respected insurers and third-party accident management companies alike which appears to be going on in this sector, could easily be constrained by applying a mandatory limit to

The ABD is calling on the post-Brexit government to stop its ‘nonsensical’ war on the car . . . and start tackling the real transport problems in the UK.

Spokesman Nigel Humphreys said: “Time and again we hear campaigners blaming cars for all the world's ills, yet car emissions have never been lower.

“We should scrap HS2 and spend the £60 billion or more on the roads we need.”

Read more of Nigel’s comments, including doubts over many of the latest claims expressed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, on Page 9.

Issue 121 Winter 2017

Inside our winter 2017 issue:

Check the small print when claiming on your car insurance

Stop car wars

the credit-hire charges they are permitted to levy.

“A fixed multiple cap could be applied to credit hire charges; at, say, twice the average of a basket of the daily hire rates of the Top 5 high-street hire-car providers for a comparable model to the replacement vehicle being offered.”

Peeved - ABD's Brian Gregory

ABD campaigners turned out in force to a well-attended meeting for

supporters of the ABD’s campaign against the Mayor’s Transport Strategy in central London.

The decision by our London co-ordinator Roger Lawson to drive to the venue turned into a typical nightmare trip on London’s roads, taking two hours to drive the 15 miles there, due to major road closures . . . even on a Saturday!

The meeting reaffirmed its commitment to fighting mayor Sadiq Khan’s plans to turn the city’s streets into places for ‘active travel and social interaction’, and to reduce ‘car dependency’.

We believe the mayor is totally ignoring the needs for local

Campaigners head toprotest in the capital


Is this the future? An artist's impression of a pedestrianised London city centre

transport deliveries of goods and services in London and a growing proportion of elderly and disabled people in London, many of whom have responded to our campaign as they are dependent on private cars or PHVs.

The meeting discussed how people can help the campaign by recruiting more supporters, ensuring that people find out what is being done in their local boroughs, and publicising the adverse effects of the mayor’s plans (£12.50 a day for all non-compliant vehicles)

Supporters pledged to assist with the long-running, increasingly successful leaflet campaign which has attracted growing numbers of supporters and is giving the ABD in London a real boost.l See our full report from the

meeting on Page 5

In this issue:l Driverless cars:

Safety andsecurityconcerns over the autonomous driving future

l Centuries-old problem:

ABD takes a delve into the history oftaxation on the UK's roads

l Charity behind the wheel:

Helping those who aredisadvantaged to pass their driving test

Are speed awareness courses having any impact?The Department for Transport has finally

published the results of an Ipsos-MORI report it commissioned into the effectiveness of speed awareness courses.

The key statement in the executive summary says: “This study did not find that participation in NSAC (National Speed Awareness Courses) had a statistically significant effect on the number or severity of injury collisions.”

In other words - as the ABD has repeatedly said - this unethical and legally dubious

diversion of drivers to speed awareness courses is primarily about generating money, not about road safety because there is no evidence of any real benefit.

The report also said: “The NSAC was not designed to reduce the incidence of collisions.”

This begs the question . . . what exactly is the objective then?

The records of 2.2 million drivers, of whom 1.4 million had accepted a course offer, were studied over a period of four years.

The only impact they found was a small reduction in reoffending after involvement in an NSAC, but that is surely hardly surprising because drivers might simply take more care after being caught.

We suggest speed awareness courses should cease to be a money-making industry for ex-police and road safety officers and should only be offered to people who are actually convicted of speeding offences. l Find out more about our campaign at

www.speed-awareness.org

Worcestershire (breakfast) about proposals for average speed cameras on a Coventry dual carriageway.

Ian Taylor was well received on talkRadio discussing bus priority traffic lights in Wales – the discussion expanded to cover the widespread removal of road space in favour of buses, cycles and walking.

Back to the Kentish Gazette where Brian Macdowall featured in an article naming traffic warden ‘hotspots’ in the Canterbury district and numbers of penalties issued.

The Nick Ferrari Show on LBC Radio featured Hugh Bladon talking about the distances required for drivers passing cyclists.

Local Transport Today published a letter from Roger Lawson challenging claims by Twenty’s Plenty For Us that councillors could be legally liable for accidents should they remove or reduce speed limits.

Contract Hire & Leasing.com made the following statement: “The automotive industry must pay for pollution say MPs, but isn’t it time they had a long hard look in the mirror?” The article went quite deeply into pollution issues and what the MPs recommended, then took up the ABD’s argument from our PR – quite extensively.

Headlights of some newer cars cause dazzle even when dipped. So said Hugh Bladon on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Potholes also featured when talking about government ‘top up’ money on BBC Radio Bristol – Bob Bull spoke for us.

AprilPavement parking hit the news again. Ian

Taylor spoke on BBC Radio Kent, against blanket bans. He said we needed to look at obstruction rather than penalise all




































































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Compiled by Ian Taylor

The last quarter has seen the ABD send out five press releases:

l Mayor Sadiq Khan Ignores Objections to His Transport Strategy (this one in London only)l Government Entirely Responsible For

Urban Vehicle Emissions Issuesl Chancellor’s Tax Policies Death Blow To

Car Industryl Opposition to Mayor’s Transport

Strategy in London Grows (this included an invite to Roger Lawson’s meeting)l No Benefit From Speed Awareness

CoursesAnd here’s a summary of our media profile

over the past few months:

FebruaryTerry Hudson was quoted (with mugshot) in

the Kentish Gazette protesting against major road closures (20 weeks) in Canterbury to build an ‘unnecessary’ bus lane. The scheme has since been put ‘on hold’ indefinitely and may be shelved (success!).

MarchHugh Bladon kicked things off for us with

extensive quotes in the Nottingham Post. Notts County Council have ‘freed up’ £20m for road improvements – we hoped their priority would be pothole repair and not spend on ‘stupid things like cycle lanes’. They also said they haven’t money to maintain new roads so should stop building them. In another article about increased fares on Nottingham City Transport, Hugh said the increase was fair as their bus fares had not gone up for years and that the city was ‘overloaded’ with buses. This was also covered by online service Brinkwire. Hugh said the same thing to them, adding that potholes were extremely dangerous; they damage cars but also can kill people. All that reducing road space for the likes of bike lanes did was cause congestion.

Motor1.com gave our ‘strongly worded’ PR blaming government for emissions issues a good airing.

Hugh was next heard on BBC Coventry &

ABD coverage in the media

abd.org.uk

Ian Taylor was well received on talkRadio discussing bus priority traffic lights in Wales, expanding to removal of road space in favour of buses, cycles and walking.

wheels on pavements, not that pavements should be obstructed – they are “highways” too. Rigidly enforced blanket bans would make life extremely difficult for delivery drivers and workmen. Would emergency services be exempt? Bristol was quoted as an example of controlled pavement parking (Wow, something motor-friendly in Bristol!) he also mentioned the practice in some European cities – “Plenty of room for everyone – It works”. He mentioned our own suggestion for a minimum one metre rule. His ‘opponent’ from Guide Dogs For Blind agreed! Ian also got in that there are other pavement obstructions, not least wheelie bins that are put out on instruction of the same councils that would enforce such parking bans. Hugh Bladon tackled the same subject on talkRadio.

The Glasgow Herald/Herald Scotland quoted Hugh about proposed restrictions on car use to get people cycling and walking for health reasons – stating he was ‘fed up with social engineering’.

Nigel Humphries was quoted in the Daily Express on rising car theft and only 1 in 50 cases being prosecuted. “If it were in other areas of crime there would be outrage.”

Nigel also featured on the subject of our PR about declining new car sales in both the Shropshire Star and the Daily Mail (Ray Massey’s motoring column).

IntelligentInstructor.co.uk, an online magazine for driving instructors, took a statement from Malcolm Heymer on the disadvantages of 20mph zones, as part of a wider article on the subject.

Regrettably, it has – at time of writing – not been published.

CityMetric.com reported that the winter storms had deprived councils of nearly £5m parking revenue (no, I’m not shedding tears for them either).

Brian Gregory said: “The general principle of parking enforcement was to deter dangerous or unsatisfactory parking, but now it seems to be used as a catch-all for revenue.”

Following the decline in new car registrations, Motor1.com.uk quoted our PR, this time concentrating on our slamming of the ‘grossly unfair’ electric car grant.

The Sun ran a story of police parked on double-yellows while they went to McDonalds, described by Hugh Bladon as “a poor example to set”.

Brian Macdowall featured in this article on traffic warden 'hotspots' in Canterbury

Terry Hudson in the Kentish Gazette

Pavement parking in Knole, near Bristol

abd.org.uk

Want to get more involved? There are plenty of ways you can helpthe ABD to move forward. Just check out page 16 to find out how

The Department for Transport has belatedly released its report into the effectiveness of speed awareness courses. The results are very non-committal.

MayRoger Lawson had a letter published in

Local Transport Today ‘Three Cheers For National Road Fund’ – taking to task a critic who had written that ring-fencing was wrong.

Roger also appeared on LBC Radio’s Nick Ferrari Show opposing the closure of the Bank junction in the City of London.

Ian Taylor was on BBC Radio Kent (breakfast with John Warnett) opposite a SpeedWatch local co-ordinator (David Scott from Tunbridge Wells). Nationally these groups have reported 36,000 speedings. He also recorded a piece for the news. David of course insisted that they were a vital help to police (policing on the cheap?), that all speed limits were correctly set for good reason and should be obeyed without question. Out came the old chestnut of speed being responsible for half the road accidents – Ian disputed, giving the correct government statistic of 5%. He said there was a fine line between doing civic duty and taking law into own hands – and they were very close to that line. Ian repeated his phrase that SpeedWatch were ‘verge vigilantes – verging on vigilantism on the verge of the road’. There was no agreement at all but the producers liked the expression, which morphed into ‘vergeilantes’ . . . so we may just have started a new word.

And finally, the Department for Transport has belatedly released its report into the effectiveness of speed awareness courses. The results are very non-committal, but that hasn’t stopped the likes of the RFAC and PACTS from hailing it as proof that they are a resounding success. All because of the comment that people who went on them were 23% less likely to re-offend. We imagine that anyone caught out would be more careful, whatever the punishment. The important point was that they ‘did not find that participation ... had a statistically significant effect on the number or severity of injury collisions’. That surely is what matters – they don’t work – just as we predicted. Roger Lawson immediately got a press release to that effect issued and the following morning it was taken up on BBC Sussex & Surrey in their morning show with Danny Pike. Ian Taylor was on for the ABD, against a Road Safety Officer from GM Assist.

He made the points mentioned above and also emphasised that those running the courses were making money, and providing

referral fees to the police. That created a perverse incentive to use the courses – which in turn funded more cameras to catch more people.

Vested interest? Ian was challenged on that with an assertion road safety was the only consideration, that speed limits had to be complied with, and courses were an education to change behaviour.

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No, it's not the limit – go above 20 in TwentyTweet regarding Dartford Crossing petitionPavement parking focused in this tweet

good but less so if extended into social engineering.

Road Safety News carried an item about the speed awareness report which attached more importance to offending rates than accident rates (sign of the times?) but did include a quote from us.

There was also online coverage that quoted us from Fleet World, FleetPoint and MSN.com (theirs was the most favourable to us).

Group invited to offer opinion on the rising cost of motoring

We were contacted by The Sunday Times after they published an article about the rising and hidden costs of motoring in general, and parking in particular.

They invited us to offer an opinion in the form of a letter to the editor. Ian Taylor took up the offer – you don’t get invites from The Sunday Times every day. They liked it and said would use – but not that week due to lack of space. Disappointingly, they have so far failed to publish. It was a neat summary of the ABD’s ‘mission’, so we’ll share it here in full for the benefit of members:

OUR LETTER:

The article by Mark Hookham and Robin Henry on the hidden costs of driving and in particular parking, was illuminating. Although many drivers are already only too aware of some of these costs, many readers may not have been. Drivers of just about any kind of motor vehicle (not just cars) are hit by high prices for fuel, insurance, maintenance and in some places tolls and so-called congestion charges and/or emissions charges – added to by further government charges such as Fuel Tax and Vehicle Excise Duty – and then council or private company fees for parking (and penalties for the slightest infringement).

On parking: this can include residential permits, meters or car parks. Councils are in the unique position of being able to vary not just the price but also the conditions, charging extra for example,

for engine type. They are also able to maximise demand (and therefore the price) by restricting (or not, but nearly always restricting) the amount of space, on and off road, available for parking. They are making more and more money from drivers despite guidelines stating they should only use such income for covering expenses and improving transport provision – something got round by spending not on road provision but other forms of transport.

This is worst in our big cities, but all over the country councils, often with a near monopoly on parking provision, charge far more than some commercial ventures, where they exist in competition. (I’m not talking here of private firms employed by councils, who are as bad as the councils themselves). They are increasingly taking away residential parking provision from new builds too.

One reason all this has been allowed to happen is that the councillors and their officers have fallen completely in thrall to pressure groups who are simply against traffic and private cars and want everything possible done to reduce it and make life as difficult and unpleasant for drivers as the can get away with. Congestion? Pollution? Too fast; too slow? “Get people out of their cars” they say. Never mind what people actually want let alone need.

This is not good planning or custodianship; it is blatant social engineering – which the Alliance of British Drivers exists (among other things) to fight back against on behalf of drivers who are being bled dry.

abd.org.uk

At these low traffic speeds, vehicle emissions ramp up precipitately to over four times those observed at steady, free-flow speeds of 30mph or above.




































































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Why, after over four-and-a-half decades of dramatically declining vehicle emissions, do we have

urban vehicle emissions hotspots that ostensibly require urgent remedial action?

Answer: The emissions hotspots are entirely the fault of successive central and local governments of various political complexions: incompetently enacted transport policy implemented by apparently even more incompetent urban transport planners.

Decades of installing only intermittently-used bus/taxi, and cycle-only lanes, pinch-points, asynchronous traffic-light phasing, speed ramps, 20mph zones, other speed limit reductions and private vehicle lane-subtraction schemes have choked average city-centre traffic speeds down to little over 10mph.

At these low traffic speeds, vehicle emissions ramp up precipitately to over four times those observed at steady, free-flow speeds of 30mph or above.

So what has been the cumulative effect of some two decades of this ill-conceived, social-engineering-inspired policy?

Answer: To utterly negate over 40 years of improvements in vehicle emissions abatement technology. Another ‘triumph’ of knee-jerk policy implementation over superior technological solutions.

If politicians are really committed to improving urban air quality – as opposed to merely looking to engineer yet another opportunity to financially exploit hard-pressed drivers, they will implement the five Action Plan Points below.

If you are fed up with being used as local and central government’s tame cash-cow, write to your MP and demand that central and local government’s urban road transport policies be formulated around these key action points:

1. Reverse the pernicious traffic gating, lane subtraction, public transport, and cycle-prioritisation policies that have brought traffic speeds in our major cities down to a staccato mix of stationary and walking pace progress – with consequent completely avoidable adverse emissions and urban air quality effects.

2. In the short-term, invoke a more targeted pursuit of the worst transport sector polluters; getting the highest emissions (mainly delivery, public transport vehicles and diesel rail transport) remediated or scrapped and replaced.

3. Convince domestic heating and transport fuel manufacturers to alter their refining processes, further purifying their products.

4. If the future is electric, Government must facilitate the development of electric vehicles with an all-weather conditions range of at least 350 to 700 miles, and a recharging time comparable to that required to refill a modern, liquid-fuelled car.

5. Government must also provide the infrastructure investment for all UK private dwellings – including apartment blocks – to have the facility to park off-road, and recharge at least two electric vehicles per household resident at that dwelling.

6. Write to the local council leader and invite them and their equally culpable transport ‘planners’ – to stand down forthwith, and give way to scientifically-literate successors who know what they are doing.

Our emissions hotspots are a cause for concern

What is a good surface?Transport Focus have produced a

report on users’ perception of surface quality on the Strategic Road Network.

So what is a ‘good’ surface? The answers they got were continuously smooth, without dips, bumps, potholes, undulations or deep ruts, with white lines and cats’ eyes in excellent condition, and asphalt rather than concrete.

Current surfaces are not regarded as poor overall, according to the survey, but could be better. Issues and suggestions raised by users were:

l Materials – asphalt and black surface for contrast with road markingsl Road Markings – bright and bold;

directional information painted on road; old markings from previous road layouts completely removed; anti-slip surfaces at junctions.l Deep Ruts – stronger surface

in inside lane to cope with weight of lorries; restrictions on lorries to prevent further damage.l Potholes – consistent smoothness

to enable relaxed driving; speedy and long-lasting repair.l Surface Water – drains that work

properly and are flush with carriageway.l Joins in the Road – smooth

transition from one section of surface to another; drains flush with carriageway (motorcyclists especially keen on this).

l The relentless anti-speed propaganda rolls on. ABD director Ian Taylor came across this estate agent’s sign in his home town of Dover. Anyone spotted any

more of these, or anything similar? Email them to [email protected]

Have you seen the signs?

abd.org.uk

There was a brief explanation of the Ultra Low Emission Zone and the misleading claims made about deaths from air pollution in London




































































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Improving network forall road users is a must

Mayor Sadiq Khan's transport strategy for central London includes cycle superhighways and the removal of roads from the network

On Saturday April 28 we held a meeting for supporters of the ABD’s campaign against

the Mayor’s Transport Strategy in central London.

After a brief explanation of the objectives and background of the Alliance of British Drivers I explained the key themes of the mayor’s strategy.

These are to turn streets into places for ‘active travel and social interaction’, and to reduce ‘car dependency’. The latter is of course an emotive phrase when nobody talks about ‘cycle dependency’ or ‘public transport dependency’.

Why should it be used to describe people’s rational choice of transport mode?

I talked about the mayor’s problems which the strategy aims to counter. This includes a rapidly growing population in London which is putting a stress on public transport capacity and road congestion, and also leading to higher air pollution (and not just from traffic).

These of course result from past policies adopted by London mayors.

One of Sadiq Khan’s key problems is a shortage of money with a massive budget deficit looming, resulting from public transport fare freezes which he promised to get elected, increasing subsidies and general financial mismanagement.

I explained that the answer from the mayor are policies that will extract more money from Londoners (and those who visit London from outside) and restrict private travel in the name of making the population healthier.

What alternatives could the mayor have proposed?

Obviously one of the key factors has been the growing population of London and he could have reduced that by encouraging redistribution of business activity and population as was done in the 1960s via New

Towns, or by not promoting it as ‘more open’ to immigration as he has done recently.

The implementation of cycle superhighways in the manner done, road space removal (road closures, removal of gyratories, etc) and other policies emanating from TfL have also contributed.

I suggested that it was possible to improve the road network for cyclists and for road safety without such damaging impacts on the road network.

There was a brief explanation of the Ultra Low Emission Zone and the misleading claims made about deaths from air pollution in London (as one member of the audience put it: “40,000 deaths a year in London”, which shows how spurious statistics are being propagated).

There is no major health crisis; Londoners are living longer and air quality is improving!

We then had a session from Howard Cox of FairFuelUK. He explained what his organisation has been doing to obtain 1.7 million supporters for a campaign that is well worth supporting. He has been good at obtaining both media and political support as

a result. He questioned why the Government have not looked at alternative ways of improving air quality and looked at other sources of emissions rather than just focussing on vehicle owners.

FairFuelUK are working with others to produce better scientific evidence on the real health impact of emissions and the cost of ignoring alternative solutions to reducing emissions.

Lastly, there was a session on how to defeat the MTS.

It was noted that the ABD can give assistance with local campaigns in several ways – you just need to ask for it.

We covered how supporters can help the campaign.

Recruiting more supporters is one key aspect over the next few months, ensure that people find out what is being done in their local boroughs (a member of the audience suggested that people ask if there are any proposals for a local congestion charge) and provide funds to fight the campaign.

It is important to ensure that more London residents, and those in surrounding areas, know what is being proposed because there is general ignorance on the subject – few people have actually read the Mayor’s Transport Strategy document but it will dictate many aspects of travel and parking in London over the next few years.

The key as always if you want to have an impact on politicians is not just to moan in private or on social media, but to directly contact the political decision makers – the Mayor London, London Assembly Members, your local MP, local councillors, et al. It is also necessarily to respond to relevant public consultations and get the vote out when necessary.

In my experience politicians do listen, particularly when it seems they might be at risk of losing an election by pursuing unpopular policies! Please bear that in mind. That was perhaps one of the most important points communicated at this event.

By Roger Lawson

Shortage of money – Sadiq Khan

I suspect that many ABD members, like me, view the prospect of driverless cars with a mixture of

scepticism and horror.Now, the well-known transport journalist

Christian Wolmar has set out his own thoughts on why they are unlikely to make a serious impact on road transport for many years, if ever.

His recently published book refutes the claims of the tech giants and car makers that driverless cars will be commonplace within a decade or so. He believes driverless cars will prove to be a technological dead-end.

A more accurate description of driverless cars is ‘autonomous’ cars, which I will use from now on. There are six levels of autonomy, defined as follows:l Level 0 – describes today’s basic

vehicles, where the driver is wholly responsible for all aspects of operating the car, including monitoring traffic conditions and reacting to them.l Level 1 – where basic driver aids such

as cruise control or reversing sensors are fitted. In effect, these two lowest levels have no real autonomy.l Level 2 – where cars are fitted with

more sophisticated devices to adapt their speed to surrounding vehicles, maintain a safe distance from the vehicle ahead, stay in lane, and park themselves if required. The car can operate itself with no input from the driver for short periods of time, but the driver must be ready to take control instantly. l Level 3 – at this level, responsibility

for all critical safety functions is transferred to the car, but the driver is still required to remain vigilant and be ready to intervene in an emergency. l Level 4 – cars are able to carry out

all the driving functions by themselves, throughout the full length of a journey, although they will still be fitted with control pedals and a steering wheel. l Level 5 – this is total autonomy, with

abd.org.uk

As Wolmar points out, many people like owning and driving their own cars for a whole variety of reasons, including those of us who actually enjoy driving!

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Driverless cars: On a road to nowhere

passengers having no access to controls other than an emergency stop button.

One of the claimed benefits of autonomous vehicles is that they would improve safety. It is often asserted that over 90% of road accidents are the result of human error. But as Wolmar puts it: “Human drivers are actually pretty good. We dodge most obstacles most of the time and anticipate danger well, especially those of us with a few thousand miles under our belts.”

Wolmar then quotes Rob Dingess from a firm specialising in automobile technology, who said: “While human factors largely contribute to the failures referred to as crashes, human drivers avoid such incidents in relatively complex environments on a miraculous scale.” Dingess goes on to say that manufacturers had become very good at ‘developing self-driving systems that operate safely 90 per cent of the time, but consumers are not happy with a car that only crashes 10 per cent of the time’.

Another claimed benefit of autonomous

cars is reduced traffic congestion. This assumes, however, that people, particularly in towns and cities, will cease to own cars and hire an autonomous ‘pod’ when needed. As Wolmar points out, many people like owning and driving their own cars for a whole variety of reasons, including those of us who actually enjoy driving!

A major concern with autonomous cars is security. The possibility of an autonomous vehicle being hacked is obvious. Less obvious but at least as frightening is the risk that an autonomous car would be at the mercy of anyone who simply steps into the road in front of it. Since the cars would be programmed to stop rather than run over a pedestrian, it would be easy for a robber or hijacker to take advantage.

Even where there is no criminal intent, jaywalking pedestrians could easily bring traffic to a standstill and cause chaos. Wolmar calls this ‘the Holborn problem’. He says: “Every weekday evening there are so many people around Holborn tube station in central London that they spill into the very busy Kingsway and High Holborn streets. It is nightly chaos. If these people discovered, however, that the cars could not move until they got out of the way, there would be permanent gridlock.”

Wolmar also gives examples of situations where an autonomous car might struggle to assess a situation as well as a human driver. One such could be at a T-junction with a busy main road where drivers are having difficulty coming out of the side road. “As humans, we creep forward and eventually a kindly fellow motorist will flash their lights to let us out once our eyes have met. Autonomous cars will not be able to do that.”

Wolmar says there are signs of a growing awareness, in private at least, among car makers and technology firms of the scale of these difficulties. That’s before considering legal liability issues and how to manage the inevitably long transition period when driven and autonomous vehicles share the roads.

For those who want to read more, I strongly recommend buying a copy of the book.

By Malcolm Heymer

Wolmar cites 'the Holborn problem' as a negative for driverless cars

Christian Wolmar's book is available now

abd.org.uk

The ABD has called for four immediate changes in the VED regime to reinstate confidence and fairness in the market




































































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Many folk are confused by new low Emission rules and are actually holding onto older cars

Low Emission Zone chargesknock on to new car salesLatest new car registration

figures show that last year’s changes to Vehicle Excise Duty

have now led to a whole year of declining new car registrations.

The ABD has called on Chancellor Philip Hammond to immediately address the issue before further harm is done – and says the October budget will be too late.

ABD spokesman Nigel Humphries explains: “Due to the confusion created by the shambolic new tax regime, rather than trading in their existing cars, usually economical diesels with cheap or free VED, drivers are choosing to hang on to their old car.

“This is having a disastrous effect on new car sales. Why would you buy a new car when a) The road tax will likely be higher; b) If buying a diesel, there is no guarantee that local authorities will not in future introduce all manner of charges for parking or even entering towns; and c) If buying a petrol then economy will be poorer than your existing diesel?”

The ABD has called for four immediate changes in the VED regime to reinstate confidence and fairness in the market:

1. The Government must announce with immediate effect that no local authority will be allowed to impose discriminatory charges on any type of car or motorcycle for parking or entering a zone based upon type of motive power. Those that have already, including the London Mayor, must scrap them.

2. The zero VED band and sliding scale should be reintroduced for low emission new cars.

3. VED should be capped at £300 a year for all cars over three years old, ending the anomaly where certain cars sold between 2005 and 2018 pay up to £535. This will help the lower income driver. When newer models with equivalent CO2 figures only pay £140 after the first three years £500+ cannot be justified.

4. New electric cars should pay VED of £500 and the gift of £4,500 from the taxpayer to buyers should be scrapped. It is grossly unfair on other drivers that those who can afford expensive new electric cars pay nothing at all to use the roads whilst others pay thousands in fuel duties and VED. EVs cause as much congestion and wear to the system as any other car. £500 is still substantially less than most other drivers pay (10,000 miles a year 40mpg car pays around £1,100 fuel tax and VED) and is more than sufficient reward for their green credentials.

In brief...l Somebody should be asking why we are witnessing shocking increases in car

insurance premiums in Scotland, the ABD has said. Speaking in the Scottish Daily Mail, ABD director Ian Taylor responded to news that Scottish drivers are facing the steepest insurance rises in the UK. He said: “Somebody should be asking why. Sadly, it’s a fact that motorists are being treated as a cash cow.” The article revealed that motorists north of the border are being hit with premiums that have soared as much as a fifth in the past year, compared with an 8% average across the whole of Britain.

l Does this sound like the right sort of split to you? The Local Government Association has made the point that motorways and major roads in England are receiving 52 times more funding per mile than local roads – even though local roads make up around 98% of the country’s network and boast a total distance of roughly a quarter of a million miles. The ABD’s Terry Hudson says: “Local roads are also where two-thirds of all journeys are made, so they do need looking after to keep road users safe.”

l The lives of road workers in Merseyside are being put at risk by drivers ignoring overnight closures at one of England’s busiest motorway junctions. Contractors for Highways England have reported 23 separate incidents in the past two months where road users have driven into the roadworks for the £3 million improvement project at Switch Island, where the M57, M58 and three A roads all join together. Incidents have included a lorry driver who travelled through the construction area without stopping, forcing road workers to quickly get out of the way. Details are being passed to Merseyside Police.

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"I’m very passionate about the way drivers are treated and policed, and am so thankful for organisations like the ABD that search for true road safety"




































































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We reported in the last issue of On The Road about some of the confusion about

where it’s legal to place your satnav on a windscreen – and it provoked quite a bit of debate.

Like many, Spencer Christopher said he was particularly surprised at the level of confusion which appeared to exist within police forces on the issue.

He told us: “I’ve always believed it to be similar to the MOT ruling about cracks on the windscreen – it’s OK as long as it doesn’t obstruct the view on the driver’s side.

“Either way, I feel any driver who has even the minimum common sense knows not to put something on the windscreen in a place that would obstruct their view.

“The reason I picked up on this so intently is because several months ago I attended one of the 'road safety' courses offered as an alternative to a speeding penalty, and this subject came up. A majority of people attending had the same belief as me.

“We was all told in no uncertain manner, that ANYTHING placed ANYWHERE on the windscreen is an offence, as clearly stated in the Highway Code.

“Now I’m not someone who is scared to challenge authority and I immediately raised my hand stating that I had been pulled over on many occasions by the police, and every time I had a phone in a cradle, being used as a sat nav, in the bottom centre of my windscreen and it had never even raised an eyebrow, let alone a comment or penalty.

“I was told I had just been lucky - which I didn’t consider to be a good answer, but without having any

evidence to contradict this, I had to accept what they said to 'comply' with course requirements.

“Since then it played on my mind a lot, how something so many people do, and so many people think is OK, could be so wrong. Especially when you consider things like tax discs, which until recently had to be displayed on the windscreen, and dash cams, which are encouraged by police and rewarded by insurance companies.

“Nothing seemed to make sense, but when I checked the Highway Code, it did clearly state that nothing can be placed on the windscreen. Then I saw

the article in the last edition of On The Road which stated some

police are saying where on the windscreen you should put it - which just left me even more fuming about how many things to do with driving are illegal, but no one really knows about and are never enforced.”

He added: “I drive a lot of miles in my job

and of course road safety is very important to me. I’ve been on about five separate courses to avoid speeding penalties over the years, some held by police, some by third party companies, and some have had information I didn’t know and found useful (but very little).

“All of them though very much focused on driving legally, believing if you’re driving legally you’re driving safely, which in my opinion is completely wrong.

“A safe driver focuses on the road all around them, the environment, other road users, hazards etc and adjusts their driving accordingly, whereas a legal driver is half focused on the road and half focused on the speedometer.

“I’m very passionate about the way drivers are treated and policed, and am so thankful for organisations like the ABD that search for true road safety . . . and not political wins based on false propaganda. Keep up the good work everyone.”l Don’t forget, we are always looking

for YOUR views. If you’d like to comment on anything you have seen in this issue – or any other road-related matter – drop us an email to [email protected]

On the big screen

Share your beautiful wheels with ABD members

We would like to hear from you if you’re the proud owner of a vehicle that other ABD members might find of interest.

It can be of any era, from a pre-war Ford Y to a post-war over chromed Americana.

Send us about 500 words on its ownership,

problems you have had, and why you were attracted to the car in the first place.

Did you inherit it? Have you been on holiday with it? Or have you any other vehicles? These are the sort of things we’re after.

It would also be good to tell us a bit about you, including which part of the country you’re from. And of course, we’d love to publish a picture of you with your car.

If you’re interested, send words and pictures to us at [email protected]

Do you own a pre-war car that you would like to show to others? Perhaps you have a love of the post-war over chromed Americana

Page 4

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Simon Williams from the RAC said: “There does appear to be real confusion among

drivers regarding both mobile phones and satnavs and where to put them."

Visit www.abd.org.uk for further details. To join the ABD call now on 0161 408 7070

The ABD campaign for l Improved road user training l Real transport choices l Investment in Britain’s roads l Honesty on transport issues

P2: xxxxx xxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx












Sorry mate, I didn’t see you . . .

how many times have you heard

those words when a driver has

pulled out in front of another road

user?In most cases, the driver will have looked,

but been fooled into thinking the road was

clear, because of the way our eyes and brains

see things when we move our heads.

The ABD is seeking to address the problem,

by launching a safety campaign to educate

road users on the dangers of ‘Saccadic

Masking’ - limitations in a driver’s vision,

which can effectively create blindspots.

As we move our heads from side-to-side at

a junction, our eyes send snapshots to our

brain at intervals – much like a video camera

records different frames.

The brain then merges the snapshots into

what we think is a continuous image – but

that is actually an illusion, because there will

be blindspots.

And if another road user – often a smaller

object such as a motorbike or cyclist – falls

within one of these blindspots, they will not

be seen. This is known as Saccadic Masking.

The faster drivers move their heads at

junctions, the more likely they are to create

significant blindspots.

The ABD is putting forward a series of

recommendations to the Department for

Transport, in an effort to tackle the issue.

They include:l Teaching schoolchildren how to cross

the road, especially the need to keep their

head still for at least half a second at the end

of each sweep to left and right

l Educating young cyclists how to look in

a similar way, especially at junctions

l Encouraging driving instructors to teach

about the dangers of saccadic masking and

blindspots, and include it in the theory test



P2: ABD in the news – media coverage round-up

P4: Funding of speed cameras needs scrutiny

P6: Working parties, quangos and acronyms!

P7: Social media spreading the ABD message

P8: Beware a case of mistaken identity

P9: Is it greener to travel by bus, or car?

P11: Trans-Pennine tunnel plans revealed

P12: Pothole problems – repair bills are rising

P13: National Infrastructure Conference report

P14: Road sign restrictions are ‘a disgrace’

l Running information campaign for adult

pedestrians and existing drivers, to explain

the dangers – covering TV, cinema, social

media, posters and newspapers.

l Including advice on how to look

properly in driver improvement courses, when

offered instead of fixed penalties for careless

driving. The ABD says: “If the following

recommendations were implemented,

accident numbers and the percentage with

‘failed to look properly’ as a contributory

factor should fall over time.”

The most common contributory factor to

recorded injury accidents has consistently

been a driver or rider’s failure to look

properly. According to most recent DfT

figures, this was a factor in 46% of accidents.

A further 9% resulted from a pedestrian’s

failure to look properly.

This means more than half of all injury

accidents are due to failures of observation

- so any action that could address the

fundamental causes of this problem could

reduce accident numbers significantly.

l Watch our video on Saccadic Masking on

Youtube, by searching for ‘ABD Road Safety –

Saccadic Masking’



With the EU referendum

result now decided, UK

drivers are now fair game

for a hike in fuel tax!

That’s what FairFuelUK, the award-winning

public affairs campaign that fights for lower

fuel duty and more transparent pricing at

the pumps, says it has been told by ‘reliable

Treasury sources’.

The excuse? For the sake of the

environment. The FairFuelUK view? A knee-

jerk tax rise on diesel will not lower pollution

levels or usage!

The organisation has launched an opinion

poll of drivers, and will soon be sending the

results to the Treasury, the Transport Minister,

MPs and the media.

It says: “We are calling for a grown up

sensible Government debate to incentivise

not penalise owners of dirty engines to trade

up to cleaner units. Do you agree with this

objective?“The heart of our economy is driven by

diesel, so inflation and jobs will be at risk if

the price of this fuel is increased.

“The out of touch Transport Minister’s

announcement means the dirtiest vehicles,

which may be most responsive to an emissions

tax, would simply not be taxed enough while

modern clean vehicles would be over-taxed.

“Yes that’s right, a clean diesel Euro 6

engine will pay the same for fuel as an engine

not meeting those standards.”


Fair deal for diesel

drivers is demanded

The British people took the momentous

decision to leave the European Union on

Thursday, June 23.

Road transport over the last three decades

has been influenced (some would say

dictated) by EU policymaking which the ABD

feels has seen road transport as the poor

relation in the transport ‘hierarchy’.

While the UK is now in uncharted territory,

and the process under way to find a new

Prime Minister after David Cameron’s

resignation, the ABD says it will be keeping a

keen eye on the parliamentary process to see

what changes will ensue.

Advice to members is to watch out for

and beware use of “active travel plans” and

object to their introduction in their areas.

We shall be taking a strong stance on this

issue, leading the fight, and are strongly

urging all members and supporters to use this

opportunity to raise the profile of private

vehicle owners, and put pressure on their

elected representatives to represent the

views of the largest user group and taxpayer

of our roads – the drivers.

The Alliance of British Drivers is a non-

party political pro-driver campaigning

organisation which remained neutral on the

EU membership issue.

But in a poll of members carried out shortly

before the EU referendum, there was an

overwhelming majority of members who

wanted Britain to vote to leave.



Inside our summer 2016 issue:

P2: Read all about it - ABD making headlines

P4: Brexit by a landslide - results of ABD’s EU survey

P6: Jobsworths, and the political merry-go-round

P7: Driverless cars - don’t be taken in by the hype

P8: The need for speed - is 80mph limit a good idea?

P10: Latest report from ABD’s Drivers Committee

P11: Warm reception for ABD from Freedom Association

P12: Westminster bulletin - what’s new in Whitehall?

P13: Report from Road User Panel at Transport Focus

P14: From cyclists to speed cameras - news in brief

P15: Your views - ABD members have their say

Motorists and truckers in EU states like Germany and Poland pay 25p and 42p less

respectively for diesel at the pumps than drivers in the UK

ill-informed tax hike in its infancy’ and calling

yet again for a grown-up sensible debate to

incentivise owners of dirty engines to trade

up to cleaner units.

“A well thought out diesel scrappage

scheme which is supported by hundreds

of MPs will work,” it says. “FairFuelUK

supporters want cleaner air too, but this will

NOT be achieved using punitive tax hikes.”

FairFuelUK adds: “So why does our UK

Government fleece diesel drivers so much,

especially when motorists and truckers in EU

states like Germany and Poland pay 25p and

42p less respectively?

“Let’s motivate environmental change

instead of using a quick Treasury cash

grab fleecing hauliers and millions of UK

motorists.”

Date for your diary - The ABD’s

Annual General Meeting will be

held this year on Saturday October

15th at the Heritage Motor Museum,



Issue 118

Spring 2016



It was looking like a case of

‘double trouble’ this winter, with

two anti-driver Private Member’s

Bills making their way through

parliament.But both of them – one which would have

given councils the power to ban all pavement

parking, and the other allowing parish and

town councils to set their own speed limits –

have been withdrawn.

While the ABD can’t claim this was down

to us, it did follow a concerted lobbying

campaign voicing our opposition, which

attracted a lot of media attention.

ABD director Ian Taylor says: “We cannot

be complacent, though. The Government has

committed to a policy review on adopting a

coherent nationwide approach to regulate

pavement parking which will involve round-

table discussions on legislative implications.

“The people and organisations behind the

Pavement Parking bill will probably be around

that table, and if possible we too need to try

to secure a place.”

In Scotland, the news is less promising.

The Scottish government is continuing to

pursue legislation to make it an ofence to

park on a pavement – citing problems to guide

dog owners, wheelchair users and parents

with pushchairs.

Ian Taylor added: “Our friends at Disabled

Motoring UK have an interest in this which

we appreciate. We oppose obstruction of

pavements and highways alike, but don’t

want to see pavement parking outlawed

totally, because it sometimes serves a useful

purpose without obstructing – hence our

suggested one metre clear space rule.”

The Speed Limits on Roads (Devolved

Powers) Bill sought to allow parish and

town councils the power to set their own

Double delight - but no

time to be complacent

MP Scott Mann

had been promoting

the Bill

Thanks to Malcolm Heymer, who examined

the Speed Limits on Roads (Devolved Powers)

Bill in detail, the ABD raised seven objections:

1. Parish councils can already lobby

highways authorities on speed limits, as can

individuals.2. Highways authorities have legal

responsibility to maintain a safe and eicient

network and set speed limits that promote

safety without unnecessarily increasing

journey times. Local referenda to set

legally binding speed limits might conlict

responsibilities.

3. Speed limits afect all drivers visiting

or passing through, not just residents. There

needs to be reasonable consistency between

limits on similar types of road in diferent

areas to avoid confusion. There are already

too many diferences in speed policies

between existing authorities — this Bill would

make the situation far worse.

The objections

made by ABD

Inside our spring 2016 issue:

P2: P3:P4:P5: P6:P8:P11:P14:P15:P16:


On The Road

speed limits in “local areas”, following local

referenda, which would then be introduced

over the head of highways authorities –

without giving them any say.

The ABD felt this would be a disaster for

drivers, and again launched a campaign of

lobbying MPs and media coverage.

Speed limits set on the whim of residents’

votes is, in the ABD’s view, localism carried

too far. Traic speeds would be dictated

purely by residents, while other users of the

roads would not get a say.

Ian Taylor says: “It is a job for experts, not

the votes of amateurs, who would doubtless

be egged on by those lobby groups who

campaign for speeds to come down to nearly

walking pace.

“This would become hell for drivers, at

the hands of those who think they own their

streets and have no concept of the point of a

public highway network.”

On the day of the second reading, our

eforts were rewarded: on the request of the

government minister Robert Goodwill, the bill

was withdrawn. Again, probably not all down

to the ABD, but a good result all the same.

Time for a small, if cautious celebration

4. Changing speed

limits does not

guarantee a change in

actual speeds.

5. Reduced speed

does not guarantee

a reduction in

accidents; slower is

not necessarily safer.

Limits set too low

create driver conlict

and increase speed

variance, which is

more highly correlated

with accident risk than average speed.

6. Residents frequently exaggerate the

speeds of vehicles on ‘their’ roads. Speed

limit changes should never be considered on

the basis of residents’ claims alone; there

must be objective surveys.

7. Comparing accident numbers on 20mph

and 30mph roads (as Scott Mann MP, the Bill’s

promoter did) without taking into account

the vastly greater number of 30mph roads is

nonsense.

Issue 119

Summer 2016


Issue 118

Spring 2016































with pushchairs.














MP Scott Mann

had been promoting

the Bill












responsibilities.









The objections

made by ABD


P2: P3:P4:P5: P6:P8:P11:P14:P15:P16:


On The Road

















walking pace.











4. Changing speed

limits does not


actual speeds.

5. Reduced speed

does not guarantee

a reduction in



Limits set too low


and increase speed

variance, which is












nonsense.

Issue 120

Autumn 2016















levels or usage!




MPs and the media.


















drivers is demanded



Thursday, June 23.
































































motorists.”







Issue 118

Spring 2016































with pushchairs.














MP Scott Mann

had been promoting

the Bill












responsibilities.









The objections

made by ABD


P2: P3:P4:P5: P6:P8:P11:P14:P15:P16:


On The Road

















walking pace.











4. Changing speed

limits does not


actual speeds.

5. Reduced speed

does not guarantee

a reduction in



Limits set too low


and increase speed

variance, which is












nonsense.

Issue 119

Summer 2016


Issue 118

Spring 2016































with pushchairs.














MP Scott Mann

had been promoting

the Bill












responsibilities.









The objections

made by ABD


P2: P3:P4:P5: P6:P8:P11:P14:P15:P16:


On The Road

















walking pace.











4. Changing speed

limits does not


actual speeds.

5. Reduced speed

does not guarantee

a reduction in



Limits set too low


and increase speed

variance, which is












nonsense.



Phil Carey is one of

the speakers at this

year’s annual general

meeting, in Gaydon

What are you

doing on Saturday,

October 15? We’d

love to see you at

our annual general

meeting, being held

at the British Motor

Museum in Gaydon,

Warwickshire.In addition to the

formal business of

re-electing officials,

delivering reports

and presenting the

accounts, we have

a wide variety of

expert speakers on

the programme.

They include:

Jason Evans and Graham Foster of Disabled

Motoring UK, who will be looking at problems

for drivers with disabilities, and Phil Cleary

from Transport Focus – the Government group

set up to advise Highways England.

ABD London member Roger Lawson will

be explaining his speed awareness course

campaign, and director Ian Taylor will look at

some of the campaigns we have been involved

with over the past 12 months.

And we are hoping for a good turnout . . .

and plenty of challenging questions from the

floor! It is all due to start at 10.30am, and the

venue is just five minutes from junction 12 of

the M40.Our AGM is a chance to meet other

like-minded ABD members for some lively

discussion – and also includes free entry to

the museum.We will be breaking at 12.30pm for lunch,

and there’s a café in the museum complex.



Sorry mate, I didn’t see you . . .

how many times have you heard

those words when a driver has

pulled out in front of another road

user?In most cases, the driver will have looked,

but been fooled into thinking the road was

clear, because of the way our eyes and brains

see things when we move our heads.

The ABD is seeking to address the problem,

by launching a safety campaign to educate

road users on the dangers of ‘Saccadic

Masking’ - limitations in a driver’s vision,

which can effectively create blindspots.

As we move our heads from side-to-side at

a junction, our eyes send snapshots to our

brain at intervals – much like a video camera

records different frames.

The brain then merges the snapshots into

what we think is a continuous image – but

that is actually an illusion, because there will

be blindspots.

And if another road user – often a smaller

object such as a motorbike or cyclist – falls

within one of these blindspots, they will not

be seen. This is known as Saccadic Masking.

The faster drivers move their heads at

junctions, the more likely they are to create

significant blindspots.

The ABD is putting forward a series of

recommendations to the Department for

Transport, in an effort to tackle the issue.

They include:l Teaching schoolchildren how to cross

the road, especially the need to keep their

head still for at least half a second at the end

of each sweep to left and right

l Educating young cyclists how to look in

a similar way, especially at junctions

l Encouraging driving instructors to teach

about the dangers of saccadic masking and

blindspots, and include it in the theory test



P2: ABD in the news – media coverage round-up

P4: Funding of speed cameras needs scrutiny

P6: Working parties, quangos and acronyms!

P7: Social media spreading the ABD message

P8: Beware a case of mistaken identity

P9: Is it greener to travel by bus, or car?

P11: Trans-Pennine tunnel plans revealed

P12: Pothole problems – repair bills are rising

P13: National Infrastructure Conference report

P14: Road sign restrictions are ‘a disgrace’

l Running information campaigns for

adult pedestrians and existing drivers, to

explain the dangers – covering TV, cinema,

social media, posters and newspapers.

l Including advice on how to look

properly in driver improvement courses, when

offered instead of fixed penalties for careless

driving. The ABD says: “If the following

recommendations were implemented,

accident numbers and the percentage with

‘failed to look properly’ as a contributory

factor should fall over time.”

The most common contributory factor to

recorded injury accidents has consistently

been a driver or rider’s failure to look

properly. According to most recent DfT

figures, this was a factor in 46% of accidents.

A further 9% resulted from a pedestrian’s

failure to look properly.

This means more than half of all injury

accidents are due to failures of observation

- so any action that could address the

fundamental causes of this problem could

reduce accident numbers significantly.

l Watch our video on Saccadic Masking on

Youtube, by searching for ‘ABD Road Safety –

Saccadic Masking’















levels or usage!




MPs and the media.


















drivers is demanded



Thursday, June 23.
































































motorists.”







Issue 118

Spring 2016































with pushchairs.














MP Scott Mann

had been promoting

the Bill












responsibilities.









The objections

made by ABD


P2: P3:P4:P5: P6:P8:P11:P14:P15:P16:


On The Road

















walking pace.











4. Changing speed

limits does not


actual speeds.

5. Reduced speed

does not guarantee

a reduction in



Limits set too low


and increase speed

variance, which is












nonsense.

Issue 119

Summer 2016


Issue 118

Spring 2016































with pushchairs.














MP Scott Mann

had been promoting

the Bill












responsibilities.









The objections

made by ABD


P2: P3:P4:P5: P6:P8:P11:P14:P15:P16:


On The Road

















walking pace.











4. Changing speed

limits does not


actual speeds.

5. Reduced speed

does not guarantee

a reduction in



Limits set too low


and increase speed

variance, which is












nonsense.

Issue 120

Autumn 2016















levels or usage!




MPs and the media.


















drivers is demanded



Thursday, June 23.
































































motorists.”







Issue 118

Spring 2016































with pushchairs.














MP Scott Mann

had been promoting

the Bill












responsibilities.









The objections

made by ABD


P2: P3:P4:P5: P6:P8:P11:P14:P15:P16:


On The Road

















walking pace.











4. Changing speed

limits does not


actual speeds.

5. Reduced speed

does not guarantee

a reduction in



Limits set too low


and increase speed

variance, which is












nonsense.

Issue 119

Summer 2016


Issue 118

Spring 2016































with pushchairs.














MP Scott Mann

had been promoting

the Bill












responsibilities.









The objections

made by ABD


P2: P3:P4:P5: P6:P8:P11:P14:P15:P16:


On The Road

















walking pace.











4. Changing speed

limits does not


actual speeds.

5. Reduced speed

does not guarantee

a reduction in



Limits set too low


and increase speed

variance, which is












nonsense.



Phil Carey is one of

the speakers at this

year’s annual general

meeting, in Gaydon

What are you

doing on Saturday,

October 15? We’d

love to see you at

our annual general

meeting, being held

at the British Motor

Museum in Gaydon,

Warwickshire.In addition to the

formal business of

re-electing officials,

delivering reports

and presenting the

accounts, we have

a wide variety of

expert speakers on

the programme.

They include:

Jason Evans and Graham Foster of Disabled

Motoring UK, who will be looking at problems

for drivers with disabilities, and Phil Cleary

from Transport Focus – the Government group

set up to advise Highways England.

ABD London member Roger Lawson will

be explaining his speed awareness course

campaign, and director Ian Taylor will look at

some of the campaigns we have been involved

with over the past 12 months.

And we are hoping for a good turnout . . .

and plenty of challenging questions from the

floor! It is all due to start at 10.30am, and the

venue is just five minutes from junction 12 of

the M40.Our AGM is a chance to meet other

like-minded ABD members for some lively

discussion – and also includes free entry to

the museum.We will be breaking at 12.30pm for lunch,

and there’s a café in the museum complex.

If you are unfortunate enough

to be involved in a road traffic

accident, and your vehicle

suffers significant damage, your

insurer will probably offer a

‘courtesy vehicle’ while yours is

under repair.That sounds all well and good, but the ABD

is warning drivers to check the small print

carefully.Because these days the vehicle is more

typically supplied to you on what is described

in law as a ‘credit hire’ basis – and with a

hefty price tag potentially attached.

"So what?" you say. Well, in signing for

possession of that vehicle, you are authorising

the provider to charge that vehicle against

any outstanding claim for the accident in

which you were involved.

And this could be at a daily rate which is

typically over £300. The total credit hire costs

will be assigned on a blame-apportionment

basis once liability has been agreed between

the insurers of those involved in the accident.

ABD chairman Brian Gregory says: “I am

pretty peeved about this whole accident

management services scenario.

“For £300 per day, it is possible to hire a

piece of exotica such as a Bentley Continental

GT Coupé rather than some humdrum

cabriolet, coupé, hatchback, saloon, SUV,

or indeed van originating from one of the

mainstream vehicle manufacturers.

“A high street provider could rent you a

vehicle comparable to your accident-damaged

one at one-tenth of the credit-hire rate; so

where is the rest of the credit hire cost going?

“Well, into the pockets of the insurance

company or third party credit hire vehicle

provider, presumably . . .

“If non-availability of parts delays the

commencement of repairs on your vehicle;

a three week credit hire spell could easily

result - leading to a consequent £5,000-plus

credit hire cost overhead being added to the

total repair bill.”

Mr Gregory has contacted Steve Baker

MP, who established and chairs the all-party

parliamentary group on Economics, Money

and Banking, urging him to investigate.

Another ABD member has also referred this

whole sector to BBC’s Watchdog programme

as worthy of investigation.

“It is high time that the road traffic

accident management sector was subject to

in-depth official investigation, and subsequent

regulation to curb the abuses currently

occurring within it,” Mr Gregory said.


Call for official investigation into road

traffic accident management sector

accidents alone - around 150,000 in that

year - if provision of replacement vehicles

on a credit hire basis adds even £1,000 to

the cost of an average insurance claim, that

would be £150 million added annually to total

insurance claim costs; or roughly £5 per car

insurance policy.

Brian Gregory adds: “Apparently the

accident management services sector is

currently totally unregulated; with both

the Financial Conduct Authority and the

government's Claims Management Regulator

indicating that it is outside either of their

remits.“When car insurers on the one hand

prattle on about the rising cost of accident

remediation; while on the other they are

complicit in the provision of vehicles at

10 times the daily rate that a high-street

provider could furnish them, they are part of

the problem, not part of the solution.

“The blatant profiteering, by both

respected insurers and third-party accident

management companies alike which appears

to be going on in this sector, could easily be

constrained by applying a mandatory limit to

The ABD is calling on the post-Brexit

government to stop its ‘nonsensical’ war

on the car . . . and start tackling the real

transport problems in the UK.

Spokesman Nigel Humphreys said: “Time

and again we hear campaigners blaming cars

for all the world's ills, yet car emissions have

never been lower.

“We should scrap HS2 and spend the £60

billion or more on the roads we need.”

Read more of Nigel’s comments, including

doubts over many of the latest claims

expressed by the National Institute for Health

and Care Excellence, on Page 9.

Issue 121

Winter 2017



Stop car wars

the credit-hire charges they are permitted to

levy. “A fixed multiple cap could be applied

to credit hire charges; at, say, twice the

average of a basket of the daily hire rates of

the Top 5 high-street hire-car providers for a

comparable model to the replacement vehicle

being offered.”


The law does not mention where a satnav should or should not be placed on a windscreen

Importance of locating the

right position for a satnav

Are you breaking the law

by sticking your satnav

on the wrong part of your

windscreen?It seems even the police aren’t sure.

Confusion deepened when one force

wrongly told drivers not to place the devices

anywhere other than in the bottom right

corner of the windscreen.

Greater Manchester Police was criticised

after tweeting that ‘everywhere else is

illegal’, despite the law making no mention of

where to place a satnav.

The force later deleted the tweet,

admitting it was factually incorrect, and

replaced it with a list of ‘options’ for where

best to position a device.

However, legal experts said the episode

further illustrated the legal uncertainty

motorists currently face – and the ABD said

the force had been rightly castigated for the

‘stupid’ post.

“Some police forces are becoming a law

unto themselves,” – that was our quoted

response.It came just days after motoring

organisations said drivers are being

persecuted for using their mobile phones as

satnavs because of ‘conflicting advice from

ministers and police’, creating confusion over

the legal position.

Tough penalties were introduced last

year to clamp down on drivers using their

mobile phones to make calls and send texts

while driving. By contrast, the law does not

mention where a satnav should or should not

be placed on a windscreen.

Instead, drivers are under a general

obligation to be in proper control of their

vehicle, which includes having a clear view

of the road and other traffic. The Daily

Telegraph covered the story, and quoted

senior lawyers who said the lack of specificity

was allowing police to make up their own

interpretation of the law.

Donal Lawler, secretary of the Criminal

Bar Association, told the paper: “It might be

sensible to say that the bottom right hand

corner is the most sensible place to position

a satnav but it is not the legal place. That

is certainly not the law. Police need to be

very careful that what they are saying is

absolutely correct.”

Simon Williams from the RAC said: “There

does appear to be real confusion among

drivers regarding both mobile phones and

satnavs and where to put them. We think the

law could be better clarified.”

Is 30mph indeed safer than 20mph after all?

How’s this for sheer bloody-mindedness?

A council has admitted that reducing the

speed limit to 20mph has caused a RISE in

death and serious injuries - but is refusing

to reverse the scheme because it will cost

too much. Bath and North East Somerset Council

spent £871,000 bringing in the 13 new speed

zones just over 12 months ago, but a report

has found that the rate of people killed or

seriously injured has gone up in seven out of

the 13 areas.The review says: "There is no simple

explanation for this adverse trend but it

could be that local people perceive the

area to be safer due to the presence of the

20mph restrictions and thus are less diligent

when walking and crossing roads, cycling or

otherwise travelling."

Despite the council's own report

concluding that there is ‘little in the way

of persuasive argument for continuing the

programme in the future’, the deputy leader

admitted there simply isn't the money

available to reverse the 20mph zones.

The story angered those who responded

when the ABD highlighted the story on social

media. Mac McCarthy said: “I'm sure there

are thousands of motorists who will happily

remove the 20mph signs for free. I will.”

And Terence Curran added: “I would like

to know if anybody has actually done any

research on the fact that in a 20mph zone

drivers need to spend more time looking at

their speedometer than they spend looking

at the road, since it’s harder to estimate

20mph than the more standard 30mph which

many drivers are used to.”

Our view? If you force people to drive

excessively slowly, they will stop bothering

to pay attention.

And if you brainwash pedestrians into

blindly believing that 20mph makes the

roads 'safer', they will stop bothering to look

before they cross the road.

Drivers are under a

general obligation to

be in proper control

As featured on page 4 of our

last edition of On The Road

Debate was provoked over the positioning of a satnav

abd.org.uk

The smart motorway concept first appeared in 2006, although variable speed limits have been around since the 1990s




































































the Bill








On The Road


























the Bill








On The Road
























































the Bill








On The Road


























the Bill








On The Road

















They include:







































































the Bill








On The Road


























the Bill








On The Road
























































the Bill








On The Road


























the Bill








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Stop car wars




Getting To TheHeart Of SmartTransport Focus carried out six

focus groups and 10 in-depth interviews with users in

Birmingham, Leeds and London, to gain views on smart motorways.

They have also spoken with stakeholders, including the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the AA, the RAC, the Freight Transport Association, the Camping and Caravanning Club, FMG recovery services and logistics company DPD.

The smart motorway concept first appeared in 2006, although variable speed limits have been around since the 1990s. The M42 near Birmingham saw the first ‘active traffic management’. Since then a number of sections have been completed, are under construction or planned. There are now essentially three types of smart motorway:l Dynamic Hard Shoulder, where the hard

shoulder is used at times of congestion but at other times reverts to being a hard shoulder.l Controlled Motorway, essentially a

conventional motorway but with technology to smooth traffic flow.l All-Lane Running, where all road space

is used by traffic with no hard shoulder, but with emergency refuges for breakdowns.

The survey found awareness of smart motorways is patchy. Drivers said they learnt how to use them by experience.

There was a need for more information, and suggestions included information with road tax, vehicle insurance or driving licence forms, or other official communications; theory and practical driving test training for new drivers; and inclusion in The Highway Code.

Many drivers don’t fully understand how all the features work and inter-relate. There was an assumption that ‘someone’ is in charge of the system and monitoring traffic via CCTV. Drivers want to understand more about speed limits - are they mandatory or advisory? They want to know when they can use the hard shoulder, what to do in a breakdown without a hard shoulder, and when to go back into a land after seeing a red letter X.

Transport Focus says Highways England should seek to further increase road user knowledge and understanding about what smart motorways are designed to achieve and how their features work for the (alleged!) benefit of road users; what, precisely, individual instructions encountered require drivers to do; what to do if you break down.

Users like variable message signs but are often sceptical about the accuracy and timeliness of the information, undermining trust. They said there are many occasions where they believe the signs are not

accurate, showing ‘incident ahead’ or ‘debris in road’ that they never see.

Highways England are considering different words or style, and doing more to test what users feel helpful.

Variable Speed Limits enable traffic speed to be reduced to make best use of road capacity. However, users do not think they are always set correctly. A common complaint is that there didn’t seem to be any need to reduce speed, leading to perception that the speed limit caused congestion and delays that wouldn’t otherwise have occurred.

The report urges Highways England to ensure that speed limits are regarded by road users as appropriate to the traffic conditions, in particular guarding against reducing speed unnecessarily and minimising the perception that speed limits are causing congestion rather than causing it.

The so-called Dynamic Hard Shoulder gives rise to some confusion. The recommendation is that Highways England should make it clearer when the hard shoulder should and should not be used, with consideration given to using a green arrow as well as a red X.

No hard shoulder at any time is a concern to users. Rightly or wrongly the hard shoulder is seen as a place of refuge and relative safety when broken down, but experienced users and stakeholders say all-lane running works well by providing additional capacity that might otherwise not exist, so increasing journey reliability.

However, many had a gut feeling that no hard shoulder was more dangerous in the event of breakdown. Since this report was compiled Highways England have agreed to build emergency refuge areas closer together in future.

In summary and conclusion, Transport Focus says the safety of all-running lane motorways was not at the forefront of road users’ minds.

While many felt intuitively that having a hard shoulder would be safer than not, the increased journey reliability resulting from the extra lane tended to outweigh this consideration. Road users generally trust that ‘the authorities’ would not allow all-lane running if it were unsafe.

The Smart Motorway Map produced by Highways England

The hard shoulder is seen as a place of refuge and relative safety when broken down

abd.org.uk

A history lesson seems appropriate here. In the 18th and more so the 19th centuries, many of our roads were turnpikes – i.e. tolled.

The tech lobby that stand to make a fortune at our expense just keep on bringing

up the possibility of road pricing (congestion charging, tolling, call it what you will) – all in the name of reducing congestion and ‘better traffic management’.

Some organisations that are supposed to be pro-driver are joining in. Recently their voices have been added to by think tanks that have more ideological objectives, including one that we would usually see eye to eye with – the Institute of Economic Affairs – namely that privatisation is good and public ownership bad.

Underlying all this is the proposition that it’s the only way to provide the road network we need, and that technological innovation, like electric vehicles, will eventually render the traditional means of paying for it – VED and fuel tax – unable to raise enough and obsolete.

Opposition to any form of road charging has been one of the fundamental pillars of the ABD since its inception, and also the reason for possibly our biggest ever triumph: the record-breaking petition that changed a government’s mind on the issue.

So, with some polls indicating the public mood shifting towards acceptance (albeit only if it replaced ALL other forms of motoring taxation and duties), where does that leave us?

There’s the privacy issues of the tracking that such a system would entail – sadly the public seem only too willing to throw away their privacy, though the Facebook scandal just may tip that one back the other way.

Then there’s the growing trend – most notable in the mobile phone market - towards the principle of ‘pay as you go’.

Last but not least, the changes to vehicle types (and ownership modes) may well prove too much for the existing methods of revenue raising.

It may be possible to apply ‘fuel tax’ to electricity (or any other fuel used to power future cars) – so far we haven’t come up with a practical way to separate power for transport from other power.




































































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Stop car wars




By Ian Taylor

This is a real problem for the future that we need to address.

Our stance has always been that we have always paid more than enough to maintain a decent road network – it just hasn’t been used for that purpose, being diverted into the general budget.

We have demanded a suitable proportion be spent on transport, and of that a suitable proportion on roads.

We have at last got a move in that direction now with VED being ring-fenced, and going to the Strategic Road Network and the upcoming Major Road Network.

It must be noted, however, that that could

A commemorative plaque in Carmarthenshire recalls the 'Rebecca Riots'

The book ‘And They Blessed Rebecca’ tells the story of the riots

Long ago, when roadpricing provoked riots

We have always paid more than enough to maintain a decent road network

be overturned by any future government that decides not to like ring-fencing – which is already becoming unpopular in some quarters, think defence and foreign aid.

On the purely practical side, might charging for road use result in better and more roads? Not necessarily. There’s an object lesson here from Australia, where some state governments did privatise numbers of major roads, which were eagerly snapped up by the private sector.

Money was made but not matched by investment, and soon some roads became close to unusable. The companies responsible ‘took the money and ran’, simply handing back their franchises to the government, who had little option but take over and fork out on repairs. No names, no pack drill – but be aware that these self same companies are part of global groups who have their eyes on Britain’s roads to bid for given the opportunity.

A history lesson seems appropriate here. In the 18th and more so the 19th centuries, many of our roads were turnpikes – i.e. tolled. Most towns and cities were ringed with toll houses and tollgates that levied tolls based on the mode of transport (horse drawn then) and goods being carried. Now, there’s no getting away from the fact that the turnpike system took on mud-tracks sometimes barely passable during winter, and created a reasonable network of usable roads that eventually became the backbone of the later “A” road network. This coincided with the development of better surfacing like tarmacadam, which the governments of the day had no resources to utilise directly.

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The turnpikes were run by turnpike trusts, who were supposed to use the money raised to build, maintain and improve their roads.




































































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The system was, however, pretty universally hated, because it made life very expensive for example, for farmers to get goods to market. To add insult to injury, the system was widely abused. The turnpikes were run by turnpike trusts, who were supposed to use the money raised to build, maintain and improve their roads. To be fair, some of them did, and some roads improved considerably. Others did not though. These trusts were like ‘absentee landlords’ who put up the charges and pocketed the takings whilst leaving the roads in a bad way.

One of the worst hit areas was mid-and-south Wales. Things came to a head in 1839, when a combination of overcharging and under maintenance (along with other social issues such as tenant farmer rents) caused the suffering populace to resort to violent action. Rioting incurred severe penalties in those days, so precautions were taken to disguise identities.

The protesters proclaimed themselves to be the daughters of Rebecca, quoting a biblical story of Rebecca and her Daughters (Merched Beca in Welsh) from the Old Testament, quoting “And they blessed Rebekah and said ‘Let thy seed pass the gates of those that hate them’ ” (Genesis 24, 60). Many men – identifying as Rebecca blacked their faces and dressed in women’s clothing.

A huge man named Thomas Rees was the first Rebecca and he destroyed the tollgates at Yr Efail Wen in Carmarthenshire. Sometimes Rebecca would appear as a blind old woman who would stop at a tollgate and say: “My children,

A huge man named Thomas Rees was the first Rebecca and he destroyed the tollgates at Yr Efail Wen

Dartford take note - the toll across the Severn Road Bridge and its succesor are to become a thing of the past

something is in my way” at which her ‘daughters’ would appear and tear down the gates. They returned for a repeat performance as soon as the authorities replaced them. Things continued and reached a crescendo, and possibly went too far, in late 1843 when a young toll keeper, Sarah Williams, was killed, resulting in the bringing in of troops to restore order. The

In 1966 tolls were reintroduced in South Wales to pay for the Severn Road Bridgeand then the Second Severn Crossing

Rebecca Riots died out, but the point had been made and government took heed.

As a result though, in 1844 laws were passed to control the powers of turnpike trusts, which gradually all but disappeared from South Wales for over a hundred years until 1966 when they were reintroduced to pay for the Severn Road Bridge and then the Second Severn Crossing.

That toll too, is to be scrapped (Dartford take note!). By the 20th century turnpikes became a thing of the past across the UK, apart from a very few bridges and tunnels, as the system of highways governance we know today evolved.

What a fantastic story from history though – how surreal can you get: angry rampaging mobs of big hairy Welshmen dressed as women and answering to the name Rebecca.

You couldn’t make it up – it might make a good film.

Tollhouses were familiar on British highways

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Drivers of cars, vans and goods vehicles (up to and including 7.5 tonnes) will benefit from realistic training that is easy to undertake, quick to complete




































































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Tapping into the power of Virtual Reality is set to help one of the UK’s leading

providers of road safety and fleet risk management services make driver training faster and more comprehensive.

Telford-based TTC Group has teamed up with award-winning Nottingham VR app and web agency Gooii Ltd to launch the DriverProtect® App, which will initially use VR to help address the common driver problem of identifying speed limits without clear road signs.

Development work has taken three months and included all film and photography footage, transporting the user – through the use of an appropriate headset - into an environment where they can learn and be tested on speed limit questions and scenarios.

It is due to be launched this summer and will immediately target public sector organisations and businesses that are looking for an alternative training option that saves time, is more cost effective and can be completed without the need to be on the road.

“We are passionate about innovating the way we deliver training through the use of technology and this has already seen us launch a number of e-learning opportunities and risk management courses,” explained Andy Wheeler, Business Development Director at TTC Group.

“The development of our DriverProtect® App is the next stage of our progression and we fully intend to invest further in developing a number of courses that tap into the benefits of Virtual Reality.”

He went on to add: “Drivers of cars, vans and goods vehicles (up to and including 7.5 tonnes) will benefit from realistic training that is easy to undertake, quick to complete…all without leaving their place of work or home. Speed limits is our first course as we have found it has been a common cause of penalties and accidents…the next ones could potentially look at parking and manouevring.”

TTC, which delivers more than 1.3million hours of training every year, has invested £500,000 into a new campaign to help organisations effectively manage all aspects of work related road safety.

In addition to the App, this investment has included the recruitment of new staff to help it roll out its DriverProtect® suite of services that simplifies the process of looking after employees who drive as part of their jobs.

The new appointments include a new telesales team and a number of specialists that work with companies across the UK, delivering fleet risk audits, policy management, driver licence checks, driver risk profiling, fleet driver training and grey fleet management.

Andy added: “We first came across Gooii when it released its DriveVR app for local

Virtual ‘driver’ trainingthat's become a reality

Training on the go – the Driver Protect App is available on iPhone and Android devicesauthorities and were impressed with the quality of the content and how easy it was to use. This gave us the confidence to engage directly and we are delighted at how our first project has gone and the benefits the App will deliver.”

“From the initial discussions, it was clear TTC Group will become one of the leading suppliers of VR technology within its industry,” explained Phillip Hasted, Creative Director at Gooii.

“By combining our innovative technologies with their expertise, we will be able to

change driving behaviour and make our roads a safer place for everyone. We look forward to working with TTC on future VR and AR projects.”

The DriverProtect® App is available on iPhone and Android devices and can be downloaded direct from the relevant app store. It is expected to train more than 1,000 drivers in the first six months.l Want to know more? See www.ttc-

driverprotect.com or follow @DriverProtect1 on twitter. What do members think about this – send your comments to [email protected]

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An investigation by the Asphalt Industry Alliance has found more than 39,300 kmof road across the UK have been identified as needing essential maintenance




































































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Jill Seymour, ABD patron

ABD patron Jill Seymour has called for an urgent injection of

cash to repair Britain’s crumbling road network, as the number of potholes reaches record-breaking levels.

Mrs Seymour, UKIP transport spokesman and an MEP for the West Midlands, said it was time that highly-taxed motorists got back what they put into the chancellor’s coffers.

“One in five roads maintained by local authorities in Great Britain is now officially described as being in poor condition, or has been flagged up for further inspection,” she said.

“This is simply unacceptable at a time when there are record-breaking numbers of vehicles on our roads – paying taxes to the exchequer.

“Where is that taxation going? Based on this evidence, too little of it is being ploughed back into the highways network.”

Mrs Seymour added: “For far too long, drivers have been viewed as cash cows. Successive governments have been happy to take their

money, but reluctant to give enough of it back.

“The winter’s cold snap has merely emphasised the appalling condition of our rapidly crumbling road network, which in many cases is posing a serious risk to people’s safety

“Compensation claims are on the increase from road users who feel the full force of these cavernous potholes – so a failure to invest in proper, long-standing repairs is false economy.

“As the RAC has quite rightly pointed out, the condition of many local roads was already on a knife edge before the cold snap, with a mounting backlog of potholes in need of repair.

“We are spending nearly 25% less on fixing these holes across the UK than we were a decade ago. So, what exactly are road users paying their taxes for these days?”

Mrs Seymour said: “While the Government presses stubbornly ahead with the HS2 rail link which now looks set to cost much more than the predicted £55 billion, our existing transport infrastructure is left to soldier on, becoming shabbier by the day.”

Funds are needed to deal with menace of potholes

“Hello, I am a member of The Alliance of British Drivers.”

“Alliance of what? Never heard of you!"We all must have heard that one, so it is essential that

we use every opportunity to get our name more widely known,

Most clubs have their own badge or car sticker, so fellow members can recognise each other and we have not had one under the new ‘Alliance’ name; so this has now been rectified.

It is a round window sticker, a little bit larger than the old tax disc. So how do we get them to members?

Post is always an expensive option, but we thought with our limited funding that money could be better spent elsewhere.

So it was suggested that we would ask members to send in a stamped address envelope (SAE). This needs to be A5 size (162 x 229mm).

Giles who has volunteered to distribute them, has requested that you also supply a separate slip of paper inside with your name/address clearly written, or better still typed, along with phone number and email address.

This is so it will make it easier for him to keeps a record of who has one and to also check/update your membership details.

The address to send SAE is: Mr. G. Pepperell, ABD car stickers, The Bungalow, Tyddyn Mynyddig, BANGOR, Gwynedd. LL57 4UB. Show your support with a carsticker from the Alliance of British Drivers

Stick with us for detailson your driving matters

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Many people are prevented from changing their circumstances by obtaining a driving licence as they find themselves in poverty, not always of their own accord




































































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ABD director Brian Macdowall’s recent stint as a Kent county councillor brought him into

contact with Kent Enterprise Trust, a charity that works hard to get people back into employment by offering training and support.

John Nicholson, founder of Community Driving School, contacted KET to assist with bids for funding to finance CDS, a driving school with a difference.

You may take driving as a normal activity, but what if you are disabled, suffering from Asperger’s dyspepsia or related conditions, or been long term unemployed, lost your confidence and never learned to drive?

Brian is now a trustee with KET, and says he is delighted to have met John and his star pupil, Meghan.

John’s approach is very unusual. He gives free lessons up to test day to selected pupils, who have to do community work in return.

John is actively providing a positive solution to a very real problem. If you can’t drive you often can’t get a job, but you need to drive to get a job in the first place - a real ‘catch 22’ situation!

John needs money to support his venture, and Brian says: “I make no apologies for publicising his case. He is a decent hard-working man who has put himself out to provide a life skill for disadvantaged people.

“If you feel moved by his plea to support CDS, he would be delighted to receive your support - see links at bottom of article.”

Here is John’s story, in his own words:How many people reading this article would

be able to do their jobs or live the lives they do without a driving licence? How valuable has learning to drive been in your own life and career path?

In this modern world a driving licence and the training to reach this goal is so vital to follow your chosen life path that without a driving licence your career and life choices are restricted.

Many people are prevented from changing their circumstances by obtaining a driving licence as they find themselves living in poverty, not always of their own accord. This means that even if driving lessons were charged at a fraction of the cost, they are still out of reach for some.

There are many talented people who, through various circumstances, find they are unable to

utilise their skills due to the inability to fund a driving course.The following message was sent to me by a pupil I am training

through the Community Driving School Course: “Driving is such a huge part of my life. My biggest fear. I suffer with anxiety and depression which comes with agoraphobia. When I was a child, I used to literally dream about driving and being free on the road, it gave me such an amazing feeling.

“I finally reached the age where I can learn how to drive and I was and am still, petrified! I know many people who have been in car crashes and have passed away because of it.

Driving: the charitythat begins at work

One of John's pupils, Meghan, is now looking forward to a future with hope and confidence

ABD director Brian Macdowall

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"Through partnerships with local charities and local businesses, we are able to fund and mentor people from disadvantaged backgrounds"




































































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Transport matters kept in focus at latest panel

The ABD attended the latest road user panel at Transport Focus. One of the talking points was the result of the third annual IAM

Roadsmart Driving Safety Culture survey, polling the public at large – not just their membership.

Compared with three years ago, there are more concerns over issues such as distraction, congestion, aggression, drink driving, drug driving, speeding (young males top of the speeders).

Driving on motorway at 10 mph over speed limit? Over 60% were OK with this – but far less when asked about 5mph over the speed limit on urban roads.

Drivers were asked whether they supported laws on the following – here are some of the results:

Findings included:

Speed cameras (with 10mph allowance) 70%Ditto on urban roads 70%Ditto on motorways 60%20mph speed limits 50%School zones 86%Specifically against reading/texting at wheel 86%Lowering drink drive limit to at least 50mg 79%

On top of this, 59% placed drink and drugs as priority over speeding, and 74% supported moves to encourage advanced driving instruction? Support for this is growing.

What do you make of these results? Are you surprised – or indeed ‘horrified’ like some panel members. Let us know what you think.

The next meeting is scheduled for July 11.

“What scares me is the other people on the road. You just do not know what state of mind a driver is in.

"I literally woke up one day with this fear of getting in a car and feeling like I will be the person on the front page of the newspaper, ‘Young girl died in a car crash’. Sounds dramatic I know, but they are the thoughts I get.

“I am a qualified photographer who has tried extremely hard to promote and create my own photography business.

"I have spent stupid amounts of money and got nowhere with it."I truly believe this is because I am extremely limited when it comes

to travelling to my clients and carrying around my equipment. “This has knocked my confidence massively and I have had to put

my photography business to one side whilst I get myself together and cope with my mental health.”

An hour after I met this girl, she was driving the car. Yes, that’s right, SHE DROVE A CAR!

She said: “I have never ever felt so overwhelmed in my life. I felt so many emotions… proud, excited, scared, nervous, and to top it off, in total shock that after the millions of hours where I have sat at home fighting with myself, telling myself I cannot do it over and over again, one day, I did do it.

“I know I have a very long road ahead of me, but I believe with the support of John, I WILL be a happy driver with a bigger chance of a successful future, and this fear will be long gone. The day I pass my driving test will be the best day ever and my biggest accomplishment.”

Community Driving School C.I.C. is a ground-breaking not-for-profit company that offers sponsored driving lessons in return for community based work experience.

Through partnerships with local charities and local businesses, we are able to fund and mentor people from disadvantaged backgrounds and give them a hope of getting out of the cycle of benefits, into work and improving mental wellbeing and self-confidence.

We rely completely on donations from companies and grant funding to get out into the community to deliver these driving courses. Giving people the chance to apply for jobs previously beyond them is something a lot of people in poverty want to do.

Many of them do not want to rely on state benefits and handouts to get on with their lives and we see this as our mission.

The young lady in the example above is a qualified photographer who was made homeless in November 2017 and was living on the streets, and now she is looking forward to a future with hope and confidence, thanks to being given a chance.

The courses are more than just driving lessons, we provide mentor support, CV writing skills, interview techniques and even a suit if they

do not possess one. Corporate Social Responsibility has never been so important to business with so many similar companies.

To stand above the ordinary takes something extraordinary and Community Driving School C.I.C. offers the chance to be at the start of something special.

l If you or your company would like to be involved in this unique and new scheme, contact John Nicholson [email protected] or visit www.thecds.org.uk to learn more.

John Nicholson, founder of Community Driving School with his star pupil Meghan

Social media: You can keep abreast of ABD-related news, and what the ABD is up to on a daily basis, by following us on Twitter (@TheABD), or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/allianceofbritishdrivers)

Don’t forget to retweet our posts to help us gain more followers, and to share or ‘like’ our Facebook posts, encouraging your friends to support us too.

Website: The ABD’s website (www.abd.org.uk) is available to everyone, and there is a members’ site too (members.abd.org.uk).

Both of these contain mountains of information on a diverse range of topics, with links to other useful sites which may help your research.

Log on to find out more, or contact the ABD Webmaster, Chris Ward.

Forum: Want to discuss issues with other members? Then register for our online forum.

It’s split into topics and regions to help make the conversation as relevant as possible.

For details, see the members’ website.

Digital magazine: If you want an electronic version of our On The Road magazine, it is available in pdf format, and can be downloaded from the ABD members' website.

Action pack: The ABD offers an informative ‘action pack’ which explains the process used by local authorities to set speed limits, and the rights you have to object to new or reduced limits.

The pack costs £5 to non-members, but is free to current members, who just need to send a large SAE to: ABD Action Pack, 3 Wheatcroft Way, Dereham, Norfolk, NR20 3SS.

Alternatively, send correspondence by email to [email protected]

Affiliated organisations: The ABD runs an affiliation scheme, allowing groups which support us to formally recognise the work we do. If you are a member of an organisation you think should be backing the ABD, please inform Terry Hudson and we’ll try to sign them up!

Publicity material: If you would like copies of any ABD literature, please contact our membership secretary Francis Barnish.

Please don’t over-order, though, as printing costs are high.

Complain, and write to the media: Object about proposals for new traffic-calming measures and speed limit reductions. Few people do and that’s one of the reasons why they keep happening. Take time, too, to reply to anti-car articles in the media – you may be able to get a debate going, and become a spokesperson shouting up on behalf of drivers.

Fighting fund: The ABD has a fighting fund which welcomes donations at any time, or by standing order if you wish. For more details, contact our membership secretary.

Joint memberships: These are free, and help increase the size of the group. If your partner or spouse isn’t a joint member, sign them up if you can – Francis Barnish has details.

Local and regional contacts: Have you been in touch with your local co-ordinator recently? Find out how you can advise them of a local issue, and help them to campaign, by logging onto the members’ site (members.abd.org.uk). If there’s no local co-ordinator for the area, why not take on the role yourself?

National committee: The ABD’s committee is always looking for more members to bring fresh ideas. If you’d like to help out, contact Brian Gregory, Brian Macdowall, Ian Taylor, or email [email protected]

Contact your MP: We’d encourage all members to write regularly to their local MP, reminding them of their duty to stand up for drivers. It’s best to get their contact details from their local constituency website – contacting them through the Parliament website can be a complicated and long-winded process. Make sure you state that you are a constituent of theirs, to get priority in a reply.

Stay informed - and spread the word

abd.org.uk

As an ABD member your details are stored on databases controlled by our membership secretary, company secretary and treasurer.

ABD contacts -a who’s who?BOARD OF DIRECTORSBrian [email protected]

Brian Macdowall [email protected]

Ian Taylor [email protected]

COMPANY SECRETARY Terry [email protected] TREASURERHugh [email protected] WEBMASTER/SOCIAL MEDIAChris [email protected] ON THE ROAD EDITORCarl [email protected] TECHNICAL ADVISERMalcolm Heymer [email protected]

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARYFrancis Barnish [email protected]

ENQUIRIES01227 369119 or 07930 113232

l Show your support for the ABD with one of our car stickers. Send an A5 size stamped address envelope plus your name, address, phone number and email address, to Mr G. Pepperell, ABD car stickers, The Bungalow, Tyddyn Mynyddig, BANGOR, Gwynedd. LL57 4UB.

The General Data Protection Regulation has now come into effect across the EU. In a nutshell, it replaces and beefs up (in favour of individual rights and privacy safeguards) the old UK Data Protection Act.

The ABD board has examined the details - and after some minor ‘tidying up’ of our membership records, we're confident we are fully compliant.

Some organisations will have to register with the Information Commissioner. We shall not be required to.

As an ABD member your details are stored on databases controlled by

our membership secretary, company secretary and treasurer. We take the safeguarding of this information very seriously, so would like to take this opportunity to reassure you that these details are stored solely as membership records for the purpose of communicating with members (including this magazine) and collection of subscriptions.

In the event of lapsed or terminated memberships, all details will be deleted after a maximum of six months. Your details will never be passed to any third party.

The full ABD Privacy Statement may be viewed on the ABD website.

Want to get more involved? Contact Ian Taylor or Brian Macdowall to find out how…

Compliant with General Data Protection Regulation

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is enforcedVisit www.abd.org.uk for further details. To join the ABD call now on 0161 408 7070




































































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on the roadoriginal.abd.org.uk/downloads/otr/abd_otr_127.pdf · thursday, june 23. road transport...

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