ADIRSO is an association of instructors and road safety officers. They have an excellent website; with a very interesting page about the legal responsibilities of the supervising driver.

14th June 2010

Here is a statement from Barry Kenward - DIDU chairman:

"It is with great pleasure and pride that I am able to announce that DIDU has been awarded Consultative Status in its own right by the DSA Registrar, Charles Morton, after 11 months of hard work by my team of Executive Members and with the full support and encouragement of our membership."

"Of note, Charles said, "I was impressed by the quality of your application, its openness and clarity. It is refreshing to read of your more pragmatic approach by your Executive Committee and that as an organisation you have much to learn and believe that having consultative status will assist DIDU to come to more reasoned decisions on major issues confronting our profession."

Barry and all members of the EC have put a huge amount of effort into C.S. - well done!

From October 4th 2010 there will be a new element added to the driving test - independent driving.
To allow for the extra time independent driving may take, candidates will be asked to only do one reversing manoeuvre.
Check out our busy forum to see what DIDU members think, and to find out all the latest developments.

The older style £20 note (with Sir Edward Elgar on the back) is being withdrawn.
From the first of July 2010, banks and building societies do not have to accept the old note, but most will, for a few months. The Bank of England will always accept its old notes.
So get under the bed, drag out that old suitcase containing your life savings, and get down to the bank, pronto!
Oh yes, and watch out for those cheeky learners trying to fob off their old notes on you for their lessons.
Full details here:
Bank of England website

Will your learners be able to do a "Eine Umdrehung in der Straße?" Let's hope so, as from later this month driving examiners from all European Union countries will be given the right to conduct tests in the UK.

A Driving Standards Agency (DSA) spokesperson said today that under the European Human Rights act, the DSA are powerless to stop multilingual tests taking place:

"It won't be that bad. The E.U. only has 27 members. Some of those countries even speak the same language. All that UK learners will have to do is learn about 35 key phrases in around 23 languages. What could be simpler?"

A new DSA publication, "Take your driving test in Latvian, and 22 other languages" is due out tomorrow, priced at a very reasonable £98.49.

"Tirer en haut dans un lieu sûr et commode sur la gauche, s'il vous plaît," as they say in France!

There is a new website which you might be interested in:
www.fabred.co.uk
This was made by DIDU member Andy Crowe after following the DIDU website creation course: LINK
Here is what Andy kindly said about the course:

"I've just completed the DIDU website cpd course, and I now have a fully functioning website! It's at www.fabred.co.uk Please take a look and let me know what you think.
Because of the very easy to follow instructions, I just did what it said, paid up my 30 quid, and bingo! I'm very happy with the end result, although in hindsight perhaps the domain name I chose could be better.
I'm already planning a website mark 2, which will have more colours, pages and stuff to appeal to the younger audience.
Many thanks to Foshy for an excellent course."

The spring issue is now free to download. Thanks to Tony, and everyone else who contributed. This issue features DIDU's continuing work on CPD.

Download the spring 2010 issue

Make sure you read Cam's article: "The Numskulls" - it's brilliant.

Please email Tony (the editor) if you would like to submit an article, have any comments or suggestions, or would like to advertise to our growing membership.

Other back copies are available:
TWF back copies

An invitation by DIDU to attend a CPD seminar

Whether you are recently qualified as an ADI or looking to increase your existing driver trainer knowledge, this seminar will develop a number of thoughts on how driver training as an ADI can be refreshed by a new approach or how you can appraise and deal with those clients who may challenge your abilities.

John, with his oldest first time pass - 75 years young!Our presenter, John Brown (ADI and author of “Driving is Turning Disability into Ability” and “Driving is More about Psychology than Systems”) asks you to consider the following:

• “Have you ever taught someone who inexplicably just ‘could not get it’ and you felt you had failed them?”
• “Have you ever taught a perfectly ‘normal’ student and wondered why they did not learn to drive in the usual way?”
• “Were you one of those who struggled either academically or to learn a new skill, but knew you were actually quite bright and felt bewildered as you failed to attain your potential?”

The DSA have just issued this press release:

"Driving examiner strike - candidates to attend tests.
The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union is asking its members to take strike action on Monday and Tuesday, 8 and 9 March.
If you have a driving test booked for either day, we ask you to attend as scheduled.
We won’t know the effects of the strikes until the day as not all of our examiners and staff are members of the union.
We don’t know at this stage who will attend for work, which is why we ask that you arrive for your test regardless.
You don’t need to do anything and there is no need to contact DSA.
If you can’t take a test because of the action, you will have the test rebooked automatically, free of charge, and an appointment confirmation will be sent by email or post.
If your new appointment isn’t suitable you can change it online."