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The older style £20 note (with Sir Edward Elgar on the back) is being withdrawn.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."

Click to view full size (pop-up)

Flushed with success from January's competition (see below), Si (T312) has offered this image for this month's contest. Thanks, Si.

Entry has closed, please:

VOTE NOW

Can't wait for your copy of "Despatch" - the DSA magazine?
Then download it now!
Apparently, it's undergone a makeover...

Voting has closed, here is the result:

Several entries got a massive one vote each:

• "Knowing that weather forecasters can be unreliable I use this to get home quick if it rains."
• "Can I join in the charity drive from lands end to john o groats?"
• "What do you mean it's not suitable for the motorcycle test, It's got two wheels, and I don't really want to skid anyway."
• "Does the lack of head restraints mean I'll have to do a role play check test?"
• "Introducing "The Gordon". Slow, difficult to handle and goes downhill fast."
• "The government announce that MPs will get now perks in line with their performance. Introducing the new ministerial limousine."

But the winner by a mile (or with five votes) was T3:

"BSM announce their new fleet for 2010."

Congratulations! If anyone has a picture suitable for the caption competition, please forward it to:
webmaster@didu.co.uk

Click to enlargeAnyone remember Ogri? Apparently he's up for sale:
LINK     another LINK

Use the full screen button for a better view

Do you run a Ford Transit? Maybe not, if you're an ADI. But perhaps you have a Renault Megane, or a Toyota Corolla? The BBC's Martin Rosenbaum has blogged today about failure rates for MOTs - something which might help all of us when purchasing a new car.
For a long time, the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) had refused to release the data, but yesterday they relented and 1200 pages of data appeared on the VOSA website.
The BBC blog has a summary of the data, and the full VOSA data (all 1200 pages) is currently available.
Links:
Martin's article
VOSA page