As usual, Matt from the Telegraph has a good angle on the current weather.

ADIs are still uncertain how the new Vetting and Barring Scheme will affect them. We are waiting for the first of the roadshows (mentioned later in the following text) to get the full breakdown of how these changes will effect ADIs. Nothing has been said to date to make things much clearer.
DIDU will send a representative to the first of the open events.

Click the "read more" link for the latest information.

Adrian Lewis - Deputy Chairman and DIDU Member Support.

Update - June 2010

The New Government has, for the time being, put this issue on hold until it can be properly reviewed and a decision about its direction has been made. Keep looking in for further developments as and when they happen.

Not the sort of situation you want to be in on that first lesson...
But can you think of a suitable caption?
Post your ideas using the "... comment" button below.
Anyone can enter, but if you are not registered on this site your entry may not be seen immediately.

Update - the winners are:

There were 18 votes, and the winners with 4 votes each were:

"you thought we were in an aeroplane.........when we did the cockpit drill!!" from someone anonymous

and

"Earn £30,000 a year as a RED arrows instructor" from Steve Curtis

Well done! Watch this space for Januarys competition.

Following the crash reconstruction of two weeks ago, I was approached by the London Safety Camera Partnership to do an interview to be published in their magazine INSIGHT. This is distributed throughout the UK to road safety officers, public bodies, police, London mayors office and I would presume the transport select committee and maybe DSA HQ.

Also, I have now had a request for this to be included in the March 2010 edition of Good Motoring Magazine which has a circulation of 60,000.

Here is the interview :

Q: What sort of view of drivers and driving do you get from the instructor’s seat of your car ?

I am pleased you use the term Instructors seat instead of passenger seat because the one thing an instructor must never be is a passenger. I am based in and around south east London, and with the pace of modern City driving I can never relax my full focus and attention whilst I have a learner under tuition.

The British School of Motoring has just changed hands (again) and is reportedly looking for 3000 new instructors. Currently BSM have 2600 ADIs.

The new owners of the company are Abu-Haris Shafi and Nikolai Kesting, who joined BSM after Arques purchased it for a symbolic fee just nine months ago.

BSM, independent until 1997, is 100 years old next year. This latest change of ownership is the fourth in four years. Mr Shafi reportedly said that there was no shortage of pupils, but that BSM had a lack of candidates for it's ADI training courses. This has lead BSM to reduce the cost of their instructor training.

Read more:

• The Telegraph
• Mirror
• thisismoney

A DIDU instigated crash reconstruction display took place in Lewisham, South East London on Thursday 29th October. The initial idea was taken up by Transport for London following a meeting between DIDU and the Local road safety Manager of Lewisham Council. TFL brought together fire, ambulance and police services, each provided crews, vehicles, and equipment on the day. Crash vehicles were from the police pound. All three services gave a commentary as events unfolded.

DIDU invited local instructors and their pupils and the Dsa to attend. Sharon Cashin (DSA Sector 18 Area Manager) not only showed up but was willing to play the casualty as per photo.

If this makes just one driver ease back on their speed then it will be worth all of the planning. Many in the crowd were visibly taken aback after being faced by the reality of a crash and what is involved in a rescue.

The Metropolitan Police traffic section commentator stated that a fatal crash involving all the services, including hospitals, crash investigation and possible court action, costs the nation in the region of £1.5 million overall.

(I am in the background with my DIDU badge on display and camera to the ready in the first photo above)

     More Videos Here
The DSA have uploaded some useful CPD (continuous professional development) videos to their YouTube site. It's worth checking their YouTube channel quite often, as content is being added on a regular basis.

ADIs are unsure how the new "Vetting and Barring Scheme" will affect them. It seems that the DSA are also unsure at the momemnt.
DIDU will keep its members fully informed, but until there is more definite information, the following website should be helpful:

Vetting and barring scheme website

Adrian Lewis - DIDU member support.

There have been many stories doing the rounds about gangs of criminals staging rear end shunts, then claiming thousands of pounds compensation for whiplash injuries and the like.

Fortunately, one of these criminal drivers won't be able to fleece the public and insurance companies for a few years - as he is serving a prison sentence.

So the stories are not urban myths after all, and it does really happen. Proving that the driver in front deliberately caused the accident can be very difficult, but maybe not quite so hard now.

Check the links below for the full story:

• BBC
• Reuters
• The Sun

Lord AdonisIt has been announced today that instructors and drivers accompanying learners will not be made to sit in the back of the car during the driving test.

In a victory for common sense, Lord Adonis (Transport Minister) said that the new proposals "have been reversed to avoid unnecessary regulation"

The only relevant change is that the learner will be asked by the examiner at the start of their test whether they want their accompanying driver to sit in during the test.

Press coverage:
Daily Mail