May 2012
The Institute of Advanced Motorists Group briefing welcome
Welcome to Insight, the monthly newsletter produced for the IAM group network and its members. Red Bull gives you dings?
This month the government announced new legislation to make sure drug drivers face a prison sentence of up to six months and a fine of up to £5,000. Plans to make driving while under the influence of drugs an offence will be included in a crime, communications and courts bill this year. At the same time, the police are to be supplied with drugalysers – devices that will allow them to test drivers for drugs. The equipment receives approval from the Home Office this year. Offenders will also face an automatic driving ban. George Michael may be Britain’s most famous drug driver but the IAM recently announced findings that as many as one in ten young men have driven while high on cannabis.
Red bull gives you dings?
In the driving heat
So I’m delighted that new equipment will allow police to make quick and accurate decisions at the roadside or at the police station about drug drivers. At the same time I am concerned about the way impairment will be measured. I believe the proven ability of impairment testing should not be forgotten in any rush to provide a technological solution to the drug driving issue. Unless drugalysers can provide proof of impairment in situations where a cocktail of drugs and alcohol may have been taken, their main role will be as detectors of the presence of illegal substances. This may in itself be a useful function but not necessarily a road safety one.
Summer bike tour - whatever the leathers
The other issue to consider is the negative effect of some over-thecounter and prescription drugs, even caffeine drinks, which won’t be picked up by these tests. Impairment will still be the key in measuring whether somebody is fit to drive – measuring for illegal substances which may or may not still be having some effect on a driver is just too simplistic.
Simon Best Chief executive ceo@iam.org.uk
Councils put the brakes on road safety
www.iam.org.uk Insight MAY 2012
DTE update
May 2012 In the driving heat Following the success of the winter driving site, you can now visit in the driving heat, its sizzling summer sister site. It includes traffic updates, weather forecasts, and summer driving tips, including advice on: driving abroad, cycling, coping with Olympic congestion and loading the car for a long journey. The web address is drivingadvice.org.uk. We would appreciate your help in driving more visitors to the site, so please send the link to your groups, friends and family, tweet it and like it on Facebook.
Please send any feedback on the site to caroline.holmes@iam.org.uk. We want your thoughts on additions, improvement and changes.
Summer bike tour - whatever the leathers To promote road safety and raise money for the Association of Air Ambulances, eight IAM motorcyclists will be riding around the UK, covering 1000 miles between Monday 18th and Sunday 24th June. The eight riders will be joined by local groups and other organisations throughout the tour. They will start from the Ace Cafe London, travelling to IAM Chiswick with Simon Best, before heading down to Christchurch. • Monday 18th June London to Christchurch • Tuesday 19th Christchurch to Birmingham (Bassetts Pole) • Wednesday 20th Birmingham to Newcastle • Thursday 21st Newcastle to Glasgow • Friday 22nd Glasgow to Belfast (ferry from Cairnryan) • Saturday 23rd Belfast (Dublin to Holyhead) to Chester • Sunday 24th Chester to Shrewsbury, finishing at Shropshire Bikefest 2012
Whilst in Belfast the IAM and Adelaide will attempt to set a world record for the most makes & models of bikes in a parade at the same time. To register for this event please visit http://www.iam.org.uk/worldrecordattempt, and if you’re interested in getting involved along the way please contact: dave.shenton@iam.org.uk.
DTE update During the spring forums we announced that DTE training for group representatives would commence from late May. Feedback so far has highlighted that there are some further improvements that we need to make, to ensure the system will work as effectively as we want it to for groups. Because of this we have delayed the roll out to late June 2012, to enable us to improve the usability and content. We will be in touch to re-arrange the training with you soon.
Spring regional forums The slides from the regional forums are now available in the groups area of the website, under document downloads.
Councils put the brakes on road safety We recently published new research, The end of the road? Local investment in road safety in England, which asked councils how much they were spending on road safety. We discovered that local councils in England slashed their road safety budgets by 15 per cent (£23 million) last year compared to average spending cuts of just six per cent for other council services. This story received national and regional media coverage, but of course local journalists love a local angle. If you are interested in using your area’s results for your own press release we can give you the regional breakdown of results, the press release, and a list of your local press contacts. (We have findings from 81 councils – around half – so please be aware we may not have your area.)
100,000 members. One voice. Every month we run a poll, and use the results to represent the views of our members on policy issues in our policy and communications work. To gain media interest in the results, we need as many respondents as possible. If you’re not yet a regular respondent please fill in our latest poll, driving abroad, and leave your email address so we can notify you every time we post a new poll.
For more information on Insight, please contact the IAM press office, email: press office@iam.org.uk phone: 020 8996 9777 iam.org.uk Insight May 2012