Medical groups including the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have called for a ban, which has been introduced in  parts of Canada, the US and South Africa. Each year, some 300,000 children in the UK visit GPs due to second-hand smoke, with 9,500 attending hospitals.

Smoking in vehicles used for work is already illegal (except in certain circumstances), but I agree that it should definitely be looked at to include a ban when children are in the car. However, if it does happen I can see it going the same way as the mobile phone law. On a regular basis I see 10-20 drivers a day on their phone while teaching people to driving in Brentwood so the message isn’t getting through.

Maybe some shock adverts, like the ones used for drink driving may be the way to go. They probably won’t stop everyone, but I would imagine they would stop quite a few…

Read the full story here

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First of all, a little bit about the test itself.

The practical test is taken on the road, with a professionally trained DSA Examiner directing the candidate around a pre-determined route. The examiner marks the candidate for driving faults, serious faults, and dangerous faults. A candidate will fail the test if he or she accumulates any serious or dangerous faults, or more than fifteen driving faults. If a candidate accumulates several driving faults in the same area, the examiner may consider the fault habitual and mark a serious fault in that category. The test usually lasts between 38 to 40 minutes in a normal test, or about 70-75 minutes when the candidate is taking an extended test after having had their licence revoked (normally due to drink driving, or other serious offences).

Before the test

The first part of the test involves reading a licence plate from around 20 metres. This is the same as you would’ve done on your first driving lesson with your Instructor. Next, the Examiner will ask you a few show me, tell me questions on basic vehicle maintainence. Now for the main driving part.

The Driving Test

During the test, the Examiner will ask you to do several things. They will make sure you can choose safe places to park, and move off again safely. This will normally be done several times, often behind a car, on a hill and on a busier road. You will also be asked to do one reversing exercise. There are 4 possibilities (or 3 if the test centre doesn’t have a car park):

• Turn in the road (often called the ’3 point turn’). You will need to turn the car round safely to face the opposite direction. Ideally this will be done in 3 moves, but if 5 are used, and the overall control and observation is good, then you won’t fail on this.
• Reversing round a corner. This is where you drive past a road, and reverse back into it keeping reasonably close to the kerb. Aim for a distance of around 30-40cm, but a bit wider or closer isn’t a problem so long as the car is still safe. Obviously don’t be too far from the kerb if you can help it.
• Parallel parking. An essential skill for when you need to park on a busy road. Normally the Examiner will choose a single car for you to use, and ask you to park in a gap of roughly 2 car lengths. Sometimes you will park between 2 cars, but the gap will be more than you should need.
• Bay parking. If the test centre doesn’t have a car park, you won’t get asked to do this. However, if you do, the main thing is to safely reverse into a marked bay. As long as you finish between the lines, then that’s fine. It doesn’t matter how you get there.

During the test, the Examiner won’t ask you to do anything different to what you have practiced during your driving lessons Braintree. So just relax, listen to what they say and take your time. Most people tend to rush when they’re nervous, meaning mistakes are more likely. If you find yourself feeling anxious about anything, try and drop your speed slightly to give yourself more time to deal with situations ahead of you. At worst you might pick up a driver error for driving a bit slow, but that’s better than failing for rushing into something you’re not prepared for.

If things don’t go well for whatever reason, don’t worry. If your Instructor wasn’t there during the test, they will get feedback from the Examiner which will help to prepare you for your next test.

For more information on the driving test, check out this wikipedia article.

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A driving instructor who had been on a hunger strike in protest against the sacking of his two colleagues passed out for a second time on Monday.

Steven Lin Kwok, 59, fainted and fell to the floor after punching his fist against a table during a meeting with the management of Hong Kong School of Motoring at its Sha Tin campus.

Last Monday, Lin had joined his two colleagues on a hunger strike to protest against the sackings by the school. The strikers said no reason had been given for their dismissals.

Lin collapsed for the first time last Friday and was taken to a hospital. After regaining consciousness, he left the hospital and resumed his fast

On Monday, Lin was taken to the Prince of Wales Hospital where he remains after having regained consciousness. A doctor at the hospital said he might have fractured a bone in his hand and that an X-ray and electrocardiogram would be conducted on him.

The two sacked driving instructors, each with 16 and 23 years of experience respectively, said the school had plans to replace senior teachers with cheaper ones.

Read the full story here.

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That said, I’ve noticed more and more people are preferring to purchase their car tax online as it’s quicker and easier.

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Come back soon!

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