The rule 165 of the Highway Code of the United Kingdom (UK) is dealing mainly of many situations that the driver must not overtake a vehicle in front purposely to avoid road fatalities, thus protecting not only the life of the motorists but all other vulnerable road users.

The rule says that any driver must not overtake in these situations:

(1.)  If you’ll have to straddle or cross the double white lines with one solid line nearest to you.
(2.)  If you’ll have to enter a spot which is designed to divide traffic, and if it’s within a single solid white line that surrounds it.
(3.)  The vehicle which is nearest to the pedestrian crossing and when it stops letting pedestrians to cross the road.
(4.)   If you’ll have to enter an area which is reserved for trams, buses or cycles during its time of operation.
(5.)  Beyond a “No Overtaking” sign and until you will pass a sign that cancels the restriction.

Also, don’t overtake if there’s any doubt, or where you cannot see far enough ahead to be sure it is safe. For example, when you’re approaching the following:

(1.)  a corner or bend
(2.)  a hump bridge
(3.)  the brow of a hill.

Don’t overtake if you think you might be in conflict with the other motorists or road users.

For example: When you’re:

(1.)  going to approach a road junction or if you’re already on it at either road side.
(2.)  in an area where the road ahead narrows or when you’re in a narrow portion of the road.
(3.)  going to approach a school crossing.
(4.)  in between the kerb and a tram or bus when it is at a stop
(5.)  in an area where there is a long queue of traffic at road works or junctions.
(6.)  going to force another motorist to slow down or swerve.
(7.)  at a level crossing which is currently functioning that anytime unexpectedly trains are passing by.

When a road user is indicating right, even if you believe the signal should have been cancelled. Do not take a risk, wait for the signal to be cancelled. Because there may be reasons you don’t know why the signal continues even if the car is still going straight ahead at the moment but surprisingly will turn right quickly for an emergency.

If you are a defensive driver, you will think that it’s better to waste a few minutes waiting for the signal to be cancelled and just stay behind rather than overtaking aggressively only to collide with that vehicle in front which turns to the right quickly according to its given signal.

On the other hand, if you are following a cyclist, stay behind him or her when approaching a roundabout or junction, and you intend to turn left. Many drivers aren’t willing to do this because the pace will be very slow to waste more of their time, so they have the tendency to overtake the cyclist before reaching the corner, thus raising the risk of an accident.

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As a driver based in the United Kingdom (UK), you’ve been accustomed to driving on the left side of the road from your driving lessons Colchester. Probably, you may have had experiences of driving on the right side of the road if you already went on a holiday to the neigbouring European country that drive on the right. Then you had hired a vehicle to fit the rule to avoid the danger of fatal road accident.

But, if you have no experience at driving on the right at all, it will provide you plenty of challenges. As we drive on the left, there’s not much you can do in the UK to prepare yourself practically for driving on the right.

So prepare yourself with the knowledge about this type of the road that frequently catches us left-hand drivers out. It will certainly help you to prepare yourself for surmounting the ordeal in driving on the right.

In terms of safety, the best preparation that could be done before you take to the right-hand roads in foreign country is ensuring your driving skills must be up to date in your own country as you’ll be taking on the challenges in a foreign one. The key areas are observational and correct use of signals, because being lack of these will result to many accidents.

You can browse the driving test tutorial section especially on dual carriageways, changing lanes, motorways, planning and anticipation. Remember that there are different traffic systems being used differently in foreign countries. The use of safe and correct driving observation is highly practised in these countries.

So, always keep to the right. The first thing to bear in your mind is to keep to the right. Because you’ll be reverting back surprisingly to your old habit of driving on the left side of the road particularly if on the opposite there are no oncoming vehicles.

Keep saying repeatedly to yourself “KEEP TO THE RIGHT” until it will become a second nature. It can also help you if you take a passenger along as you can ask him/her to keep a watchful eye on your safe road positioning.

In driving on the right-hand side of the road, there’s more for you to remember. Other than simply remembering to drive on the right, try not to over complicate things and just go with the flow of traffic. Other vehicles on the road will also show you what to do.

If you get too stressed may make matters worse because you may start to panic. If you can feel that your stress is increasing, you better pull over to the safe place. You can also focus on getting to grips with road positioning and unfamiliar road systems rather than navigation.

For example, if you arrive in France at wheel with your own right-hand drive car, you’ll notice that by driving on the right, leaves you with little view of the road ahead. You’ll have a better view of pavements and the verge more than the road. So, as your view of the road ahead is more restricted, keep enough following distance from the vehicles in front allowing you to have more time to react.

Many of us are currently opting to jump in our vehicles and take to the rest of European roads. This is along with the cost-effective and easy means of crossing the English Channel. This method of travel with an economical vehicle can always be cheaper than flying. And it can often be less restrictive compared to the conventional holiday if driving in Europe is for recreational purposes.

Driving your car in and around some European countries may offer you a certain level of freedom and fun, but it needs you to be prepared with the right equipment and with all the knowledge of each country’s laws that motorists must abide by to avoid hassle and penalties.

So, today if you’re planning to drive in other European countries and have only little or no knowledge of the applied laws that you have to abide by, this guide you’re currently reading may be of value. One vital thing to take consideration is that most European countries drive on the right. Therefore, as a driver in Britain, there’s a need for some adjustment.

Remember also that around 70 % of all the countries across the globe drive on the right. All other European countries drive on the right except Cyprus, Malta and Ireland. So, in a British motorist’s lifetime being spent mostly driving on the left, there will always be a time to drive on the right as many of its neighbouring countries drive on the right side of the road.

Therefore, for those motorists in Britain who have only little or no experience at driving on the right, they will be shocked at crossing the English Channel as suddenly they will be driving on the other side of the road along with the new driving rules. This situation will put you back like you’re a novice driver and it can be hazardous and overwhelming.

The situation will become worse when you’re driving your right-hand drive vehicle in a left-hand drive country. So, there are some driving on the right tips that you have to learn. These are offered advices on how to best prepare yourself to drive on the right side of the road along with areas where mistakes have been commonly committed by inexperienced drivers.

Driving in other European countries has some important requirements at wheel. If you intend to drive your car to other European countries from the Unite Kingdom (UK), it’s necessary for yourself to familiarise with the different legal requirements that every European country has been enforcing.

So, before setting off around Europe, make sure that you are already aware of the fact that although there are driving laws of one country that may differ from the other, there are always minimum legal requirements that British motorists should be aware of.

One thing that you must know first is the age of motorist to be allowed to drive in Europe. Although a holder of full driving licence can drive at the age of 17 in the UK, most European countries have required the driver to be 18 years or older to drive a car legally and independently with a full licence.

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After taking driving lesson Colchester many drivers have committed some driving offences frequently without even realising them. A common example is driving over the speed limit provided by law. And of course, there are motoring offences that are intentionally committed. These are actually worse as it means these motorists are becoming dangerous drivers on the road.

Many driving offences have come with a fine and penalty points placed onto the driving licence of offending drivers in which up to 12 have been permitted. When you exceed 12 penalty points you’ll be required to surrender your driving licence until these penalty points will expire and get back to 12 or less.

The penalty for every driving offence is reflected to its type and to the circumstances of each individual – why he/she has committed such an offence.

A driving offence could also result to a few penalty points on your driving licence or a fine. It could also result to community service or even a possible imprisonment. Repeat offenders could also result to custodial sentence which is often the result of an offence having recklessness and associated potential danger.

Although many driving offences are carrying a fixed fine, other offences depend on the judge’s discretion if the case is filed in court. There are websites today that explain a lot some various driving offences with the likely penalty imposed by a judge or just the fixed penalty charges.

For the new drivers in driving schools, you should be aware that your provisional driving licence will be revoked when you get six or more penalty points within two years after passing your driving test.

So, you should keep yourself updated about the points on your provisional driving licence. Make sure that your penalty points being carried on your unexpired provisional licence should be carried to your full driving licence when you’ve passed your driving test. But your licence should be revoked when you will get any additional penalty points that will take you to a total of six or more within two years from passing your driving test.

If within two years your driving licence is revoked, you’ll have to apply and pay for another new provisional driving licence and then you need to pass again both your practical and theory driving or riding test to get a full driving licence.

Then, you will ask, who’s covered by these rules? These rules have been actually applicable to new drivers who are passers of their first driving tests in places like: (1.) Great Britain (2.) Northern Ireland (3.) Isle of Man (4.) Channel Islands (5.) Gibraltar (6.) European Economic Area (6.) European Community.

The European Community and the European Economic Area include 30 countries as follows: (1.) Belgium (2.) Austria (3.) Bulgaria (4.) Republic of Cyprus  (5.) Croatia (6.) Denmark (7.) Czech Republic  (8.) Finland (9.) Estonia (10.) Germany (11.) France (12.) Hungary (13.) Greece (14.) Italy (15.) Iceland (16.) Ireland (17.) Lithuania (18.) Latvia (19.) Liechtenstein (20.) Netherlands (21.) Luxembourg (22.) Malta (23.) Portugal (24.) Norway (25.) Poland (26.) Sweden (27.) Romania (28.) Spain (29.) Slovenia (30.) Slovakia.

The emission levels from new cars have reached an all-time low in the United Kingdom (UK), according to the motor industry group dubbed as the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). This is welcome news amid the worldwide efforts to save our mother Earth from the devastating effects of climate change due to environmental degradation of our own creation.

The SMMT said carbon tailpipe emissions from new cars in the UK recently averaged 124.6 g per one kilometre. The European Union’s wide target is 130 g/km. This is actually three per cent better compared to the emissions of pollutants last year.

The SMMT also said there had been a shift to more-efficient diesel and petrol engines as well as a significant growth in the number of vehicles using alternative fuel. It added that in the year 2014,  68.6 % of new cars significantly met or fell below the 130 g/km threshold of the European Union compared  to the year 2000 with just around one per cent.

The vehicles and their owners will have to face  tougher targets in the future as the EU is requiring an emission level of 95 g/km by the year 2020.

Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, commented on the latest emission data, stressing that the automotive sector of Britain has made an enormous stride in remarkably reducing emissions of pollutants and the nation is proud of its own achievements in helping the worldwide efforts to save our mother Earth.

“However, there’s still a long journey to take in meeting ambitious targets in the year 2020 which will need an ongoing investment and support.

The society has been committed to working with the government of the next decade by making the changes right now to help the industry in meeting the even greater reduction of CO2 emissions demanded in the future,” said Hawes.

On the other hand, commercial vehicle and car production had raced ahead last month. The motor industry has been lauding some of the best figures for years especially those with much reduced CO2 emissions.

The production surge has a total of 144,893 cars being produced in the UK in March, 2015. It’s around two per cent rise in the same period last year. It was the best figure in March since 2006. So, it took the number of cars produced in the first three months of 2015 to 402,193. It was a 0.6% dip on the total for the period from January to March 2014.

The level of productivity per person was also at all-time high, as announced by SMMT. There had been 11.5 vehicles being produced a year for each person employed in the motor industry for the past five years. During the period the figure was 9.2 vehicles being produced by every employee each year from 2005 to 2009.

In terms of car production, it has been said that if it’s built in UK, it’s just beyond an ordinary brand because British car making industry is increasingly competitive on a worldwide scale. The latest rise in production figures is clear evidence to this claim.

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Learning who the Worst Drivers in Britain are, is still far from your concern as a learner driver in a Driving School Colchester but seeing the significance of knowing this from a new study could help you have a glimpse of the complex world you’re getting into as you progress in your chosen career in driving.

You may be surprised to know that ironically, the highly skilled and educated medical professionals like doctors of medicine are number one offending drivers. These people are actually working as general practitioners who have been found to be the worst drivers in Britain for already a second year in a row. These drivers are topping in the list of most likely to make car insurance claims.

A study showed that more than a quarter of doctors or 28 % of them claimed on their car insurance in the past three years. This figure is two times higher than the national average of only 14 %. With all these figures, a learner driver could already think how complex the world of driving they’re going into.

Its complexity lies in a perplexing situation that if highly professional people, who are supposed to be highly disciplined individuals of our society being doctors in their chosen fields could make it to the top of the list of offenders, would it mean that non-professionals are more educated and law-abiding than them?

If you get in-depth, you’ll know the answer. A study showed such doctors’ offences can be traced not to their lack of discipline or unwillingness to follow the rules rather to the stress associated in the practice of their profession.

The study also showed that other medical professionals claimed second place in the list of offending drivers for already two consecutive years. This accounts 26.9 % of all hospital consultants who claimed their car insurance in the last three years. The counsellors for drug addiction got to the third spot with 25.6 %. The health visitors got to the fourth place with 24.9 %.

The non-health profession vocations got fifth and sixth places making them as the only group to make it to the top 10 of car insurance claims, whilst the probation officers got 24.4 % which is still in the fifth spot and environmental health officers are also in the sixth place at 23.6 %.

The remaining places in the top 10 professions most likely to claim are community nurses at 23.3 %, speech therapists at 23.2 %, dental surgeons at 22.9 % and clinical psychologists at 22.6 %. The occupations such as professional footballers, painters, couriers and plasterers have the lowest number of claims in their car insurance.

Andrew Smith, a professor who is an expert on health and occupational psychology opined that stress could have a dramatic effect on the body’s cognitive functions and its overall health. When people experience a stressful day, it’s often that they find themselves become absent-minded or especially clumsy as they struggle to concentrate on certain tasks.

In any context, stress symptoms can be a serious thing, and it can be potentially dangerous when you’re behind the steering wheel. So, as doctors and other medical professionals are doing highly stressful jobs, it’s not surprising that they had the highest proportion of claims in their car insurance. However, the incidents were usually minor bumps caused by lapses in driving concentration, so they weren’t serious accidents.

The British Government Has Launched a £10 Million Prize for Battery Design Innovation Intended for the ULEV Next Generation. The competition will open for bids in April, 2015 with a winner to be announced in the summer.

In announcing the prize, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said that the challenge with this competition is to draw on the world-class scientific research of the UK and eventually develop a battery which will be commercially viable at the cutting edge of innovation and ready to be put into mass production.

This competition will be open to all research establishments in the UK which are working together with car manufacturers based in Britain. Quentin Willson, a Transport Campaigner who has been one of the officials involved in the designing of the £10 million prize, said that Britain should lead the world in cutting-edge ULEV battery technology.

Willson said this initiative of the British government will definitely help in the creation of jobs and establish a whole new industry as well as boosting the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). “I totally support this £10 million prize for the best in Britain battery innovation,” Willson added.

This competition in April, this year is expected to lead in the development of a battery pack which is commercially-viable for electric cars. Then the UK government’s £10-million prize at stake towards the needed innovation in battery design will become the historic seed money to fund a new battery pack which is high-voltage for the next generation of ULEVs.

This undertaking has been seen as humanity’s one of the greatest hopes in saving our mother Earth from further environmental degradation and devastating effects of climate change. This is actually timely as the British government is currently investing £500 million to accelerate uptake of electric cars.

To further boost this laudable government initiative, there are supportive business establishments in Britain which are launching mobile electric vehicle charging units.

Tasked to run the competition is “Innovate UK” which will award the £10 million prize to a “Consortium of Organisations.” This group is expected to include a research organisation and at least one vehicle manufacturer as well as experts in battery controls, software and electronics.

As this developed, most new electric vehicles have already the range of around 100 miles per hour (mph). To increase this range will definitely boost the market or salability of ULEVs. Records could show that sales of plug-in vehicles have increased from around 3,585 in the year 2013 to 14,497 in 2014.

Currently, there are around 20 plug-in models available in the market. In 2011, there were only six models of this type. Each of these current models which has made into the UK’s 10 best-selling brands is now having a ULEV in its range.

So, the government now aims that by the year 2040, ULEVs will account for every new vehicle on the road. In this connection, the British government will be investing £500 million from the year 2015 to 2020 aimed at boosting the ULEV industry in order to even go further ahead and help drivers afford it and feel confident in using ULEVs.

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