MSA Newslink November 2021

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News: B+E Testing DVSA offers helping hand for towing instructors The DVSA has invited car and trailer trainers to join a webinar on November 4 or 5 to learn more about the new rules for towing a trailer or caravan with a car and the proposed trainer accreditation scheme. As you will have read on the previous pages, from 15 November, subject to Parliamentary process, motorists will no longer be required to take a separate car and trailer test to tow a trailer. However, the government continues to encourage any motorist who wants to drive a car and trailer to get professional training and make sure they have the right skills and knowledge to make sure they can tow safely. This is particularly important for those who tow for work or leisure purposes. It is equally important for those who train other people to tow to have their training programmes recognised and accredited in line with DVSA’s national standards. Accreditation scheme The government is working closely with the towing community, including trainers, business users and groups representing those who tow for leisure, agriculture or other purposes, to develop a voluntary accreditation scheme. The scheme will be open to drivers who want to use their car to tow: n a horse trailer n a caravan n a boat n a jet ski n a food van n farm, industrial or construction plant n for waste disposal and gardening services n for third sector voluntary organisations They could use the accreditation to show or evidence they are able to tow safely. As well as making sure all drivers who tow a trailer have the skills, knowledge and competencies they need to tow safely, this also helps ensure an employer’s corporate responsibilities to make sure safe working practices are being met. For those who tow for leisure purposes, it will help make sure they can tow legally and can get the most from their chosen towing activity, safely. DVSA will set the standards for the scheme and will be part of any future governance to support the accrediting body who would be responsible for the quality of the scheme. How you can get involved The webinars will update you on: n car and trailer legislation that is being introduced n the car and trailer accreditation scheme n how to become an accredited trainer You can register for either update webinar at: n Thursday 4 November, 5:30pm to 6:30pm Click here to register n Friday 5 November, 11am to 12pm Click here to register Applying to become an accredited trainer A third webinar will be held Thursday, November 11 from 5.30pm-6,30pm to answer any questions you have about the application process to become an accredited trainer. You can register for the accredited trainer webinar here: Click here to register If you have any questions you would like answered during either webinars, you can send them in advance by email to: externalaffairs@dvsa.gov.uk If you cannot attend the webinars DVSA will record the webinars and share a link afterwards so you can watch them at a time that is convenient to you. For further information Read the guidance on rule changes for car and trailers HERE. ‘‘ Towers could use the accreditation scheme to show they are able to tow safely... this also helps an employer’s corporate responsibilities... ‘‘ 10 NEWSLINK n NOVEMBER 2021
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com A personal view on the B+E Trailer issue... Well, there’s a disaster waiting to happen Rod Came MSA GB South East I quote from the latest information regarding trailer towing from NASP: “Much of the towing clientele is business-orientated and these businesses have Health and Safety criteria to meet, such as being able to prove that an employee is competent at manoeuvring a combination in any situation. Even though there is no DVSA test, a non-ADI is still able to train in this sector.” I appreciate the point made that an employee should be competent at being able to manoeuvre a trailer combination, but as anyone who has taught, or towed, a trailer will tell you, there is a great deal more to it than manoeuvring. One of the biggest risks to public safety is loading. A straw poll of a number of people I know, most of whom have towed a trailer, revealed that they had no idea which side of a double horse trailer a single horse should be loaded. As for speed limits - forget it. This is serious because a combination of getting both wrong could result in an horrific incident involving the animal in the trailer, pedestrians and other vehicles. Such a situation is not difficult to imagine. Remembering to wind up the jockey wheel is usually, but not always, done, but unclamping it and lifting it clear of the road surface is more often forgotten. Similarly, connecting the trailer lighting system to the towing vehicle sometimes doesn’t happen. Then comes the vexed question of what weight of trailer can be towed by a particular vehicle. Look in the handbook, they cry! Even if the handbook is available in the vehicle, it usually covers so many different variations of the same model that it is next to useless. There is a plate with this information on the towing vehicle which means nothing to most people UNLESS they have been shown by a trainer, and a similar one on the trailer. But whoever looks at those, until it all goes wrong? Well, at that point the police/HSE do! What about safety chains or cables? Tyre pressures? Axle weights? Towbar nose weights? What to do if the trailer starts to weave? Registration plates? Passengers in a trailer? What can tow more than one trailer? Trailer braking systems? Trainers who have now seen their businesses decimated have been offered a very thin lifeline, in that businesses have to be Health and Safety aware to protect both their employees and the public at large, so training providers are going to have to be proactive in raising awareness of this new situation, stressing that it is not acceptable just for the maintenance man to hook up the trailer and say ‘off you go’. Unfortunately, in rural areas, a large percentage of trailers either carry horses or agricultural produce, anything from straw bales to logs or hardcore, all of which are very weighty. These are the people who are more likely to tow occasionally and without any training. A disaster waiting to happen. In my view that is where the serious problem of inexperienced, untrained drivers will manifest itself, to the detriment of all other road users, and who will be at fault? The driver of course, because they should know better, but let’s just suggest it’s the authorities, as nobody has trained them. Plenty of capacity so what’s the point? Rod Came has shared a letter he sent to his constituency MP, Sally-Ann Hart. Dear Sally-Ann Thank you for taking up the cudgel relating to my previous correspondence regarding the removal of driving tests for people to drive a vehicle with an MAM of up to 3500kgs towing a trailer of a similar weight. This has resulted in a probable increase of deaths and injuries because of more crashes of this towing combination, and a loss of livelihood of trainers who are no longer required to provide the necessary training prior to a DVSA test. Below is an email received today from DVSA providing figures relating to HGV/ bus/coach test availability this week. It indicates that 24,583 tests have been booked and that last week, 599 test slots were not filled. The previous week it was 438 and the week before 397. That’s a total of 1,424 wasted occupational test slots over a period of three weeks. By contrast, from DVSA’s own figures, in the last full 12 months of B + E testing, fewer than 25,000 tests were provided. Figures of wasted HGV tests slots are only available for the past three weeks, even so they are showing a steady climb, or an average of 475 a week. That’s 24,225 over a 50-week year. The logical conclusion is that cancelling B + E testing with all its serious disadvantages will have no effect on the number of HGV/bus/coach tests being made available. Perhaps you would be good enough to forward this information to Baroness Vere for her to comment. Yours sincerely, Rod Came • The following is a DVSA press release distributed to highlight availability of LGV testing slots in Great Britain, which confirms the point Rod makes in his letter to the MP. To support the government’s plan to tackle the current shortage of HGV drivers we are giving you an up-to-date picture of test availability in your area. This week there are: • 362 appointments in the Midlands • 844 in North of England • 1,006 in Scotland • 1,510 in London and South • 359 in Wales We currently have 24,583 vocational tests booked. There were 599 unsold vocational test appointments last week. Rod’s footnote: After I sent the letter I was informed by the DVSA that there were 609 unfilled HGV/PCV tests last week (27/10/21). Disgraceful! NEWSLINK n NOVEMBER 2021 11
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MSA Newslink November 2021

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