The driving test is celebrating its 80th birthday

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The first person to pass the driving test back in 1935 was a Mr R Beere - who paid the equivalent of just 37.5p for his test. Current price is £62.00

In 1935 there were just 1.5 million cars in use, but over 7,000 people were killed on the country’s roads. However, within a year of the introduction of the test, the number of deaths had fallen by 1,000. There were no test centres in 1935 so you had to arrange to meet the examiner somewhere like a post office, train station or town hall

Ford's 'GoDrive' pay as you use service

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Ford is bringing its car-sharing service GoDrive to London. Using the service Drivers can book and access Ford electric cars with their smartphones and pay per minute for one-way trips t including fuel, insurance and a guaranteed parking space.

Ford  has timed the announcement, perhaps coincidentally with the largest protest by Black Cab drivers in recent memory -- is inviting 2,000 members to register for free for the service, which will offer 50 cars across 20 locations. Ford is hoping to benefit from the trend for increased car sharing.

"As cities become more and more congested, people are becoming increasingly open to new means of mobility, and car sharing is proving to be an appealing model," said Ken Washington, vice president of Ford Research.

Half of Ford's GoRide London fleet are zero-emission Ford Focus Electrics to keep the scheme environmentally friendly. The one fee that customers will pay out for each rides incorporates the London congestion charge. 

According to Ford, car-sharing in the UK is expected to grow by 23 percent between 2013 and 2025. 

Ford is currently offering £20 driving credit to new members who sign up to the program.

https://www.go-drive.com/registertobeta

 

Advice to motorists on abolition of the counterpart to the photocard driving licence.

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UPDATED STORY - - - From Friday (10.07.2015), the life of the driving licence check code has been extended. 
Previously valid for 72 hours, the check code generated for motorists to share their driving licence details will be valid for 21 days. 

From 8 June 2015, the paper counterpart to the photocard driving licence will not be valid and will no longer be issued by DVLA. The counterpart was introduced to display driving licence details that could not be included on the photocard. These details include some vehicle categories you are entitled to drive and any endorsement/penalty points.

If you already hold a paper counterpart, after 8 June 2015 it will no longer have any legal status. You should destroy your paper counterpart after this date but you still need to keep your current photocard driving licence.

Penalty points (endorsements)

From 8 June 2015 new penalty points (endorsements) will only be recorded electronically, and will not be printed or written on either photocard licences or paper driving licences. From this date, if you commit an offence you will still have to pay any applicable fine and submit your licence to the court but the way the court deals with the paperwork will change.

For photocard licences, the court will retain the paper counterpart and only return the photocard to you.

For paper licences, the court will return it to you but they won’t have written or printed the offence details on it.

This means that from 8 June 2015 neither the photocard driving licence nor the paper licence will provide an accurate account of any driving endorsements you may have. Instead, this information will be held onDVLA’s driver record, and can be viewed online, by phone or post.

The courts are unable to respond to queries about the destruction of your paper counterpart. Any concerns about this process should be directed toDVLA.