Woman who took driving tests for ‘desperate’ learners jailed A woman who impersonated five learner drivers during their practical driving tests has been jailed for seven months. 

Regine Tezangi was paid hundreds of pounds to sit the DVLA exams across south-east London.
She had earlier admitted six counts of fraud. The women she impersonated pleaded guilty and were also sentenced at Southwark Crown Court.
Judge Deborah Taylor said their actions had created a “risk of serious injury” which could have been “catastrophic”.
She said the crime “totally undermines the driving licence system”.
’Tezangi, 52, was said to have carried out the offences between June 2014 and February 2016 after hearing “stories of desperation”. She was paid £500 to take the test by Ruphine Impiri, who had become “frustrated” by the number of lessons she had taken. Tezangi originally failed the first test for her client and had to re-sit it two weeks later.
Impiri, 44, was given a three-month suspended sentence and ordered to complete 200 hours’ unpaid work.
Two others, Esther Ehigbor, 53, Galech Barry, 30, received the same sentence.
Sylvie Omango, 37, was handed a three-month suspended sentence and a three-month curfew.
Riskiet Olawuyi, 46, was also given a three-month suspended sentence with a 20-day rehabilitation order. 

Source: BBC News 

Young drivers are hit harder every year on insurance costs. 

Car insurance – Government debate £1,200 cap for 

young drivers as costs SKYROCKET 

Changes to personal injury compensation claims meant that UK drivers are set to be struck by increased insurance premiums. 

Young and old drivers may be affected the most by the new rates. 

Motorists under 22 could see their insurance premiums skyrocket by £1,000 while those over 65 could pay up to £300 more, accountancy firm PwC predicted.
The reason for the increase is after the rate used by courts to calculate serious injury claims changing from 2.5 per cent to minute 0.75 per cent. 

On March 20th, the Government were debating a car insurance cap for young drivers of £1,200 after an online petition gained 185,000 signatures.
Rhys Parker, 19, started the petition online saying he was quoted £2,500 for his first year of driving, before eventually getting it down to £1,400. “That’s very much basic insurance. I think it’s ridiculous. Young people just don’t get the help they need.” 

Steve Double, Conservative MP (St Austell and Newquay) opened the debate.
He said: “We need insurance companies to treat young people fairly. There is a case for greater transparency in the premiums charged to young drivers, and for companies to behave more responsibly. We want them to be able to drive and to have access to insurance that they can afford, but we want that to happen in a way that keeps them safe and that sees the number of tragic accidents among young people reduced. It is a competitive industry, and any attempt to cap the price that insurers charge would surely simply result in other groups having to pay more than they should. 

What you need to know. 

WHAT IS THE LAW CONCERNING USING MOBILES WHILE DRIVING? 

Ordinarily it is illegal to use a hand-held mobile phone or similar device – such as a sat nav or camera – while driving or riding a motorcycle. 

These rules apply even while stopped at traffic lights or queuing in traffic. 

Motorists can only use a hand-held mobile in the case of a genuine emergency that requires a 999/112 call and it is not safe or impractical to pull over and park. 

Drivers are obliged to remain in full control of their vehicles at all time. 

If a police officer feels the motorist is not in full control because they are tuning their radio or using a sat-nav or phone in a cradle, they can face prosecution. 

Drivers supervising learner drivers or riders are also banned from using hand-held de- vices despite being in a the passenger seat. 

Motorists can only use a hand-held device if their car is safely parked in an appropriate location. 

Pulling over to the hard shoulder to take or make a call could result in prosecution. 

Breaching the legislation can result in 6 penalty points and a fine of £200.
If the case goes to court, the driver or rider could face a ban and a maximum fine of £1,000. Drivers of buses or goods vehicles face higher fines of £2,500.
Motorists with their phones or sat navs attached to their windscreens can also face prosecution, if the area swept by the windscreen wipers is obscured. 

Where will it end? Park up for god’s sake!

A34 fatal crash driver meets victim’s girlfriend 

A driver who killed a man in a head-on crash has told his victim’s partner he lived “to pay for what I’ve done”. 

Lewis Stratford met Meg Williamson ahead of his sentencing for the crash he caused during an argument with his girlfriend on the phone.
Gavin Roberts, 28, died after Stratford’s car crossed the central reservation on the A34, in Oxfordshire.
At the meeting, which Ms Williamson set up, Stratford, 24, said he knew he had ruined lives.
”When I had the message she wanted to meet me I felt upset because I’m guilty and I feel like a bad person,” he told the BBC, which filmed the encounter. 

Ms Williamson asked to see Stratford, of Field Avenue, Oxford, after he pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving. He is due to be sentenced at Reading Crown Court on 3 March.
He had been driving southbound towards his girlfriend’s home, while Mr Roberts – an Australian who was living in Swindon – was going northbound on his way to work as an electrical engineer. 

Stratford lost control of his Vauxhall Corsa during the argument on 11 June last year and crashed through the barrier before colliding with Mr Robert’s BMW.
Both men were taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries, but while Stratford survived, Mr Roberts died days later.
Stratford was the first to speak in the meeting, saying: “I know I’ve caused a lot of pain with something that could have waited till the next day. “I know the lives I’ve ruined, I deserve everything I get. I am sorry but I can’t keep saying that because it’s not going to make things better.” Speaking after the meeting, Miss Williamson told the BBC: “The hardest bit originally, I think, was just walking through the door, not knowing how I was going to be feeling, how I was going to react. 

“Back in June, when I was sat in the hospital, I did have that hatred and I did have the anger but then over time you realise Lewis is a real person and he had compassion and he was sorry for what he did.
”It’s very difficult to warm to somebody when you know why you’re sat there but I was understanding of his emotions and compassion and thankful to him for having agreed to meet me.” 

Some drivers say they’ll never stop. Stupidity. It causes more deaths than drink driving yet they’d “never do that”. 

Still flouting the law: Drivers caught using their mobile phones at the wheel despite tougher legislation coming into 

force this week 

A series of shocking photographs taken on the A338 in Bournemouth, Dorset, show motorists putting other drivers at risk by using their phones in moving vehicles. 

One van driver is seen puffing on a cigarette with one hand while holding a mobile in the other as he drives along a busy dual carriageway, seemingly not in control. 

The alarming images were taken along the A338 over the past week and are all of moving vehicles 

Clearly these drivers are unaware of, or are choosing to ignore, new tougher legislation coming into force where they risk six penalty points on their licences and a £200 fine 

The driver of a Ford Ka is caught using his mobile phone which he is holding with his left hand directly in front of him, blocking his view of the road ahead 

Last year in Britain, drivers distracted by their phone were a contributory factor in 440 accidents, including 22 which were fatal, Government figures showed 

A report published by the RAC in September 2016 revealed 31 per cent of drivers had admitted to using a mobile phone when driving, up from just 8 per cent in 2014 

Police hope the changes will have a significant impact motorists, particularly younger drivers, who risk having their licence revoked following a first offence 

Meanwhile another van driver is caught flicking through the pages of a book, possible a diary, when he should have been looking at the road. 

Inspector Matt Butler, of Dorset Police’s traffic department, said: ‘It has been illegal to use a hand-held phone or similar device while driving or riding a motorcycle since December 2003. 

‘However, many motorists still fail to see that it is not possible to use a phone and be in proper control of a vehicle. ‘Whatever the reason for using a mobile device when driving – texting, scanning a news feed or streaming video content – it can wait until your journey is over. 

‘Nothing is more important than your safety and the safety of
road users around you.’ 

A brazen Eddie Stobart driver was caught on camera allegedly using his mobile phone while behind the wheel at a busy junction. 

The driver, who was contracted by an agency rather than an employee of Eddie Stobart, can be seen apparently holding the mobile with his right hand as he manoeuvres the 44-tonne truck over a pedestrian crossing in heavy rain. The footage, thought to have been filmed in Newport, Wales, was uploaded to YouTube by a cyclist who was stunned as the lorry passed him whilst he waited at a junction. The video description reads: “Another professional driver using mobile phone while driving and then blocks junction with his trailer, no yellow box there so happens all the time. 

A spokesman for Eddie Stobart told Mirror.co.uk: “We take health and safety very seriously.
”All Eddie Stobart drivers are trained to the highest standards and we expect the same from any con- tracted agency drivers. 

Source: Mirror 

All caused by accident management companies that harrass you until you claim. 

Car Insurance costs to soar with young drivers to bear the £1,000 brunt 

Young drivers could see their car insurance premiums soar by up to £1,000 as a result of changes to personal injury payouts made by the Government. 

Experts predict the changes will add £75 to the price of an average insurance policy, with drivers aged 65 in line to pay an extra £300 for insurance and young drivers losing out by up to £1,000. 

The Ministry of Justice has announced it would cut the lump-sum compensation payout discount rate from 2.5 per cent to a -0.75 per cent. When accident victims are given large compensation payments by insurers, the sum is adjusted to take into account the extra interest they could earn from investing it. 

The new, -0.75 per cent rate will apply from 20 March onwards, and will mean insurers will end up paying more for compensation claims, which in turn increases premiums for motorists.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) labelled the move “crazy”. It said: ”Claims costs will soar, making it inevitable that there will be an increase in motor and liability premiums for millions of drivers and businesses across the UK. We estimate that up to 36 million individual and business motor insurance policies could be affected in order to over- compensate a few thousand claimants a year.” 

The ABI added that the changes will hit drivers most commonly involved in accidents that result in injury payouts, namely young and old drivers.
Mohammad Khan, UK general insurance leader at accountancy PwC, said the move was “not anticipated by the insurance industry.” He added: “As a direct result of this change, we anticipate an increase of £50-£75 on an average comprehensive motor insurance policy, with higher increases for younger and older drivers – potentially up to £1,000 for younger drivers (18-22 year olds) and a rise of up to £300 for older drivers (over 65 years old). 

“This announcement, on top of the recent increases in insurance premium tax, will make redundant any savings to premiums as a result of the Government’s personal injury legal reforms which were anticipated to generate approximately £40 saving per motor insurance policy.” 

The ABI pointed out that it’s not just insurers and motorists looking to lose out, but also institutions like the NHS, who will likely face a “£1 billion hike in compensation bills when it needs it the least.”
The MoJ said the reason it decided to cut the rate was because the old formula, used since 2001, was based on interest obtained from investing in Government bonds. 

But when inflation is taken into account, the returns from the bonds would have been negative, so it had to adjust the rate so that: “Compensation awards using the rate should put the claimant in the same financial position had they not been injured, including loss of future earnings and care costs.”