A MAN caught drink-driving said he was driving erratically because the road was uneven. 

Nicusor Dutu, aged 31, of Blackminster Road, Evesham, pleaded guilty to drink-driving after being caught with 51mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath - the legal limit is 35mcg. 

Officers saw Dutu’s Ford Mondeo swerving as he drove along Elm Road in Evesham at 1.20am on Saturday, August 14. 

Matt Dodson, prosecuting at Worcester Magistrates Court, said: “Officers state the car was seen swerving in its lane and as a result they began to follow it. 

“They described it was being driven erratically over the centre white line.” 

The officers stopped Dutu on Bretforton Road, Badsey, and could smell alcohol on his breath. 

He gave a positive road-side breath test and was arrested. 

Dutu, defending himself, said he had been out drinking after an argument with his girlfriend. 

He said: “I had been into town with some friends and had drunk some beer. 

“I was returning home, the road is quite uneven. I often drive along this road, I do know it.” 

Dutu was fined £180 and ordered to pay £85 court costs and a £15 victim surcharge. 

He was disqualified from driving for 12 months. 

It's official: the "back seat driver" is the most annoying type of passenger to have on board.

A new survey has revealed that nearly four million motorists in Britain prefer to drive alone because they get so fed up with irritating company, while one in five have become so stressed that they have asked the offending passenger to get out of the car. 

The survey, carried out by Continental Tyres, asked drivers aged between 17 and 65 what types of passengers they can't stand to have in the car. 

The back seat driver, whose crimes include slamming the dashboard with their hands in panic and commenting on every turn, topped the charts, followed by "the fiddler" who can't leave those switches and buttons alone, and the self-explanatory "know it all". 

Other unpopular passengers include the "sleeper" (who begins dozing within minutes of setting off), the "drone" (who just won't stop talking) and the "leaker" (who needs the loo too frequently). 

The ten most annoying types of passenger 

1. Backseat driver - unable to keep their hands, feet and thoughts to themselves 

2. The fiddler - bored to tears by long journeys so spends hours twiddling knobs, changing stations, and playing with buttons 

3. The know it all – keeps correcting you – they know better than anyone else about any subject 

4. Sleeper - falls asleep, snores through the whole journey and only wakes upon reaching the final destination 

5. The drone – doesn’t shut up – normally first thing in the morning, when all you want is peace and quiet 

6. Road rage – gets angry with other motorists, sometimes utters expletives and waves rude hand gestures 

7. Airhead - insists on spending the majority of the car journey with the windows down and the air conditioning on 

8. The satnag – offers short-cuts and barks directions at you 

9. The leaker – needs the toilet every 20 minutes 

10. The crooner – sings along to the radio 

A teenage girl’s car got trashed when a concrete lamppost fell on it an hour after she passed her driving test. 

Charlotte Carrington, 19, from Sawston, passed her test just before noon and by 1pm her green Renault Clio was a write-off. 

It was parked on the grass verge outside her house at Woodland Road. 
She said: "I had just passed my driving test – it was the third time I had taken it and I was really happy. I was at my laptop and could see a guy cutting the lawn outside from the window. 

"I heard a bang and I looked out and the lamppost was lying on the floor but it had snapped in half. It had slid down the side of my car. 

"It damaged the back of the roof and it smashed a window and scratched the frame."
 
She said the grass cutter, an employee of firm CGM (Commercial Grounds Maintenance and Garden Services for Norfolk Suffolk and Cambridgeshire), had driven into the lamppost causing it to fall. 

Miss Carrington, a student, said the car, which is 11-years-old, had just passed its MOT, adding: "I bought it myself out of my savings. 
"I was really angry. We had to ring the number on the lamppost as wires were hanging out and it was still sparking." 

She said the insurance will cover the value of the car, but it will cost £900 to fix – more than the original cost of the car. 

Sue Carrington, her mother, said: "We had to call the highways department to ensure the electrical supply to the post was isolated."

Mrs Carrington said she called Cambridgeshire County Council, who said the grass cutting was the responsibility of Sawston Parish Council. 

She said: "I contacted Sawston Parish Council to complain and they were not interested. 

 "I believe Sawston Parish Council and Cambridgeshire County Council have a duty of care here and they are not interested." 

A Cambridgeshire County Council spokesman said: "The lighting column will be replaced as soon as possible and the cost of the replacement will be paid for by South Cambridgeshire District Council. 

"The district council has already told us they will be seeking to claim the cost back from the mowing con¬tactor as they caused the damage." 

No-one at Sawston Parish Council or CGM was available to comment.

Young drivers are five times more likely to lose their lives on the roads than other motorists, according to research released ahead of radical changes to the licensing system to be announced this week.

A total of 1,284 road users aged between 17 and 24 have died on the roads in the past 11 years. 

The figures released by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) come as three more people were killed in weekend crashes and just days after four young people lost their lives just outside Killarney in Co Kerry. 

Researchers examined the number, types, ages, gender, times and days of road deaths between 1997 and 2008. A key finding was that five times as many 17 to 24-year-old drivers have died in recent years compared with other age groups. 

RSA chief Noel Brett said that while huge efforts were being made to educate young drivers and road- users, there was an ongoing battle to reduce the number of fatalities in which they are involved. "These figures are like something out of a war. If there were six jumbo jet crashes with the same amount of numbers involved, it would be a national emergency," said Mr Brett. 
In addition to the numbers killed, another 4,153 young road users were seriously injured. The number of young road users aged 17 to 24 killed in the 11 years includes: 

* Car drivers – 483. 

* Car passengers – 350. 

* Motorcyclists – 204. 

* Pedestrians – 131. 

* Other road users – 102. 

* Cyclists – 14. 

Mr Brett said the long- awaited Graduated Driving Licensing System, to be announced on Wednesday, would increase efforts to reduce the death toll on the roads. 

"It’s essential we have the support of young people and their parents and they understand why we want to take measures," he said. 

"People will see that they’re very proportionate and very fair. They do not penalise responsible novice and learner drivers but they are very, very strict on any of those who are not responsible." 

As well as other road users, 483 male and female car drivers aged 17 to 24 died in the 11 years out of a total 1,627. This represents 37.6% of car driver deaths in the period. 

The new licensing system is expected to include new rules on the minimum number of lessons learner drivers must take before being allowed to apply for their test. 

Zero alcohol levels, night- time curfews and increased penalty points were also among the proposals considered during consultation on the new licensing system for learner drivers. 

The RSA also looked at what time crashes took place as well as on which days of the week. 

 

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, August 30, 2010


Read more: http://www.examiner.ie/home/young-drivers-face-five-times-risk-of-death-129270.html#ixzz0yMaM3gFw

Drivers scared of motorways are clocking up hundreds of extra miles.

Millions of motorists steer clear of motorway journeys because they are a "source of fear", new research shows. 

More than five million routes specifically avoiding the express routes were ordered on the AA's online Route Planner service last year, the motoring organisation said. It added up to more than 600 million miles, with each journey averaging more than 125 miles, weaving under, over and alongside busy multi-lane roads. Stretched end to end, the journeys would extend around the world 24,000 times. 

"There is much evidence that motorways are our most feared and avoided roads, yet statistically they are safer than other roads," said Mark Peacock, AA Driving School's head of motorway driver development. "By steering clear of them, drivers not only face a longer, slower journey, but are potentially putting themselves at greater risk on A-roads." 

Motorways are statistically the UK's safest roads but the AA says many drivers feel compelled to avoid them altogether. And, as families across Britain embark on another wave of holiday journeys this weekend, AA research reveals that nearly on in 10 AA members believe they would benefit from refresher or confidence training on motorway driving. 

Young drivers and women are by far the least confident on motorways. Only 44 per cent of those aged 18-24 and 44 per cent of women said they were confident driving on motorways. The figures were 65 per cent and 70 per cent respectively for drivers aged 55-64 and male drivers, said the AA. 

In their first year of driving, nearly 20 per cent of men and 40 per cent of women avoid motorways altogether. By the third year after passing the test, 11 per cent of men and 28 per cent of women did no motorway driving, AA research showed. Although motorways are statistically Britain's safest roads, new drivers are over-represented among accidents, with drivers aged 17-24 involved in more than a quarter of motorway accidents resulting in death or injury. 

The most common driver faults on motorways are driving too slowly, not merging safely when joining the motorway and failing to observe safe following distances. 

"With help, many find they can quickly overcome their fears," said Mr Peacock. "Tailored motorway tuition with a fully-qualified instructor can help drivers build the skills and confidence to make our motorway network work for them."