A woman who sped down the motorway for 23 miles in the wrong direction was twice over the drink drive limit.Deborah Hunt tore down the M5 past oncoming vehicles and almost collided with a police car which had blue lights flashing.The 43-year-old drove her Peugeot 806 northbound at 60 miles an hour in the fast lane of a southbound carriageway for 23 miles – despite being chased by police with their ‘blues and twos’ on.Hunt was only caught when her car ran out of petrol on the hard shoulder – almost three junctions after she joined the motorway.When officers arrested her, she smelt strongly of alcohol and was still trying to start her engine.The mother-of-three is now facing jail after she pleaded guilty at North Somerset Magistrates’ Court on Monday to dangerous driving, having excess alcohol and no insurance.Hunt shook uncontrollably in the dock and wept as she admitted the offences.Magistrates Nick Baker, chairman of the bench, said: ‘This was a very dangerous incident. You drove for 23 miles the wrong way in the third lane of the motorway.’You didn’t realise you were being pursued by police, were two-and-a-half times the drink drive limit and uninsured.’ The court heard Hunt had been drinking to drown her sorrows over her impending divorce before she got behind the wheel of her Peugeot on July 14.She joined the wrong carriageway of the M5 at junction 24, Bridgwater, Somerset, at 11.30pm.

Driving instruction should be compulsory in schools to make Irish roads safer, politicians have said.A cross-party committee also wants provisional licence-holders to have to take a full driving test within a specific period and called for parking fines to be halved if paid within 14 days.
Penalty points must also be imposed on the last registered owners of illegally dumped cars, the Oireachtas committee suggested to Transport Minister Leo Varadkar in its submission on new road traffic laws.
Chairman Ciaran Lynch said the committee broadly welcomed the provisions of the new Bill but made a few suggestions to make the law more effective.
“On a practical level, we believe that by discounting fines for parking tickets motorists will be encouraged to pay in timely fashion. Such a system has proved very effective in the north,” said Mr Lynch.
In Northern Ireland, the amount of a parking ticket is cut from £60 to £30 if paid within two weeks, but upped after 28 days.
Mr Lynch added: “We are also recommending that a more stringent system be introduced to encourage more responsible disposal of cars to help combat illegal dumping, which is a serious problem in some parts of the country.”
The members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht met Mr Varadkar in July as part of a new process which enables members to consider legislation at an early stage and have a more meaningful input into law making.
The committee said advice is needed from the Attorney General on the constitutionality of taking blood specimens from unconscious drivers.
It also raised concerns over proposals to move the tests for roadworthiness of commercial vehicles to a centralised location and away from local garages, fearing it could impact on employment.

A 51 year old woman from Gateshead has escaped jail after being convicted again for drink driving offences.

Ms Rae was given a four year driving ban in May this year and a 12 week prison sentence suspended for 12 months. Police then caught her getting into her car at the end of July.

Courts took pity on the mum of three after she admitted she had turned to alcohol after suffering domestic violence. She claimed the only reason she used her car was because she is a baptism minister and was running late for a ceremony.

The courts have given her a further 12 week jail term suspended for 18 months, she was also given 40 hours of unpaid work.

It has been made very clear to Ms Rae that she will be jailed if she is caught again and that this suspended sentence gives her the chance to seek help.

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The government says it will review the system used to train driving instructors in the UK.
That’s after warnings from driving groups that learners are more likely to fail their test if taught by trainees.
Some trainees hold “pink” licences, which mean they can teach under no supervision and charge normal fees.
The Driving Instructors Association (DIA) said the trainees are “not properly supervised” but others believe the pink licence system is necessary.
‘Less experienced’In a statement the RED driving school, one of the UK’s biggest driving centres, said it was important that trainee drivers were licensed.
“The trainee licence scheme brings regulation into an unregulated industry,” it said.
“If this is removed without a replacement scheme, or without new regulation requiring the trainee to receive expert training, it will be road safety which is put at risk.”
Steve Garrod of the DIA said the system was widely abused and should be scrapped.
“The pink licence system has been neglected for many years and people on it are not properly supervised.
“It’s not right that trainees can charge the same amount as fully qualified instructors when they are less experienced.
“The chances of you passing your test with a trainee are lower and you could end up spending far more money,” he added.
‘Deliberately deceptive’
There are also concerns that learners getting lessons could pay full price but end up with a trainee, not a fully qualified instructor.
Barry Kenward from DIDU, a national driving instructor’s group, said the general public might not know what to look for.
“It is a requirement to display your pink or green licence in a prominent place in the window so it can be seen by the pupil,” he said.
“We have seen many which aren’t clearly visible and in some cases have heard some trainees are deliberately deceptive so they can keep earning top rate money.”
Simon Richards, who is a driving instructor in Kent, used to have a pink licence.
“If I needed advice from someone I could always ring up and get that advice but there was no actual supervision or follow-up calls or anything like that,” he said.
“The quality of instruction isn’t so good, they may not be in full control of the pupil like a fully qualified instructor would be and some charge the same price for a lesser job.”
Lynne Barrie, of the Approved National Driving Instructors Joint Council (ADINJC) says it doesn’t make sense.
She said: “Someone on a pink licence can actually fail the last part of their assessment to become a fully qualified instructor and on the same day go out and teach learners by themselves.”
Trevor Wedge, from the government’s Driving Standards Agency (DSA), admitted that things needed to change.
“The trainee licence system has been set up to allow trainee driver instructors to gain some practice as they are preparing for the final part of their examination process,” he said.
“They are encouraged to work very closely with a supervising instructor.
“We recognise that we will need to develop some proposals to improve the system.
“However, there have been significant improvements in the quality of the training provided by the driving industry.”

A Scottish law student has been jailed for five months after being caught driving three and a half times over the drink drive limit for the third time.

Mr Rose, 44 was also banned from driving for five years. Courts had decided this was the only reasonable punishment as the reading was so high on this; his third conviction and he poses a danger to the public.

Ironically Mr Rose has led a campaign against drink-fuelled antisocial behaviour. Yet I think his biggest punishment is not being able to sit the first few months of his post-graduate course as he will be completing his jail sentence.

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Two bungling drivers have been jailed for hatching a “ridiculously unsophisticated” plot to get one of them a licence.
Hadi Mohammed, 28, a former Iraqi police officer, had failed his test five times and his friend, Derbas Hamed, a qualified driver, agreed to step in and take the examination for him.
Eyebrows were raised when Hamed, 25, was spotted driving up to the test centre in Gloucester alone. Hamed pretended to be Mohammed and took the test but failed in “spectacular fashion”, making 16 mistakes, Gloucester crown court heard. Staff were suspicious and called the police.
Rosie Walsh, for the prosecution, said: “Mr Mohammed had booked to take his driving test in Gloucester. He had failed the test five times beforehand.”
She said Hamed showed staff his friend’s provisional licence and because they looked similar he was allowed to take the test.
Walsh added: “When the police interviewed Mr Hamed at first he gave his name as Mr Mohammed but when he was arrested he confessed. When Mr Mohammed was also arrested he said he had been too tired to take the test.”
Giles Nelson, in mitigation for Mohammed, said: “My client did not actively commit the deception and played a secondary part.
“It was an extremely unsophisticated fraud, ridiculously unsophisticated and amateurish. He got nowhere near succeeding and is thoroughly ashamed.
“Since coming to this country from Iraq he is desperate to find work and needs a driving licence.”
Lloyd Jenkins, for father-of-two Hamed, said: “My client was candid in interview and has apologised. He drove his friend to Gloucester as a favour and on the way the plan was hatched. There was no money involved.
“My client says that he realised what he was doing was wrong so he deliberately failed the test in a spectacular fashion. He had 16 driving faults.”
The men, who are from Bristol, admitted fraud by false representation. Mohammed was jailed for two months and Hamed, who has a previous conviction for fraud after he impersonated someone else for a driving theory test, was sent to prison for three months.
Recorder Michael De Navarro QC told the men: “This is a very serious offence and had you both been successful a completely unqualified driver and not a very good one at that would have been let loose on the roads.
“This would have meant a danger to other road-users and only a custodial sentence is justified. I do not accept Mr Hamed’s contention that he failed the test deliberately.”

The rioting in London has caused mayhem for thousands; roads have been closed, meaning huge delays and inconvenience for thousands of commuters and local residents.

The damage caused includes burnt out cars, both private vehicles and police vehicles. These police cars are used daily to help members of the public yet these rioters do not seem to realise they are spiting themselves. They are smashing shops where they get their shopping, post offices where they collect their benefits and emergency service vehicles that might save their friends of families’ lives.

The saddest thing of all is the large number of people that have lost their homes and livelihoods through no fault of their own.

Whatever the reason for the rioting, whether it be anger over the killing of Mark Duggan, 29, anger over widespread unemployment, frequent stop-and-search checks by police and exclusions from schools or just mindless criminality, it’s not right and we need to step up and rebuild the areas that have been affected and stick together as a community.

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Police have expressed concern over an increase in the number of people arrested for drink driving in Plymouth.
Officers revealed 12 people were held over the weekend of 4-8 August compared to five for the same weekend in 2010.
Of the 14 people stopped, 13 were men and the majority were under thirty, a Devon and Cornwall Police said.
Plymouth’s road casualty reduction officer PC Ian Tanner said it was clear they needed to target “young men” to “really get the message across”.
“Over the weekend we have dealt with at least double the number of people we normally breathalyse over an average weekend in Plymouth,” he said.
Insp Richard Pryce said the rise was unacceptable and they would continue in their efforts to bring it down.

New Zealanders will now have to wait until they are 16 before learning to drive, the previous minimum driving age was 15. The new law which was introduced on August 1st was introduced alongside two other laws which are aimed to reduce accidents involving young motorists.

Another law imposed now states that those under the age of 20 will not be allowed to consume alcohol before driving. The current blood alcohol limit for drivers under 20 is 30mgs of alcohol per 100mls of blood, but this is now reduced to zero.

The country also sees changes taking place in February 2012 with the restricted licence test. This will involve young learners spending more time having lessons under supervision before being allowed to drive alone.

Only 15% of motorists are aged under 25 years in New Zealand, yet they account for over a third of accidents that cause serious injury. These new laws are hoping to improve the safety of young drivers and reduce the number of accidents involving young people.

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Tyre pressure should be checked every week or so, and definitely before a long journey. It’s something that needs doing when the tyres are cold because after a long journey the readings will be different. Your car manual will tell you what they should be for the front and back wheels of your particular model; it’s possible to buy a little pen-shaped gadget from Halfords for less than six pounds which lets you check your pressure at home.

You can check your tyre pressure at most petrol station forecourts, if they’re not what they should be, and then you’ll need to inflate your tyres. There should be a machine for doing this on the same forecourt.

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