Author Archives: Kerry Smith

Fraudster wrapped bandage round his head to take theory tests for other people

A fraudster has been jailed after taking driving theory tests for other people while disguising himself with a bandage around his head.

Izmir Senaj, 28, used several excuses for his injuries as he turned up to DVSA centres across England to impersonate people whose tests he had agreed to take for them.

He was eventually caught by a staff member at a theory test centre in Swindon, who recognised him from a wanted appeal and called the police.

Senaj, of East Ham, London, was jailed for two years and four months at Swindon Crown Court  after he pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud.

Judge Jason Taylor QC said: ‘Your actions show a callous disregard for the system which is designed to ensure that only those qualified to drive safely get behind the wheel of a car.

‘This could have had significant consequences both for road users and pedestrians and therefore my public duty requires me to reflect that.’

Judge Taylor said he noted Senaj had twice been jailed for driving test fraud since 2014 and committed the latest offences while on licence.

The court heard in late 2018 and early 2019, Senaj went to four test centres in southern England to take the driving theory test on others’ behalf.

On October 11, 2018, he arrived early to an appointment at the Eastbourne test centre.

Dressed in a high visibility vest and wearing a bandage around his head and plaster over his nose, he handed over a provisional driving licence in the name of an Albanian man.

He explained to the receptionist he had been working on a building site earlier that day when he was struck by scaffolding and was sent home early by first aiders.

He was allowed to take the test, which he passed.

Five days later, on October 16, he used a similar cover story at the Hastings test centre – this time claiming to have fallen off a ladder.

After he was recognised by the same staff member who’d dealt with him days earlier in Eastbourne, he claimed he needed to use the toilet then left the centre.

On November 28, 2018, he was turned away from the Harlow test centre as staff were not convinced he was the Serbian national whose provisional driving licence he presented at the front desk.

Two months later, on January 24, 2019, a staff member at the Swindon theory test centre in Milton Road recognised him from an internal DVSA poster.

She allowed him to take the test, buying her time to wait for police to arrive.

Interviewed by fraud investigators, Senaj claimed he owed gambling debts to two of the people he impersonated, including one he described as a ‘violent gangster’.

Judge Taylor said Senaj had earlier been sentenced to 11 months prison at Snaresbrook Crown Court in 2014 for seven offences of driving test fraud.

He received a three-year sentence for another seven offences in 2017.

In total, he had five convictions for 28 offences.

Tanveer Qureshi, mitigating, suggested his client had been a ‘one man band’.

However, Judge Taylor told the defendant he was satisfied to the criminal standard there was a group or gang element to the crimes and it was organised.

Bank Holiday Closure.

Our office is closed Monday 3rd of May due to being Bank holiday, should you wish to purchase vouchers you can fill in a secure booking form on our website, any enquiries taken over the weekend will be dealt with on Tuesday.
Enjoy the long weekend!

Britain’s roads will have DRIVERLESS cars travelling on them by end of year!

Today Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is said to  announce that vehicles with new technology enabling them to stay in their lanes automatically will be legal within months.

The bold move will help to prevent up to 47,000 serious accidents and save 3,900 lives over the next decade as it cuts out human error, said the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

It will mean motorists in Britain may be the first in the world to be able to legally take their hands off the steering wheel and check their emails while driving.

The cars will travel at a maximum of 37mph and on motorways only.

They will not be able to change lanes, but will automatically slow down as they react to other traffic.

The driver will be able to take control in an emergency.

The cars will help to improve the traffic flow, reduce commute times and slash emissions as the ride will be smoother, ministers said.

Announcing a consultation, Transport Minister Rachel Maclean said: “This is a major step for the safe use of self-driving vehicles in the UK, making future journeys greener, easier and more reliable.”

The tech will appear only in newly-built cars.

It cannot be adapted for use in cars already on the road.

But Edmund King, of the AA, said: “More needs to be done to test these systems.”

DVSA refuses to extend expired theory tests

LEARNER drivers have lost £1.14million as a result of car theory tests expiring due to Covid backlogs.

Driving tests and lessons have been suspended during much of the pandemic, causing a pile-up of 420,000 car driving tests and 380,000 car theory tests.

But the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has resisted calls from learners to extend expiry dates on tests or suspend charges for repeat tests.

When the test booking system reopened in August it crashed following almost seven million applications for just 35,000 driving test slots.

With practical driving tests set to restart on April 22 in England and Wales, there will be 50,000 learner car drivers whose theory tests certificates will have expired.

Many drivers have also experienced multiple cancellations for driving test due to Covid restrictions.

The theory test costs £23 and is valid for two years.

Almost 50,000 car theory tests expired during the first and second lockdown, according to a Freedom of Information request made by Marmalade Insurance.

Learner drivers now face a 17 week wait to book a driving test, meaning many more theory tests will expire.

Over 79,000 people have signed an online petition for theory tests to be extended, with another petition calling upon the UK Government and Parliament to reconsider waiving theory test resit fees.

Experts have called for certificates to be extended or for the fee to be waived.

“We’d like them [the DVSA] to extend theory test certificates, because it’s not the fault of learner drivers that they can’t take their driving tests,” Howard Redwood, head of road safety at the Driving Instructors Association (DIA), said.

Gunnar Peters, CEO at learner driver insurance specialist, Veygo said: “This will be understandably frustrating for many learner drivers who will find themselves out of pocket if forced to retake expired theory tests through no fault of their own, so we’d like to see the DVSA waiving fees for those affected.”

Robert Cowell, interim managing director of AA Driving School said: “With the unprecedented demand for driving lessons that we’ve seen as lockdown restrictions lift, we anticipate the backlog will only increase.

“Our hope is that the recent DVSA recruitment drive to recruit an additional 300 examiners will make more test slots available for learners who have waited months to re-start their driving journey.

“If theory test certificates which expired in one of the UK’s lockdowns are extended in the same way MOTs and driving licences were, these learners could be on the road to passing their test sooner.”

Despite the backlog the DVSA has warned that extending theory test certificates could be a safety issue.

It is also feared that an extension to tests could cause costs to rise for others.

A DVSA spokesperson told The Sun: “Those with theory test certificates expiring will have taken their test in early 2019.

“Since then, their more recent lessons and practice sessions will have been significantly curtailed during recent lockdowns and it is likely that their skills base will have diminished. “Research shows that this would be particularly harmful for hazard perception skills, a key factor in road safety.”

“We are advising customers to regularly check the booking system as they might find an earlier date due to a cancellation or more tests being added.”

Driving tests were given the go ahead to resume from April 12th, so learner drivers will be able to get back out on the road now.

There are new rules around the test too, but we have the lowdown on how to book.

For example, one new rule is that test-takers must wear a mask while driving.

If you need to practise your theory test we have a fully equipt classroom here at Britannia, we also offer free interactive help on our website.

 

New Road Laws for Common offence

Proposals for an outright ban on pavement parking have been mooted.

Most of us have done it occasionally, some of us even do it semi regularly.

Parking on the pavement, or at least partially on the pavement is a common site on London’s streets with spaces at a premium.

But the act could soon be banned across England with £70 penalty fines under new laws expected to be rolled out this year reports state.

The new legislation would ban antisocial parking to make pavements safer for families and people with disabilities and visual impairments.

This law change – which already exists in London – is in response to complaints about pavement parking and the increased risks it poses to those who rely on them to travel.

The Department for Transport (DfT) first launched a proposal into the new rules last September.

It set out three options to make it easier for councils to ban pavement parking – giving local authorities powers to fine drivers who park on paths and an outright ban.

A DfT spokeswoman told us the government is now collating responses after receiving “overwhelming” feedback.

The proposals follow a review that found that a third of visually impaired people and almost half of wheelchair users were less willing to go out alone because of “antisocial” pavement parking.

Of course, regulations have been in place across London for years.

Rule 244 of the Highway Code states: “You must not park partially or wholly on the pavement in London, and should not do so elsewhere unless signs permit it.”

If the rest of the UK follows London, parking on grass verges and ramps linking private property to roads would also be prohibited.

The only exceptions to London pavement parking rules are when signage states it is safe to do so, or for unloading deliveries. Outside of the capital, only lorries are currently prevented from pavement parking

Britannia After Lockdown

On Tuesday the 6th of April our dedicated office staff will be returning back to the office after working from home since December.

This will be to carry on answering the telephones, emails, livechats and to process an payments, once the instructors return back to teaching on the 12th April the office will remain closed to the public, if you have any enquiries this can be done online or over the phone, please if you need to purchase lessons this too needs to be online or over the phone.

Any vouchers that need extending can be posted in and we will look at extending them.

All lesson instructors and pupils unless exempt will need to wear a facial covering and sanitize hands,the teaching cars will be fully sanitized before and after each lesson.

We would like to wish everyone a safe , happy bank holiday and happy easter!

Practical Driving Tests To Resume On The 22nd April.

The DVSA has announced practical driving tests will resume on the 22nd April, as of yet we are unaware how this will pan out.

In the first lockdown in 2020 driving tests were rebooked for everyone who had their test cancelled due to Covid  first of all which did cause some frustration and some candidates were left waiting for months for a chance to book a new date let alone take the actual test.

Keep an eye on your emails if you have had a test cancelled due to the lockdown so you can get your link to rebook it

As far as we are aware no extension will be given to theory tests so please keep an eye of your dates of passing two years sounds like a long time but as the DVSA suspended tests this may creep up quicker than you thought.

At Britannia-Driving-School we do offer a test booking service, when we can book tests we will be booking for intensive driving courses as a priority

As and when we have any further news regarding the practical driving tests it will be uploaded to our website..

L-TEACHERS DATES OK WITH U-18S

The following story has been in the news recently, what do you think?

At Britannia Driving School we wouldn’t condone this type of behaviour from any of our instructors.

DODGY driving instructors won’t be banned from having relationships with teenagers under tough new laws.

Ministers blocked proposals to the motoring teachers to be included alongside sports coaches, and religious teachers in a list of professions that are deemed “positions of trust” – which bans them from having flings with teens aged 16 and 17.

But driving instructors have been left off the list as Whitehall insiders felt it “ran the risk of criminalising legitimate relationships and undermining consent law.”

Campaigners had hoped to see instructors added to the list, but Whitehall sources said it risked “increasing age of consent to 18 by the back door.”

Justice Secretary, Robert Buckland QC said: “This Government has pledged to crack down on crime and build safer communities.

“We are giving the police and courts the powers they need to keep our streets safe, while providing greater opportunities for offenders to turn their lives around and better contribute to society.”

Home Secretary Priti Patel added: “On becoming Home Secretary, I vowed to back the police to cut crime and make our streets safer.

“This Bill delivers on that promise – equipping the police with the tools they need to stop violent criminals in their tracks, putting the thugs who assault officers behind bars for longer and strengthening the support officers and their families receive.”

Peter Wanless, chief executive of the NSPCC, said: “We are delighted that after relentless campaigning, the Government has finally listened to our calls and agreed to close this legal loophole.

New tough laws will be unveiled to Parliament today in the new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

Driving Lessons to Resume

Driving lessons are to resume on Monday 12th April.

We at Britannia Driving School are now having the busy task of rebooking all cancelled pupils due to the National Lockdown.

As before the lockdown all students will be asked to wear a facial covering to sanitise  hands and not to take lessons if they have any covid symptoms or have been near anyone who has.

Instructors will be santising their cars inbetween pupils and also wearing a facial covering.

The DVSA hasnt yet releaased a date for practical driving tests to take place but we anticipate this to be a long lengthy progress as lots of tests had to be postponed.due to the covid situation.

Contact one of our advisors to book in a lesson on Livechat, via a booking form or over the phone to get your lessons started!

 

Driving and riding lessons and tests – National lockdown

On 4 January, the government announced a new national lockdown to control the spread of coronavirus.

You can read more about the lockdown measures on GOV.UK

Driving and riding lessons

Driving and riding lessons, including CBT must not take place until the restrictions are lifted. This includes ADI part 2 and 3 tests and standards checks.

Driving and riding tests

All driving and riding tests have been suspended from 5 January until the restrictions are lifted.

We’ll email candidates who are affected by this to let them know we will reschedule their test.

If you have booked a test for any of your pupils you will receive an email to let you know it will be rescheduled to a new time and date. You will need to contact your pupil to let them know.

We’ll then send you an email with the new time and date as soon as possible; please ask your pupils to be patient.

If the new time and date is not suitable for you or your pupil, you can choose a different time and date on GOV.UK. You will need your pupil’s driving licence number to do this. Your pupil does not need to pay again to do this.

Theory tests

All theory tests will be suspended until the restrictions are lifted.

We will email anyone who has booked a test and is affected by this to let them know their theory test is on hold and that they will need to reschedule it by visiting https://www.gov.uk/change-theory-test.

If you booked your pupil’s theory test you will need to log into the booking system and rearrange their test for a new date and time.