DVLA Unsure About New Tax Changes

More than three-quarters (76%) of enquiries about road tax changes were answered incorrectly by the DVLA in a recent investigation.

The publication, Parker’s, made 100 enquiries by telephone and email to the DVLA’s Swansea call centre, posing as members of the public, following a tip-off about misleading information being supplied to a reader.

It found that three out of four enquiries were answered incorrectly, suggesting a lack of training by the department of its frontline employees.

Parker’s picked 100 of the cars most affected by the upcoming changes to vehicle excise duty (VED) – those registered between March 2001 and March 2006, and producing more than 225g/km of CO2 – to see if staff knew the cars would move into Band K next year and pay £300 in road tax before being liable for a £430 or £455 charge in 2010.

The biggest area of confusion surrounded what will happen in 2010.

Cars that emit more than 200g/km of CO2, registered between March 2001 and March 2006, will move from Band F to Band K, meaning owners will pay £90 more VED.

But most of the call centre staff were unaware of this and instead placed the cars into bands L or M – the bands they will be in from 2010.

They advised that the cost would be £415 or £440, rather than the real figure of £300.

Parker’s was told by one customer service adviser: “This year road tax might not even go up. But it may go up. But I don’t know how much it’ll go up by.”

Another said that a year’s road tax in 2009 would be £445 – a rate that does not exist.

After the 100 enquiries, the DVLA had made mistakes that averaged £104.44 per enquiry.

A spokesmen said: “The agency apologises for the confusion caused in our responses regarding the VED rates in 2009. DVLA has taken steps to ensure that we are now giving out correct and consistent information.”

For more information, go to www.parkers.co.uk

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Drink Driving Deaths Down

Fewer people are dying on Britain’s roads as a result of drink-driving, the Department for Transport (DfT) has revealed.

The number of people killed in collisions involving drivers over the legal limit fell by 18% between 2006 and 2007, from 560 to 460, according to new DfT figures.
Serious injuries also fell over the period, from 1,970 to 1,760.

However, there were actually 220 more drink-driving accidents in 2007, compared to the previous year, and total casualties increased by 1%.

Safety organisations welcomed the reduction in deaths but said the public was still confused over what the drink-drive limit actually means.

The UK limit is currently 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath, or 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milli-litres of blood.

However, blood alcohol concentration differs between individuals according to factors including weight, age and the type of drink consumed.

Cathy Keeler, head of campaigns at road safety charity Brake, said the figures were “good news” but called for the drink-drive limit to be reduced, preferably to zero.

“The limit is currently crazily high,” she said. “No alcohol is the only possible safe amount when driving.”

Roger Singer, managing director of Avoidd, echoed Ms Keeler’s comments.

“The figures are really encouraging and help to reinforce all the work that safety organisations have done to heighten awareness of drink-driving. But the only way to drive is alcohol-free,” he said.

A recent survey conducted by Brake and recovery service Green Flag found that incidents of drink-driving among women are on the rise.

Four out of ten female motorists (42%) admitted to getting behind the wheel after a drink, compared to 59% of male drivers.

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Driver Emotions Can Affect Driver Safety

One in five British workers are frustrated in their jobs, according to new research.

Consulting firm the Hay Group found that 20% of employees feel stifled by their company’s rigid processes and procedures and are unable to use their own initiative.

Half of employees (50%) believe that they do not have the authority necessary to make critical decisions and a further 50% feel excluded from the decision-making process at work.

More than a third (35%) of staff do not think that their job allows them to fully demonstrate their skills and abilities.

Ben Hubbard, regional director at Hay Group’s employee survey division, said: “The frustrated employee phenomenon poses a major business risk and a significant missed opportunity.

“Business leaders must ensure that induction, development programmes and support structures are all designed to maintain the right people in the right roles at the right time.”

The Hay Group study also found that more than half (56%) of managers fail to create a positive working environment and 41% of leaders actually de-motivate their staff.

Under-performing colleagues are also a major cause of frustration, particularly within the automotive sector.

Respondents believe that only 44% of companies in the industry effectively prune back their “deadwood workforce”.

“Tolerating poor performers will only compound the frustration of productive colleagues left to pick up the slack.

“Companies that fail to address ‘deadwood’ risk high-performing staff becoming frustrated, de-motivated and potentially seeking pastures new,” warned Mr Hubbard.

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However...

Most motorists still enjoy driving (82%) and could not live without their car (79%), according to AA research.

The survey of 18,547 members also revealed that 3% of men and 2% of women would dump their spouse rather than their car.

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