EU law requires that as from early 2011 all new cars will be required to be fitted with daytime running lights. Like those below)

Opponents argue that :-

                It would increase fuel consumption and vehicle emissions;

                It would lead to many more headlamp failures;

                It could reduce the conspicuity effect of motorcyclists' voluntary use of dipped headlamps during the day; and

                It could diminish the conspicuity of other vulnerable road users in general, such as cyclists and pedestrians.

However In countries that already have DRL legislation, it was found that the opposition against DRL greatly subsided and that acceptance levels were generally high after its implementation. This can be said of experiences in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Canada.

For the time being, Canada is the only country requiring the installation of DRL as mandatory equipment in all vehicles. A Canadian study comparing 1990 model year vehicles (the first ones to be required to have DRLs) with 1989 vehicles estimated a statistically significant 11% reduction in daytime multiple-vehicle crashes other than rear end impacts.

DRLs were first made compulsory in Finland in 1972, and have since become law in a handful of other countries, including Canada, Denmark, Hungary, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. For much of the 1980s and 1990s imported Volvos and Saabs were all that most of the rest of the world saw of daytime running lights, but the trend has started to move south.

Now the laws in comparatively bright nations such as Italy and Israel require daytime running lights in certain weather conditions. Dipped lights are recommended in Sweden and Australia, and the French government advises drivers to use them on motorways. Even in Spain, Germany, Japan and the UK, where governments have so far held back on legislation, an increasing number of car manufacturers are offering DRLs as standard or as an optional extra on their flashier models.

With less than a week to go before the clocks go back an hour, now is a good time to make an extra special effort to check that all of the lights and equipment on your car are fully working and in good order before starting your driving lessons. Make sure that the windscreen washer bottle is filled with a good quality and preferably winter proof screen wash. One that wont freeze up now that we are getting night frosts.

Then make sure all of your external bulbs are working - the amount of cars we see with only one headlight, sidelight or brake light working is quite frankly scary. There is nothing worse than looking in the distance and thinking you have a motorbike coming towards you, only to realise at the last second that it's actually a car with only one headlight.

Next make sure all internal bulbs are working, so all of your instrument panel and dials can be clearly seen and identified. Also check that your heater fan works. Having past 2 cars recently that it was obvious there's didn't because the inside of all the window was fogged up. This way you'll keep yourself safe and everyone else on the road.

Well now we are a couple of weeks into the new driving test, most people are begining to realise, that if your driving instructor is any good, then the "Independent Driving" part of your driving test, is something that you will have covered on your driving lessons anyway. Congratulations has to go to Josh Bradley, who took his driving test on the first day of the new tests at 11.11 and passed first time with only one driving fault. This made Josh the first Driver Training pupil to pass the new driving test and with only one driving fault, it was a pretty impressive way to do it as well!!

 Those signs you see on the roads and the large sign posts at the side of the road, hopefully are starting to become more meaningful to you as your driving lessons progress, and eventually they will help you become safer and better drivers than those around you.