Traffic Safety Roads – October 2026 Update

By Sue Duncan, ADINJC General Secretary

The October 2026 edition of Traffic Safety Roads, compiled by ADINJC Road Safety Advisor Graham Feest, is now available to explore in full using the document slider below.

Key Items of Interest

The Driving Test and the Wait

Figures covering April 2025 to March 2026 show that the DVSA conducted approximately 2.169 million car practical tests, around 200,000 more than the previous year and above its target of 1.975 million. Just over one million candidates passed, producing an overall pass rate slightly above 50%.

Despite that record level of testing, the national waiting-time figure stood at 21.5 weeks in March 2026, against a target of seven weeks. The DVSA estimates that a further 450,000 to 500,000 tests above normal capacity are needed to bring waiting times back to target levels. The active car driving examiner workforce reached around 1,604 full-time equivalents in March 2026, its highest level since 2018, but demand continues to exceed capacity.

For ADIs, the figures underline the importance of presenting genuinely test-ready candidates. Every avoidable unsuccessful attempt adds pressure to the system and delays the next opportunity for the learner. Clear progress reviews, realistic mock tests and honest conversations about readiness can help pupils use scarce test appointments well.

Touchscreen Technology and Driver Distraction

Research highlighted in the bulletin raises further concerns about increasingly screen-heavy vehicle interiors. Tests of infotainment systems in 21 new cars found major differences in the attention needed to complete everyday tasks. In the most concerning examples, a driver spent 74 seconds looking at a touchscreen while entering a sat-nav destination and 81 seconds while changing a radio station.

Previous research by the Transport Research Laboratory for IAM RoadSmart found reaction times were more than 50% slower when drivers used Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. Consumer research also found that 85% of drivers would prefer more physical buttons, while only 7% wanted more functions moved to touchscreens.

Technology can provide valuable safety support, but it can also create distraction when frequently used controls are buried in menus. ADIs should encourage learners to set navigation, audio and climate controls before moving off, use voice controls with caution and stop safely if an adjustment cannot be made without taking attention away from the road.

Tyre Safety Month and Part-Worn Tyres

October is Tyre Safety Month, and the bulletin highlights worrying findings from recent enforcement activity involving part-worn tyres. In Norfolk, inspections of 191 tyres across seven businesses found that 36% were in a dangerous condition, including examples with exposed cords, structural damage and poor repairs. Only one tyre met every legal safety and marking requirement.

In a separate Lancashire operation, none of the 30 part-worn tyres inspected met the legal requirements, and none was correctly marked as “PART-WORN”. Defects included embedded objects, sidewall damage and substandard repairs.

These findings give ADIs a timely reason to reinforce routine tyre checks. Learners should know how to check air pressure, condition and tread, understand the 1.6mm legal minimum, and recognise that the driver is responsible for the roadworthiness of any vehicle they use. Building these checks into lessons helps make them part of a new driver’s normal routine rather than something remembered only at test time.

The Risks of Driving for Work

New Department for Transport figures show that almost a third of road deaths – 29% – involve someone driving for work. During 2025, 445 people were killed in collisions involving an at-work driver, while 1,703 people were killed or seriously injured while travelling for work. A further 4,757 people who were not working were killed or seriously injured in collisions involving a working driver or rider, including 1,183 pedestrians.

IAM RoadSmart research also highlights the pressures faced by people who drive for work. Among respondents with recent work-driving experience, 48% identified unfamiliar roads as a major challenge, 30% highlighted long journey times, 20% cited unsocial driving hours and 22% mentioned weather conditions they would usually avoid.

Many learners will go on to drive as part of their job, even if driving is not their main occupation. ADIs can help prepare them by discussing fatigue, time pressure, unfamiliar routes, journey planning and the need to resist workplace expectations that encourage unsafe decisions.

A Sat Nav Is Only an Aid

Sat-nav use is now almost universal, but the bulletin warns against following digital directions without question. RAC research found that 91% of UK drivers use a sat nav. More than four in 10 reported being sent down narrow roads, 52% said their system had failed to detect approaching congestion and 11% said they had been directed the wrong way along a one-way street.

Separate research found that 69% of drivers had experienced problems when driving without sat-nav assistance, while one in five said they were not confident reading a traditional road map. This growing dependence makes it especially important that learners understand the driver’s judgement must always take priority over the device.

ADIs should teach pupils to plan before setting off, continue reading road signs and markings, assess whether a route is suitable and ignore any instruction that would be unsafe or unlawful. Navigation technology is useful support, but it never replaces observation, awareness or responsibility.

Final Thoughts for ADIs

October’s report brings together several issues with a clear connection to driver education: test readiness, distraction, vehicle maintenance, work-related risk and overreliance on technology.

For ADIs, the common thread is helping learners develop judgement that lasts beyond the practical test. A safe driver needs to know when not to interact with a screen, how to check a vehicle, when fatigue or time pressure is affecting performance, and why digital directions must never override signs, road conditions or common sense.

The Traffic Safety Roads bulletin is produced by Graham Feest, a highly respected road safety consultant with more than 50 years’ experience in road safety, driver training and transport policy. A former County Road Safety Officer and Head of Road Safety at IAM RoadSmart, Graham continues to support the profession through his roles as President of the Institute of Master Tutors of Driving and Road Safety Advisor to the ADINJC.

Sue Duncan
ADINJC General Secretary