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Brake calls for compulsory rural driving lessons for learners
Road safety charity Brake is today calling for compulsory lessons on rural roads for learner drivers , as part of a graduated licensing system , to reduce fatalities and
serious injuries .
I n 2015 , the last year for which statistics are available , 120 young drivers lost their lives in crashes - 80 per cent of these occurring on rural roads , 16 per cent on urban roads and four per cent on motorways .
Jason Wakeford , Director of Campaigns for Brake , the road safety charity , said : " High speeds , sharp bends , narrow lanes , risky overtaking and the presence of vulnerable road users like cyclists , make rural roads the most dangerous by far . The combination of rural roads and novice drivers is lethal - a staggering 80 per cent of all young car driver fatalities occur in rural locations .
" Brake is calling for a total overhaul of the learning to drive system to help cut fatalities and injuries . A graduated licensing system , including a minimum learning period , mandatory training on rural roads and restrictions for newly-qualified drivers - such as a zero drink-drive limit - will allow new drivers to build up more skills and experience over a longer period of time .
" This approach has dramatically reduced road casualties in countries including Australia and New Zealand and could save some 400 lives a year if implemented in the UK .
" Brake is also calling for a review of rural speed limits and for ' Voluntary Intelligent Speed Adaptation ', which helps drivers keep within the limit , to be fitted as standard to new cars . There is also the need for better and more affordable public transport , so fewer young people see starting driving in their teens as a necessity ."
A Royal celebration for 50th anniversary of Koppert Biological Systems
King Willem-Alexander opens the Experience Centre in honour of the anniversary .
K ing Willem- Alexander is present on Thursday , September 14th at the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Koppert Biological Systems in Berkel and Rodenrijs . The company focuses on biological crop protection and conservation of cultivation . The King will also open the newly developed ' Experience Centre '.
The family business started fifty years ago with the idea of combating the so-called ' plague inects ' that affect crops , with natural enemies rather than with chemical agents . Koppert is looking for solutions that occur in nature and make products that are used by professional growers . Over the years , Koppert has grown into an international company with 25 subsidiaries . The company ' s natural solutions are now being used worldwide against pests and diseases in agriculture and horticulture . They are also focusing on improving soil quality . The King performs the opening of the Experience Centre
This information centre has emerged from an increasing need to provide visitors with insight into the world of biological crop protection . Interactively , growers , research institutions , students and governments from home and abroad get information about , among other things , Koppert ' s vision , research and development and production process . After the opening , the King will speak with a number of employees of the company . He will also be present at the opening of the international anniversary seminar that Koppert organises . From pioneer to market leader in 50 years
Jan Koppert had a lot of plague insects in his cucumber crop in the 1960s , like other growers . He , along with his son Peter , was looking for a natural solution to protect his crop and experimented with the use of predatory mites against spiders . That experiment succeeded and formed the basis of Koppert Biological Systems .
In the fifty years that followed , the family business led by Peter , his brother Paul and cousin Henri Oosthoek , became the market leader in organic crop protection in horticulture – and is still growing every year . Koppert , in addition to over 40 natural enemies of harmful insects , also supplies microbiological solutions and bumblebees for sustainable production of agricultural and horticultural crops .
06 | Farming Monthly | September 2017 www . farmingmonthly . co . uk