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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