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May 2014
NOVEMBER LINK WILL BE EARLIER THIS YEAR Normally the LINK newsletter is sent out to a fixed timetable based upon giving two weeks’ notice of the next Monthly Meeting. However, commitments of certain volunteers demand a revision, so the November LINK, and Membership Renewal request, will be a fortnight early. Collation volunteers please note that Collation will be two weeks early - not on Monday Nov 10th, but on Monday 27th October. CHECKING ASSOCIATES’ LICENCE, INSURANCE, TAX DISC, MoT Doing this is an IAM and Group requirement before any assessed drive. It used to be easy to check the existence (or not) of paper documents. But the paper Tax Disc will be discontinued from October 2014. The MoT is only a plain-paper receipt and many Insurance Certificates are issued online, with the recipient not printing them out, and unable to do so later as many are only print-able for one or three months. The paper Driving Licence Counterpart will be discontinued in mid-2015. Checking electronic records will be easy for a Police Officer with the correct equipment, but impossible for an IAM Official or Observer. Until an approved solution is found by IAM Chiswick, a Declaration from the Associate and a level of trust may have to prevail, if that is permitted. But in the short term, Observers can be reasonably confident of accepting their judgement of things on trust. As from mid January 2014 neither the DVLA nor the Post Office has issued a Tax Disc without the proper electronic record of both Insurance Cover and MoT being in place. OBSERVERS NEEDED The Group has recently lost some Observers from its ranks. Roger Stimpson, formerly Group Chairman and Chief Observer, has stepped–down due to health reasons. Clyde Brown, experienced and successful Observer and RoSPA Member, has removed to Norfolk for family reasons. However, he intends to join an IAM Group in that area and continue Observing. Margaret James, mentioned elsewhere in this issue, has resigned. Pam Hunt will resign in June 2015 rather than re-qualify. That leaves 25 Observers in the Group, only two being female, with currently 56 Associates and 2 Refreshers needing guidance. When the IAM started Associate guidance – way back - the forecast was that half of those who passed the Test would go on to become Observers, which never occurred. If you passed the Test you will retain most of the knowledge, and you may be able to train as an Observer. Volunteer now! the LINK – newsletter of Bristol Advanced Motorists
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