Nissan said that a bolt used in the steering wheel was not screwed on properly, but that there was no danger of sudden failure.

The Japanese car manufacturer said it would recall models of the Micra, produced in Britain and Japan between 2002 and 2006 and the Cube, which was produced in Japan around the same period.

The discovery will affect about 133,869 models of the Micra in the UK.
The carmaker said that it will fix the issue by tightening the bolts or replacing steering wheels entirely.

So far, no accidents involving the cars have been reported, Nissan said. But drivers will notice if the steering wheel is getting loose, the company added.

A Nissan Motor GB spokesman said: "Over time, the nut that holds on the steering wheel can become loose. Drivers could start notice some wobbling of the wheel and if this is ignored there is the possibility that it could come completely off."

"There have been a few incidents of steering wheels becoming loose, but there have been no accidents," he added.

Nissan has said that the repair would take about 15 minutes.

Earlier this month, Nissan recalled 500,000 vehicles globally over a defect in passenger airbags.

If you do have a nissan micro do get it booked asap go to your nearest Nissan centre asap or go to http://www.nissan.co.uk/vehicles/city-cars/micra.html?cid=ps-63_297325#vehicles/city-cars/micra

1st 5 Driving Lessons for £50 in Birmingham, London, Hertfordshire

Allow at least a two-second gap between you and the vehicle in front on roads carrying faster-moving traffic and in tunnels where visibility is reduced. 

The gap should be at least doubled on wet roads and increased still further on icy roads.

Joining the motorway. When you join the motorway you will normally approach it from a road on the left (a slip road) or from an adjoining motorway. You should:

• give priority to traffic already on the motorway
• check the traffic on the motorway and match your speed to fit safely into the traffic flow in the left-hand lane 
• not cross solid white lines that separate lanes or use the hard shoulder
• stay on the slip road if it continues as an extra lane on the motorway
• remain in the left-hand lane long enough to adjust to the speed of traffic before considering overtaking.

Classic and historic vehicles are often very well maintained by their owners and have a much lower accident and MOT failure rate than newer vehicles. The current requirement to undergo an MOT test goes over and above the obligations set out in European legislation. Following a public consultation which showed high levels of support for the proposals, vehicles manufactured before 1960 will be exempted from the MOT test from 18th November 2012 reducing costs for owners.

Owners of affected vehicles will still be able to take exempt vehicles for an MOT test on a voluntary basis. If you are presented with any of these vehicles you should continue to conduct the test as for any other vehicle and apply the appropriate pass/fail criteria as set out in the Inspection Manuals.

For more info go to http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/repository/Special%20Notice%205-12.pdf

You can use your own car for the driving test if it meets certain rules.

Your test will be cancelled and you could lose your fee if your car doesn’t meet the rules.

Your vehicle must:

• be properly insured and have a valid tax disc
• be roadworthy and have a current MOT if it needs one
• have a seatbelt for the examiner
• have an interior rear-view mirror for the examiner (these are available from most motor stores)
• have a proper passenger head restraint (not a slip-on type)
• be a smoke-free environment
• have 4 wheels
• be able to reach at least 62mph
• have a speedometer measuring speed in mph
• have no warning lights showing - for example, the airbag warning light
• have L-plates (‘L’ or ‘D’ plates in Wales) on the front and rear
• have a maximum authorised mass (MAM) of no more than 3,500 kilograms

MAM is the maximum weight of the vehicle including the maximum load that can be carried safely while used on the road. This is also known as ‘gross vehicle weight’.

Using a hire car: You can only use a hire car for your test if it is fitted with dual controls and it meets all the other driving test vehicle rules.

Space-saver tyres: In some cars the spare tyre is a space-saver and only supposed to be for temporary use. You can’t take your test if a space-saver tyre is in use.

Electronic parking brakes: You can use your vehicle for your test if it is fitted with an electronic parking brake.

Vehicles you can’t use
Some models of vehicle can’t be used for the test. This is because they don’t give the examiner all-round vision. They are generally convertible cars and panel vans.

You can’t use these cars for a driving test:

• BMW Mini convertible
• Ford KA convertible
• Toyota iQ
• VW Beetle convertible

Other types of convertible car or panel van may also be unsuitable. Check with the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) before booking your test.

DSA practical test enquiries

Telephone: 0300 200 1122 (English), 0300 200 1133 (Welsh)
Textphone: 0300 200 1144
Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm

• can drive safely in different road and traffic conditions
• know the Highway Code and can show this through your driving ability

As long as you show the standard required, you’ll pass your driving test. There are no pass or fail quotas.

You’ll need to have passed your driving theory test before taking your practical test.

• You are at the beginning of this guide
• Part 2Documents to bring to your test

• your theory test pass certificate (or confirmation) if you’re not exempt from taking the theory test
• both parts of your driving licence - the photocard and the paper counterpart

You must take your signed driving licence and a valid passport if you have an old-style paper licence.

Your test will be cancelled and you’ll lose your fee if you don’t bring the right documents.

Lost driving licenceYou’ll need to apply for a replacement driving licence if you lose yours. This could take up to 15 days. You may have to rearrange your test if this happens.

Lost theory test certificate Contact the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) with your name and driving licence number as soon as possible. DSA doesn’t issue replacement certificates, but will send you a letter containing your certificate number.

DSA - theory test enquiries

[email protected]
Telephone: 0300 200 1122 (English), 0300 200 1133 (Welsh)
Textphone: 0300 200 1166
Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm

Eyesight check' You’ll have to read a number plate from a distance of:

• 20 metres for vehicles with a new-style number plate
• 20.5 metres for vehicles with an old-style number plate
  

You can write down what you see if you can’t speak English or have difficulty reading.

New-style number plates start with 2 letters followed by 2 numbers, eg AB51 ABC.

You’ll fail your driving test and the test won’t continue if you can’t pass the eyesight test.

Vehicle safety questions: ‘show me, tell me'  You’ll be asked 2 vehicle safety questions. These are also known as the ‘show me, tell me’ questions.

The examiner will ask you one ‘show me’ question, where you’ll have to show them how you’d carry out a vehicle safety check.

You’ll also be asked one ‘tell me’ question, where you’ll have to explain to the examiner how you’d carry out the check.

The driving ability part The driving part of your test will last about 40 minutes. Throughout the test your examiner will be looking for an overall safe standard of driving.

Your general driving abilityDuring your test the examiner will give you directions that you should follow. You’ll drive in various road and traffic conditions. You should drive in the way your instructor has trained you.

It should include:

• normal stops
• an angle start (pulling out from behind a parked vehicle)
• a hill start

You might also be asked to carry out an emergency stop.

Reversing your vehicle safelyYou’ll have to show how well you can reverse your vehicle. The examiner will ask you to do one of the following exercises:

• reversing around a corner
• turning in the road
• reverse parking - either into a parking bay, or parallel parking at the side of the road

Independent driving sectionYour driving test will include around 10 minutes of independent driving. It’s designed to assess your ability to drive safely while making decisions on your own.

If you make mistakes Carry on if you make a mistake, because if it’s not a serious mistake it might not affect your result.

Your examiner will stop your test if they think your driving is a danger to other road users.

Taking someone with you Your examiner will ask if you want your instructor, or another person, to:

• sit in the back of your car during your driving test
• be with you after the test for the result and feedback

This person will usually be your driving instructor, but it could also be a relative or friend.

They must be over 16 and can’t take any part in the test.

The examiner’s supervisor The examiner’s supervisor may come along as well. They will be watching the examiner’s performance, not yours. The supervisor won’t have any say in how you’re tested or in your result.

Your test might be cancelled and you could lose your fee if you don’t let the examiner’s supervisor go with you.

On 19 January 2013 the European Union Third Directive on driving licenses comes into force. All new driving licenses from this date will have to meet the terms of the Directive. The changes will mainly affect motorcyclists, lorry, bus and minibus drivers and those who tow trailers. For more informations go to Gov.uk

Young drivers could be banned from carrying non-family passengersYoung drivers face a ban on carrying anyone other than family members as passengers under proposals being considered by the Government to cut the number of road accidents involving teenagers.

Other options include banning novice drivers from carrying passengers altogether.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr McLoughlin said he was ready to look at measures which could reduce the the number of accidents involving novice motorists and cut the cost of providing them insurance cover.


According to the Association of British Insurers, which submitted the proposals to the Department for Transport, one in eight drivers is under 25, but they account for one third of the number of people who die on the country’s roads.


It estimates that an 18-year old driver is three times more likely to be involved in a crash than a motorist 30 years older. In 2011, drivers between 17 and 19 were involved in 12,000 crashes of which more than half resulted in serious or fatal injuries.


“I read regular reports where three or four young people have been killed in a car and it’s a new driver and you wonder what happened,” Mr McLoughlin said.

“It is not an area I have closed my mind to, far from it.”

Mr McLoughlin's remarks came against a backdrop of mounting concern at fatal accidents involving young drivers. Last month Eleanor Coleman, 19, from Great Yarmouth was sentenced to 15 months youth detention for killing her best by driving her Fiat Punto into a lorry parked in a layby following a Halloween party. The crash took place at 5 am.

Earlier this week Naimo Jones, 19, was jailed for six months after killing her best friend in a car crash in Blackpool. The court heard she was showing off when she lost control of her Vauxhall Corsa as it hurtled into a blind left-hand bend.

The proposals were given a "wholehearted welcome" by the road safety charity, Brake. "We have campaigned for many years for the Government to overhaul the system for training and testing drivers.

"Placing restrictions on newly qualified drivers would signficantly improve safety and help to reduce the appalling number of serious casualties that involve inexperienced novices.

"We know from research that young drivers are far more likely to crash when they have passengers of their age in the car. Placing this restriction makes sense."

The ABI believes restricting the number of passengers is a move that the Government should take. A YouGov survey to be released next week by the insurance group will show significant public support for curbs on young drivers.

The survey will show that 71 per cent of Britons would back a limit on the number of young passengers that newly qualified young drivers are allowed to carry.

It will also show that 58 per cent of people support a curfew on night-time driving between 11pm and 4am for newly-qualified young drivers, unless they are driving to and from work.

The ABI said that both limits should be in place for the first six months after a person between the ages of 17 and 24 gets their driving licence.

James Dalton, who overseas motor policy at the ABI, said that "radical action" is needed to "reduce the tragic waste of young lives on our roads, especially among the 17-24 age group".

"A car is potentially a lethal weapon," said Mr Dalton.

An ABI spokesman added: "Any restrictions to limit the number of passengers young newly qualified young drivers can carry for an initial period after passing their test would be a step in the right direction."

The Government has faced calls from the ABI and road safety groups to introduce what is known as a graduated licence, which would impose additional restrictions on drivers who have just passed their test.

In Northern Ireland for example, novice motorists must carry an R-plate and are not allowed to drive faster than 45 mph until they have been driving for a year.

The only restriction faced by novice drivers - irrespective of their age - is that they can have their licence revoked if they accumulate six penalty points within two years of parking their test.

How new restrictions would be enforced remains unclear. Road safety experts believe that young drivers who infringe the rules could face points on their licence or being sent on a course aimed at novice motorists.

Up until now the Government has resisted moves to introduce a graduated licence in England and Wales despite calls from organisations, such as the RAC Foundation, for such a move.

"We need to stop young people killing themselves - and others - on the roads. Casualties have been in decline but this age group is still shockingly over-represented in the stats,” said the Foundation’s director, Professor Stephen Glaister.

“If a modest curb on driving privileges can lead to a meaningful drop in death and injuries - and evidence from abroad suggests it can - then we would support some form of graduated licencing.”

Edmund King, the AA’s president, however, voiced doubts on imposing a ban on carrying passengers.

“It is something we think is extremely impractical,” he said. “We think it is sometimes useful to have a designated driver, who takes three mates home rather than having them travel in separate cars.”

"I can't see how this will be enforced. How can you tell whether somebody in the car is a family member or not? What family members are included? Do they mean someone older? What is their role?

"These things sound reasonable but in practical terms they are very tricky"

Robert Gifford, executive director of the Parliamentary Advisory Committee for Transport Safety, said more work needed to be done before young drivers took their test.

“Young drivers remain a key area where we need to make progress. They are the economic future of our country.

“As well as looking at post-test restrictions, we also need to improve driver training and instruction and the quality of learning. IN that way, we can build quality driver learning.”

Driving examiners who are members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union could take strike action on Friday 30 November 2012.

To find out more go to DSA

Customer service centre DSA’s customer service centre for practical driving tests might also be affected by strike action on Friday 30 November. You’ll still be able to

book, change or cancel practical driving tests online on GOV.UK.

Theory testsTheory tests aren’t affected by the strike action and will be taking place as planned.

Motorists that are caught driving on illegal tyres is also a topical issue this month. Shocking figures released by Tyresafe have revealed that in 2010, there were 10,475 court convictions related to driving on defective tyres. Keep your tyres to a roadworthy standard and make sure you avoid a fine of up to £2,500 and three penalty points!