Association of British Drivers
Encyclopedia
The Association of British Drivers (ABD), founded in 1992, is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
motorists' advocacy group
Advocacy group
Advocacy groups use various forms of advocacy to influence public opinion and/or policy; they have played and continue to play an important part in the development of political and social systems...
.
"The Association of British Drivers" is the sole operating name of "Pro-Motor", a company limited by guarantee and registered in the United Kingdom.
The ABD state that they are Britain's foremost campaigning group for drivers, and that they represent "the truly independent voice of the driver", receiving no funds from the government or from any companies.
The ABD is a member of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety
Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety
The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety is a United Kingdom Parliament Associate Parliamentary Group which exists "to promote human life through the promotion of transport safety for the public benefit"....
and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations
National Council for Voluntary Organisations
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations is the umbrella body for the voluntary and community sector in England. NCVO works to support the voluntary and community sector and to create an environment in which an independent civil society can flourish...
.
Association objectives
Its formal objectives are:- To represent and promote the interests of car owners and drivers, motorcyclists and users of other forms of private and commercial motorised vehicles
- To support better vehicle design and safety
- To support higher standards of motor vehicle design, efficiency, economy, performance and improved emissions standards
- To support better standards of driver training
- To monitor road construction and maintenance, including spending levels, levels of taxation and the cost of motoring generally
- To monitor road traffic legislation, enforcement and penalties
Its website also states that members of the ABD firmly believe that:
- It is the right of the individual to decide whether to travel by private car or by another means of transport, it is not the job of Government or others to restrict that choice.
- Car ownership should be affordable to all levels of society — rich and poor.
- Car ownership rates in the UK remain low by international standards.
History
The ABD was founded in 1992. In a 1997 item in The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, about the introduction of the 400th traffic enforcement camera in London, it was stated that the ABD was set up in 1992, the year of the introduction of the first Gatso
Gatso
Gatso is the brand that Gatsometer BV use on their traffic enforcement cameras, most notably their speed cameras and red light cameras. The most commonly encountered Gatso speed cameras emit radar beams to measure the speed of a passing vehicle...
camera in London, "to fight the spread of Gatso cameras". In 2004, Top Gear
Top Gear (magazine)
Top Gear is an automobile magazine published by BBC Worldwide, and named after the BBC's Top Gear television show. It was first published in October 1993 and is published monthly at a price of £3.95. The major presenters of the television series—Richard Hammond, James May and Jeremy Clarkson—are...
stated that the ABD had been created in 1992, by Brian Gregory, as a reaction to his impression that drivers were continuing to be "fleeced while getting relatively little in return".
In 1999, the ABD were credited as "leading a backlash against speed cameras", in an item describing their intention to publish the locations of Britain's then, 2000 cameras. They were stated to be an organisation claiming to "stand up for the civil rights of the road user".
By 2000, they were countering what they were reported to have considered to be "anti-car propaganda" with an attack on Government activities which linked climate change to car use. Their spokesman was quoted to have said that, with buildings responsible for almost twice as much carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
emissions as transport, they should concentrate on explaining why the fuel used to heat buildings is taxed at 5%, yet the fuel used to "keep the nation moving" is taxed at 500%. In July 2000 they launched their "show the tax" campaign, an attempt to persuade petrol stations to display the amount of tax charged on petrol and diesel.
Membership
The membership numbers of the ABD have long been controversial, with an article in the Guardian accusing the ABD of inflating its membership numbers. In a 1997 article in The Guardian about speed cameras in London, it was stated that the ABD was then a 300-strong organisation.The Guardian has claimed the ABD inflates its membership numbers. In 2004 the association claimed "more than 9,000 members", later saying that their total membership was "2,256 paying subscribers and 3,775 "affiliate" members who it said were automatically included by virtue of their membership of eight connected associations". Some of those organizations, including the Fiat Motor Club and the Renault Clio Owners' Club, are no longer affiliate members of the ABD.
In response to the controversy surrounding its representation of its membership numbers, the ABD's chairman, Brian Gregory said, "It doesn't matter a fig to me whether we've got 1,500 members or 5,000 members." and adding "What's important is that if you go into any pub and listen to the views of the people at the bar, you'll find that their opinions are very much in line with ours."
Campaigns
The ABD campaigns against what it sees as an anti-motorist bias in British government policy, the Carfree movement and the Campaign for Better Transport (UK). It argues that British fuel taxFuel tax
A fuel tax is an excise tax imposed on the sale of fuel. In most countries the fuel tax is imposed on fuels which are intended for transportation...
es are excessive, and has expressed scepticism of man-made global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
, which is often cited as a justification for policies aimed at reducing private car use.
In August 2004, Richard Brunstrom
Richard Brunstrom
Richard Brunstrom was the Chief Constable of North Wales Police, a position he held from January 2001 to July 2009.-Early life:...
, the then chief of road policing for the UK Association of Chief Police Officers
Association of Chief Police Officers
The Association of Chief Police Officers , established in 1948, is a private limited company that leads the development of policing practice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.ACPO provides a forum for chief police officers to share ideas and coordinates the strategic...
, and said by the BBC in February 2004 to be "probably the most controversial senior police officer in Britain at the present time" (and a rigorous enforcer of speed limits on the open road), said of the ABD:
"Pressure groups such as the Association of British Drivers are unduly influential. They have less than 3,000 members, yet they are given enormous attention by the media. They appear on Radio 4's Today programme. It's ludicrous — this is a bunch of crackpots being given prime airtime. It's just because the media love a controversy."
Environment
The ABD state that they intend to "reveal the truth behind the scare stories about global warming, and the impact cars have on health and the environment."Speed cameras
The ABD opposes the "inappropriate" use of traffic enforcement cameras, claiming that cameras are used mainly as a means of raising revenue on roads where the risk of crashesCar accident
A traffic collision, also known as a traffic accident, motor vehicle collision, motor vehicle accident, car accident, automobile accident, Road Traffic Collision or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other stationary obstruction,...
is low.
The ABD claims that "speed cameras [are] used for the purpose of ruthlessly extorting money from drivers, a practice based upon a fanatical belief in 'speed' being the cause of all road accidents. [They] Terrorize drivers into gorping mindlessly at their speedometer instead of looking where they're going."
Affiliations
The ABD is a member of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS). The council's executive director, Rob Gifford, commented: "They are basically libertariansLibertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
. They turn up at our meetings and make a nuisance of themselves".
No2id
NO2ID
NO2ID, the public campaign, was formed in 2004 to campaign against the United Kingdom government's plans to introduce UK ID Cards and the associated National Identity Register, which it believes has negative implications for privacy, civil liberties and personal safety.NO2ID is entirely independent...
state that the ABD are a supporter of their coalition, which campaigns against the United Kingdom government's plans to introduce UK ID Cards.
The American equivalent of the ABD is the National Motorists Association
National Motorists Association
The National Motorists Association is a grassroots organization whose revenue is membership- and donation-driven. It was created in 1982 to "to represent and protect the interests of North American motorists", and advocates a "Motorist Bill of Rights".-History:The NMA, originally called the...
.