The Association of British Drivers (ABD), founded in 1992, is a British motorists' advocacy group.
"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.[1]
The ABD is a member of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.
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Its formal objectives are:[2]
Its website also states[3] that members of the ABD firmly believe that:
The ABD was founded in 1992. In a 1997 item in The Guardian, 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 camera in London, "to fight the spread of Gatso cameras".[4] In 2004, Top Gear 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".[5]
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".[6]
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 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%.[7] 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.[8]
The membership numbers of the ABD have long been controversial, with an article in the Guardian accusing the ABD of inflating its membership numbers.[9] In a 1997 article in The Guardian about speed cameras in London, it was stated that the ABD was then a 300-strong organisation.[4]
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.[9]
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."[9] 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."[9]
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 taxes are excessive, and has expressed scepticism of man-made global warming,[10] which is often cited as a justification for policies aimed at reducing private car use.[11]
In August 2004, Richard Brunstrom, the then chief of road policing for the UK Association of Chief Police Officers, and said by the BBC in February 2004 to be "probably the most controversial senior police officer in Britain at the present time"[12] (and a rigorous enforcer of speed limits on the open road[13]), 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."[14]
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."[15]
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 crashes is low.[16]
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."[17]
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 libertarians. They turn up at our meetings and make a nuisance of themselves".[9]
No2id state that the ABD are a supporter of their coalition, which campaigns against the United Kingdom government's plans to introduce UK ID Cards.[18]
The American equivalent of the ABD is the National Motorists Association.