AIRSO Chairmen Past & Present

Introduction

Historically, AIRSO had a President who was active in the role of leading AIRSO in terms of acting as the Chairman. This was Ray Gahan who opted for this role when AIRSO was formed in 1965. He proposed the introduction of a separate role of President and Chairman in 1988, and accordingly our first Chairman was Bill Smith. In 1994 AIRSO amended its constitution to the effect that the Chairman would only serve for one year. That year the role of Vice Chairman was introduced and constitutionally set that the Vice Chairman would be the immediate past Chairman.

2012 Chairman - Kevin Day

Kevin Day FAIRSO was appointed Chairman of AIRSO for this year at the AGM in Oxford.

Kevin is the Driver Training Manager for West Midlands Fire Service and also holds the AIRSO Portfolio for Emergency Services and was Chairman of the National Blue Light Users Conference in 2010.

A more detailed biography will be published soon.

2011 Chairman - Mike Lovelock

Mike Lovelock is now in semi-retirement in Herefordshire having served thirty-two years with the Metropolitan Police, the last four years of which, he was the Commandant of the Driving School at Hendon. He now works part time as a staff examiner for the Institute of Advanced Motorists. Mike has been chairman of AIRSO on two occasions in 2001 and 2011.

2010 Chairman - Susan Cooper

Before coming into road safety work on a full time basis Sue was a Home Economics teacher for almost 20 years. During her teaching career she introduced Traffic Education into the curriculum for senior pupils and was one of the first teachers in Lincolnshire to become a Schools Traffic Education Programme (STEP) tutor, before becoming Divisional Road Safety Officer for South Lincolnshire. Sue took up her new post as Senior Highways Officer combining her Road Safety skills along with her new found responsibilities in Traffic Management for Lincolnshire County Council.

Sue became a Member of AIRSO in 1994, was elected to the Council of Management in 1997 and then to the position of Chairman for the first time in 2000. Following her year as Chairman of AIRSO she was appointed as Chairman of the Association’s Road Safety Advisory Panel and has held that position until returning as Chairman of the Association for 2010.

2009 Chairman - Robert Jackson

Robert (Bob) joined the West Midlands Fire Service in 1974. Following a number of years as an operational fire officer in 1987 he entered the Brigade’s Driving School, continuing there until retirement in July 2003. Bob was instrumental in setting up the first Vehicle Accident Investigation Team in a U.K. Fire Service. He was and still remains a RoSPA advanced driving examiner, and is heavily involved with local and regional IAM groups.

Bob has been a Member of AIRSO for a number of years, elected to the Council of Management in 1995 and a previous Chairman in 1998. He currently holds the AIRSO Portfolio for the Emergency Services. He is one of only nine Members of AIRSO in its 42 year history to have been made an Honorary Life Members and one of a handful of members to receive the Special Appreciation Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Association and he is of course the founder of the National Blue Light Users Conference. Following a period of working as an independent consultant, in late 2008 Bob was appointed Head of Driving Standards for National Express Limited.

2008 Chairman - Andrew Howard MBE

Andrew Howard MBE, Head of Road Safety at The Automobile Association, is in his 35th year with The AA, 27 of which have been spent as Head of Road Safety. Andrew has been a member of the Government's Road Safety Advisory Panel and its child safety sub-group; a member of the RoSPA National Road Safety Committee; a member of all the PACTS road safety working groups; he has been involved with sub-groups of the Government's School Travel Advisory Group and the Motorist's Forum; last but not least he has been a member of the National Motorcycle Council and the Home Office's Vehicle Crime Reduction Action Team.

2007 Chair - Lyn Morris

Lyn Morris is a Road Safety Officer with Carmarthenshire County Council and was the first AIRSO Chairman to live and work in Wales. Prior to her move to Wales she worked in road safety for Harlow Council and for an engineering consultancy as a project manager for Education Training and Publicity.

2006 Chairman - Mike Ambrose

Michael (Mike) Ambrose was the former Approved Driving Instructor (ADI) Registrar with the Driving Standards Agency In 2002 he left DSA, re-qualified as an ADI and became an independent Road Safety Consultant. As a consultant he has worked for BSM, Granada TV and The States Traffic Department in Guernsey.

2005 Chairman - Edward Handley

Edward Handley was, when AIRSO Chairman, the Managing Director of Big Wheelers Ltd but is now an independent Work Related Road Risk Consultant. He also holds the AIRSO Portfolio for Large Goods Vehicles. Edward is currently the longest serving Member of the Council of Management and, prior to 2008, the only person to have served the Association as Chairman on two occasions - 1994 & 2005.

Previous AIRSO Chairmen