Speed Awareness Courses

Flyboy152

:doh:

...

sheilavw

I did one just coming up 3 years ago, it was £90. I requested a saturday and got one. We went out driving, it took up most of the day but kept my licence clean

Road_Hog

Wyndham wrote: »

Before anyone condemns me, I realise I've broken the law! But, I thought I was in a 50 zone, which was actually a 40 zone, and I've got a ticket.

They've offered me a speed awareness course as an alternative. Has anyone done one of these? And, in 18 years of driving this is my first ticket, so can someone explain what points on my licence actually means?

Just trying to work out the best way to deal with this....

First off, you have done nothing wrong. Here in Warwickshire all speed limits (virtually) have been reduced, so we have very few 60MPH, most are now 50MPH and those that were 50MPH are now 40MPH. Even the police opposed the council reducing the limits two years ago.

The trouble is, most people are driving more slowly, due to the cost of fuel and that means less tickets (tax revenue) for people.

Personally, my view are 'speed awareness' courses are w@nk. They're run by ex-ACPO and are a money making scheme for ex-high ranking police officers. You are only encouraging them by paying for the course. If you are truly a dangerous motorist, you shouldn't be able to 'get off' by paying a bribe to someone, which is effectively what this is.

The course offers you nothing, just as the drink drive course offers you nothing. Take your points and have them as a badge of pride. You need to inform your insurance company, but most do not adjust your premium for 3 points.

Wyndham

Hmmm... thanks Road_Hog. Interesting take on it all. But I do think I've done something wrong - the speed limit is actually very clearly signed (as is the fact that there are speed cameras) but I missed it. While I don't agree that the road merits a 40 limit (and I think as I was doing 49 then my '18 years of driving experience' brain 'read' the road as 50), the fact is that it is 40, and I was well above that.

Just because I don't agree with the law doesn't mean I'm not guiltly of breaking it... otherwise when I murder my (previous) boss because he's really annoying and I would be doing the world a favour, then I could get away with it

Thanks to all who have contributed. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do, but you've given me food for thought. Now I'm off to take the train to work and not drive until at least next Saturday - but I would have done that anyway, honest I would!

Lum

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

I did one for £80 and was offered a wide choice of locations which was perfect for me. Some very interesting stuff - I didn't know that if there were no speed signs but street lighting then the road was 30

Incorrect.

Has to be a minimum of 3 street lights placed a maximum of 183 metres apart and in a "built up area"

There is a nice list of the various bits of law and guidelines that come together to form this rule on Wikipedia

Road_Hog

Wyndham wrote: »

Hmmm... thanks Road_Hog. Interesting take on it all. But I do think I've done something wrong - the speed limit is actually very clearly signed

If I reduced the speed limit to 10 miles per hour and clearly displayed the limit, would you be happy with that, especially if I wasn't bothered about safety, but purely interested in frustrating motorists into speeding so I could raise revenue?

Wyndham

Now you're just being silly.....

AliceBanned

Nothing to worry about. I was pleasantly surprised at the usefulness of the course. I thought it a clever idea to incentivise drivers to do the course by allowing them to avoid points on their licence - a chance to get us all in a room for an informative day and drill in a few messages about driving. I did mine about 3 years ago and it hasn't affected my insurance. I learnt a lot and felt it was an interesting day, with some gruesome examples of accidents caused by bad driving and especially speeding, to discourage anyone to continue, even including loading up your car and the dangers that there can be which we probably didn't know about. I have been a far better driver ever since, realised I was sloppy and had a negative attitude on the road before and this course changed this, without me expecting this or thinking I was driving with the wrong attitude beforehand.

I got a ticket when driving on a country road late at night and not slowing down to 40 as I came into a town. It was 1.30am at the time and no cars or people around (apart from van with camera tucked away lol). The police officer on the course explained that if I had had an accident and for example gone into a ditch, the fact that no one was around could have meant the end for me. In other words there is no need to speed and never an excuse, and yet they accept that we have all done it occasionally. It was full of common sense tips and was all done with fairly good humour, and I also realised that the other people caught speeding were just people going about their business but failing to realise the importance of more calm and measured driving in general, not just about speed. I actually thought every driver would benefit from it and the roads would be a much safer place and more pleasant if we were all reminded about the importance of good driving more often, rather than passing the driving test and then being left to form our bad habits.

Idiophreak

OK, apparently I'm the only one (yes, I know, I'm such a know-it-all), but I found the speed awareness course to be a complete waste of time. I learnt two things in total:
1) The difference between a dual carriageway and a two lane road.
2) The type of road surface the council uses often has more effect on impact speed in accidents than the starting speed of the car.

Most of the other people in the room were *shockingly* short of knowledge (2 out of 19, myself included, knew the correct NSL on dual carriageways...) and the emphasis was *very much* on 30mph zones. I was caught in a 50 so it didn't seem very relevant to my particular offence at all. The conversation rambled wildly from topic to topic and it really didn't seem to be getting at any particular outcomes. That said, it was easy enough, there was tea and coffee and I didn't get three points...so can't complain too much....

Trebor16

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

insurance companies may ask but they are hoping youll be dumb enough to be that honest there is no way they can check you have been on a SAC because its not a conviction or endorsement, the SAC scheme will not give your private details to the insurance companies as its covered by DPA.

Admiral have a "SAC" code on their list of conviction codes but to get to the list you have to answer "yes" to having a motoring conviction. If you answer no then it doesn't take you to that list.

This is the question they ask:-

"Do you have any motoring offences from the last 5 years, resulting in a fixed penalty, endorsement, conviction or disqualification, or have any pending prosecution"

Nothing about speed awareness courses there so no need to answer "yes".