38 in a 30

brat

Whether the OP goes for a fine/points or SAC will be his personal preference. I'd hate to have points on my licence, so I'd opt for the course if the dreaded flash occurred.

It's almost impossible for any decent safe driver not to exceed an urban speed limit from time to time, and there's no evidence that those who drive at 75 to 85mph on a free moving motorway increase road risk.

Insurance companies will know this, which is why they don't increase the premium for a speeding offence.

rudekid48

brat wrote: »

Whether the OP goes for a fine/points or SAC will be his personal preference. I'd hate to have points on my licence, so I'd opt for the course if the dreaded flash occurred.

It's almost impossible for any decent safe driver not to exceed an urban speed limit from time to time, and there's no evidence that those who drive at 75 to 85mph on a free moving motorway increase road risk.

Insurance companies will know this, which is why they don't increase the premium for a speeding offence.

Agree with the motorway point but if I caught someone doing 38 down our street where my kids play out, 3 points or a few hours in a class room would be the least of their worries

brat

rudekid48 wrote: »

Agree with the motorway point but if I caught someone doing 38 down our street where my kids play out, 3 points or a few hours in a class room would be the least of their worries

I don't disagree, but that's not what I said.

Most sensible safe drivers regulate their speed to address the risk or hazard definition. They would drive through your residential street at a safe speed, probably well below the speed limit, with or without the presence of a speed camera.
However when the hazards diminish and the road risk is vastly reduced (eg on a wide open road leaving town) many safe drivers will safely and subconsciously exceed the limit because they value driving to the hazard definition over a fixed numerical speed. These are (not coincidentally) the locations where the speed cams are sited, because they derive greatest revenue from ordinary safe drivers.

TadleyBaggie

brat wrote: »

These are (not coincidentally) the locations where the speed cams are sited, because they derive greatest revenue from ordinary safe drivers.

But this argument fails on the basic fact that none of the revenue from fines goes to the enforcing authority. So they have no enducement to generate revenue at all.

brat

TadleyBaggie wrote: »

But this argument fails on the basic fact that none of the revenue from fines goes to the enforcing authority. So they have no enducement to generate revenue at all.

Do they not gain revenue from speed awareness courses? I could be wrong, but I believed that to be the case.
In any case, as I understand it, some revenue used to be returned to the enforcing authority, and most cameras were sited when that condition was in place, so it matters not that the inducement has gone, the initial driving force for their positioning had hard finance at its core. Additionally, most cameras were sited when the rules stated that they should be sited in locations where the 85th percentile speed was over the prosecution threshold. That usually means a location where exceeding the speed limit is the safe norm.

Johno100

brat wrote: »

Do they not gain revenue from speed awareness courses? I could be wrong, but I believed that to be the case.

Yes, any 'surplus' from running the courses goes to the local Road Safety Partnership. That is one of the reasons they are so keen to offer them.

Indout96

doningtonphil wrote: »

The theme was all about observation and awareness. We all assumed the road outside the hotel approaching the roundabout was 40 or maybe 30. It was him that told us to look out for the derestriction signs next time that indicted 70mph is allowable if safe to do so.

Did you really need a speed awareness course to tell you to look at the road signs for the speed limit ?
:eek:

System

When I did mine it was amazing the number of people who did not know the visual clues that a road was 30MPH if no speed signs were present. They worked on the theory that if there is no speed sign then its NSL

LandyAndy

doningtonphil wrote: »

why in choosing points + fine or speed awareness course would you NOT go for the course?

The course was very informative, it really did change my view of driving.. I would go so far as to say to recommend anyone go on the course

The theme was all about observation and awareness..

That was my experience of the one I went on about 8 years ago.

NBLondon

I did a course last year - cost £97 instead of a £100 fine - and I agree with doningtonphil that it was a good refresher and the tutor I had in South London (AA advanced instructor) did a good job in making a potentially dull 2 hours as interesting as he could.