Speed awareness course

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Pennylane said:

silvercar said:

Mutton_Geoff said:

Pennylane said:

Mutton_Geoff said:

Pennylane said:

Received my first ever fine for speeding. Offered a speed awareness course. First time I tried to book by phone. Spent an hour hanging on. Then tried online, put all my details in, refs etc, debit card in hand to pay and it says there are no classroom venues available. Rang again went through it all again and they could offer no venues. Suggested I do online course which I don’t want to do (not very techie) or accept the points and pay a fine which I don’t want to do.

Rang again today, still no venues. Apparently “due to covid” there are not enough tutors who want to do classroom sessions!  I have to ring again next week and see if they have released a venue!  The 28 days I have to book this is rapidly disappearing and it’s not my fault. 

What a dreadful system.  I have also emailed the Police twice whose name is on top of the original letter but they just send me links to online booking etc which of course are no good if there are no venues available. 

If you are tech savvy enough to have been posting here for 15 years, I think you'll be OK opening a Zoom link.

Thanks but I am worried about what happens if I lose the link or something goes wrong.  I am honestly hopeless.  I had to do one zoom thing during the pandemic and was a quivering wreck and that was with my son setting it all up.  

In these situations, just ask yourself "what's the worst that could possibly happen".

The "worst that could happen" is probably what happened to someone when I did my course. A non tech savvy elderly lady had someone helping her join the meeting and that was fine. The instructor was happy with that as long as the friend then left the room. The course was quite interactive with the instructor asking participants questions, she couldn't work out how to come off mute at one point. At another point, about 15 minutes in, her internet or computer froze and the instructor gave her a few minutes to sort herself out, after which she was required to leave the course. The instructor said he would be in touch to offer her another attempt at a later date.

Exactly!  That would be me.  🥺

Not if you do some practice calls

Pennylane

Alanp said:

Also make sure you have nobody in the room with you as that’s an instant fail…( when you do the online course).

I have just been reading there is no Pass or Fail.  

TooManyPoints

Pennylane said:

Alanp said:

Also make sure you have nobody in the room with you as that’s an instant fail…( when you do the online course).

I have just been reading there is no Pass or Fail.  

No there isn't. But you have to complete the course satisfactorily and if you allow somebody in the room you will not be deemed to have done that.

Aretnap

Pennylane said:

Alanp said:

Also make sure you have nobody in the room with you as that’s an instant fail…( when you do the online course).

I have just been reading there is no Pass or Fail.  

There isn't an exam at the end that you can pass or fail but you do have to follow the instructions and engage positively with the course. You'll fail if you fall asleep during the course, or if you spend the while time saying "this is a load of rubbish" or if you're obviously doing something else like watching TV rather than paying attention.

You are not supposed to have someone else in the room with you while you are doing the course but "instant fail" is a bit melodramatic. The instructor will remind you of the requirements and give you chance to comply with them. You are not going to be booted straight off the course because someone puts their head round the door, and I very much doubt that you would be booted off if you had to ask a relative to come in briefly to help deal with a technical problem.

Pennylane

TooManyPoints said:

Pennylane said:

Alanp said:

Also make sure you have nobody in the room with you as that’s an instant fail…( when you do the online course).

I have just been reading there is no Pass or Fail.  

No there isn't. But you have to complete the course satisfactorily and if you allow somebody in the room you will not be deemed to have done that.

Why is that?  When you do a classroom course there are loads of people in the class. Genuine question. 

Aretnap

Pennylane said:

TooManyPoints said:

Pennylane said:

Alanp said:

Also make sure you have nobody in the room with you as that’s an instant fail…( when you do the online course).

I have just been reading there is no Pass or Fail.  

No there isn't. But you have to complete the course satisfactorily and if you allow somebody in the room you will not be deemed to have done that.

Why is that?  When you do a classroom course there are loads of people in the class. Genuine question. 

I don't know the exact training but I'd guess that is to ensure that you're not distracted - if there are other people in the room there's likely to be other conversations going on, background noise etc which is distracting for you and other participants.

Yes there are other people in the room at an in person course but (a) they're all (in theory) paying attention to the course as well and (b) it's easier for the instructor to keep an eye on what's going on and ask anyone who is getting into conversation with their neighbour to stop and pay attention.

Username03725

Pennylane said:

silvercar said:

Mutton_Geoff said:

Pennylane said:

Mutton_Geoff said:

Pennylane said:

Received my first ever fine for speeding. Offered a speed awareness course. First time I tried to book by phone. Spent an hour hanging on. Then tried online, put all my details in, refs etc, debit card in hand to pay and it says there are no classroom venues available. Rang again went through it all again and they could offer no venues. Suggested I do online course which I don’t want to do (not very techie) or accept the points and pay a fine which I don’t want to do.

Rang again today, still no venues. Apparently “due to covid” there are not enough tutors who want to do classroom sessions!  I have to ring again next week and see if they have released a venue!  The 28 days I have to book this is rapidly disappearing and it’s not my fault. 

What a dreadful system.  I have also emailed the Police twice whose name is on top of the original letter but they just send me links to online booking etc which of course are no good if there are no venues available. 

If you are tech savvy enough to have been posting here for 15 years, I think you'll be OK opening a Zoom link.

Thanks but I am worried about what happens if I lose the link or something goes wrong.  I am honestly hopeless.  I had to do one zoom thing during the pandemic and was a quivering wreck and that was with my son setting it all up.  

In these situations, just ask yourself "what's the worst that could possibly happen".

The "worst that could happen" is probably what happened to someone when I did my course. A non tech savvy elderly lady had someone helping her join the meeting and that was fine. The instructor was happy with that as long as the friend then left the room. The course was quite interactive with the instructor asking participants questions, she couldn't work out how to come off mute at one point. At another point, about 15 minutes in, her internet or computer froze and the instructor gave her a few minutes to sort herself out, after which she was required to leave the course. The instructor said he would be in touch to offer her another attempt at a later date.

Exactly!  That would be me.  🥺

No it wouldn't as you'll have done a few trial calls with friends or family so will be familiar with mute / unmute and switching the video on & off - it really is a simple as clicking the microphone and camera icons to toggle from on to off & back again.

Internet or computer freezing? How often does happen in your house? And if it does, it does and there's nothing you can do about it in that situation anyway so you just shrug & deal with it. It seems like a terribly vague thing to be so fearful of even considering it. These things are aimed at novices and non-techy users, that's why they become the successful default apps. They're so easy to use. 

Why not do a Zoom call today, after you read this? Within 5 minutes of reading this, email / call / chat to anyone you know who can do it, get that other person to send you a Zoom invite and then do it. 

silvercar

Pennylane said:

TooManyPoints said:

Pennylane said:

Alanp said:

Also make sure you have nobody in the room with you as that’s an instant fail…( when you do the online course).

I have just been reading there is no Pass or Fail.  

No there isn't. But you have to complete the course satisfactorily and if you allow somebody in the room you will not be deemed to have done that.

Why is that?  When you do a classroom course there are loads of people in the class. Genuine question. 

There are other people in the zoom meeting with you. I suspect there is also a confidentiality issue. The other participants can see the name you show on your zoom status and into whichever room you are attending from. The idea that non participants can also be looking possibly breaches the rules - after all you wouldn't take a friend to a course with you.

TooManyPoints

Pennylane said:

TooManyPoints said:

Pennylane said:

Alanp said:

Also make sure you have nobody in the room with you as that’s an instant fail…( when you do the online course).

I have just been reading there is no Pass or Fail.  

No there isn't. But you have to complete the course satisfactorily and if you allow somebody in the room you will not be deemed to have done that.

Why is that?  

Best ask the course providers.

Stateofart

No option of an online one?  I was directed to my pick of the online courses and I chose the cheapest one.  Easy peasy.  Course wasn't that bad either.