How to ask for a Speed Awareness course?

TooManyPoints

I could do 60 in a 50 on a long straight with nobody else around that I was aware of. Is that endangering others?

FTFY. And the answer is I don't know. And neither do you.

I drive as the conditions allow and that driving has never had me cause an accident in my life.

Maybe not. But you might have been involved in an accident due to the stupidity of somebody else, which may have been avoided had you been travelling slower.

You see, that's the problem with driving. As superior a driver as you obviously are, accommodation has to be made for those who are not so blessed with your talents. So when an idiot pulls out from a side road totally unforseen and unannounced in front of you, you might be able to stop in time so as to avoid a collision at 30mph, whereas at 40mph you won't. The road is only safe and clear as far as you can see but even with your superior talents and ability, you can't see everything.

Hence "arbitrary" speed limits.

oldernonethewiser

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81990129#Comment_81990129

I would print this out and keep it in the glove box so that if you ever get stopped you can show the cops.

They will of course be swayed by your argument.😉

Car_54

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81990051#Comment_81990051

I can't comment on Wales, but here in London we have "borough-wide" limits, including roads which seldom if ever see a pedestrai. Theyare imposed by politicians with NO assessment of individual roads. I'm not arguing against the safety benefits, simply refuting your implication that every limit is based on data analysis.

HHarry

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81990206#Comment_81990206

I agree with you Car_54.

As a Welsh resident I accept the benefits of a 20 mph limit. But I think that 95% of those benefits could have been acheived with a targetted limit in major towns and cities. Instead we spent a reported £33m on a country wide implementation, and then a further £5m was made available to re-catergorise some roads back to 30mph where appropriate.

And then you’ve got the benefits that just aren’t acheivable, particularly in rural areas. An increase in the use of public transport?; not if there isn’t any available. A reduction in pollution?; unlikely when drivers are now acclerating from 20mph (rather than 30) to 60/70mph.

ripofflondon

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81989149#Comment_81989149

Thanks all for your input / thoughts.

First time in this forum since Wed - I was in a polling station all day yesterday.

Having had a chance to play around with Google Maps a bit more, I can now see that the speedo is not underreporting my speed but neither is it overreporting it either - it's dead on. Think I was assuming before that it was overreporting it, as was indeed the case by about 10% with the 2 BMWs and the Toyota I had before this BMW.

I'll throw myself on the mercy of the chief constable and will let you know the outcome but not anticipating much.

Plus I'll check with my insurance co re the effect of the 3 penalty points.

Car_54

I suspect that the chief constable has higher priorities than minor motoring offences, and rightly so. He or she will never see the OP's letter: some minion will consign it to the bin.

ripofflondon

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81991514#Comment_81991514

Of course I know it won't go to the chief! If I knew the name of someone less senior then obvs I would send it to them instead.

Just clutching at straws, we all know I'm probably stuffed.

ripofflondon

Hi all - I can confirm that the addition of 3 points made zero difference to my premium!

GDB2222

'First time in this forum since Wed - I was in a polling station all day yesterday.'

I never thought about this before, but do the polling station staff have any chance to vote? Maybe a postal vote?

Herzlos

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81990430#Comment_81990430

My understanding was that the 20 limit was blanket applied only to town roads and not rural, so other than passing through towns on major roads it's mostly side roads. That seems pretty reasonable to me.

The fuel savings largely come from going 20-0-20 at every junction or bit of congestion instead of 30-0-30, going from 60-20-60 once for every town isn't going to make much difference.

I can't imagine there are many dual carriageways (the only place you'd be doing 70) going straight into 20 zones in town?