The Great Speed Awareness Course Scam
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Joe_Horner wrote: »I think that is what he meant. I was trying to make the point that profit (and therefore potential for "scam") only comes into the equation after you've (a) broken the law, (b) been caught, and (c) voluntarily decided not to be dealt with by the normal justice system.
Given (a) (b) and (c) above, it's not really surprising that someone makes some money out of you NOT getting points and a fine and, hopefully, learning not to get caught again!
Agreed. And as for the "scam", I'd be surprised if you could find any other 4-hour courses (regardless of subject) for as little as £90, unless subsidised.0 -
Guerillatoker wrote: »Recently got my first NIP (well it hasn't arrived yet but hirer has had it) for doing 48mph in a 40mph road at 1:30am on what is practically country road whilst on my way home from work, so I can relate.
I hear this sort of argument so often. Recently a friend of mine was done for doing 70mph in a 50 zone through temporary roadworks during the early hours. He was genuinely shocked because there was no work actually going on at the time.
But mirror the various excuses for speeding and anger at speed camera vans and the lack of discretion of fixed speed cameras with a post I saw the other day on my local Facebook page. Someone's cat had been killed by a speeding driver and the comments were many. Lots of people saying how awful speeding is, calling for traffic calming and a 20mph limit through their village. "It's just a matter of time before someone's child gets killed."
But when I drive at 20mph, most other drivers get frustrated, drive right up my bum and then overtake.
The problem is that people don't care how their speeding (or generally poor driving) affects others, but they want action when other people's speeding affects them. And all the people on that Facebook post getting angry at people speeding through their village probably get in their car and come speeding through mine. Through the night it's very normal to see cars coming through our village at 50+mph.
It's like NIMBYism.
The biggest scam is the speed awareness course. It's a joke and should be scrapped. Speeding is illegal and should be punished by a hefty fine.0 -
30 years ago while living in Germany I was pulled over by the German Police on 2 occasions for speeding in excess of the limit on the Restricted part of the Autobahn. I was offered the choice of DM300 (£100 at the time) fine and a receipt. Additional paperwork would also follow, or DM100 without a receipt. No points but it was an obvious Scam.
It's not a scam, it was a mutually beneficial agreement. The driver saves DM200 and they earn a bit of pocket money.0 -
westernpromise wrote: »I got one of these for doing 36 in a 30. The cruise control didn't work downhill. I was OK with it though as this was in 2013 and the last brush I had with traffic laws was 26 years previously. So it goes.
My cruise control doesn't work downhill either. For those occasions I use the brake which causes the vehicle to slow down and therefore not break the speed limit.0 -
I hear this sort of argument so often. Recently a friend of mine was done for doing 70mph in a 50 zone through temporary roadworks during the early hours. He was genuinely shocked because there was no work actually going on at the time.
But mirror the various excuses for speeding and anger at speed camera vans and the lack of discretion of fixed speed cameras with a post I saw the other day on my local Facebook page. Someone's cat had been killed by a speeding driver and the comments were many. Lots of people saying how awful speeding is, calling for traffic calming and a 20mph limit through their village. "It's just a matter of time before someone's child gets killed."
But when I drive at 20mph, most other drivers get frustrated, drive right up my bum and then overtake.
The problem is that people don't care how their speeding affects others, but they want action when other people's speeding affects them. And all the people on that Facebook post getting angry at people speeding through their village probably get in their car and come speeding through mine. Through the night it's very normal to see cars coming through our village at 50+mph.
It's like NIMBYism.
The biggest scam is the speed awareness course. It's a joke and should be scrapped. Speeding is illegal and should be punished by a hefty fine.
Usually by the people who bumble along at 40mph in a 60 then still do 40mph in a 30 or 20....
I stick the car on cruise control whenever possible if i'm in a 40, 30 or 20 or stick the speed limiter on just because its so easy to stray over the speed limit and its easy pickings for speed cameras.0 -
There's a stretch like that near me - half of it has no turnoffs and no houses and would be perfectly safe at 50 (and so some people drive it 55-60); the other half has houses along it with a parallel access road. So 50 on the open bit; 40 by the housing and then 30 at the end when it gets more built up makes sense. It used to be 50 all the way and then was dropped - presumably in reaction to an accident. Did anyone assess whether speed was the key factor in the accident? Doubt it...I drive down a dual-carriageway most days which has 2 lanes each side and a big central reservation. It has huge wide grass verges each side and then pavements. Despite this it is labelled as a 40mph limit. Why? because there's some ancient bridleway that existed before they built the carriage-way and so there exists the remotest possibility that one day someone on a horse might try to cross it. I've lived in my city all my life, over 50 years. Not once have I witnessed a horse cross that road, nor a pedestrian for that matter. It's a ludicrous speed limit and frankly 99% of cars that traverse that stretch of road do 50mph-60mph. It is quite safe to do so.
That does seem to be the case sometimes... Wonder if the Elf'n'Safety rules mean the van has to be parked well away from any known accident blackspots?[Sarcasm]Luckily we have the safety camera vans there occasionally to catch people who are speeding. A shame they do it on clear parts of the road where people are tempted to go a little faster, but never seen on the 'dangerous' parts of the road that were the reason the speed limit was lowered. So any drivers who decide to speed along the parts where accidents are more likely, are unlikely to get caught unless they're involved in an accident themselves.[/Sarcasm]Wash your Knobs and Knockers... Keep the Postie safe!0 -
Where is this wondrous land of enthusiastic speed enforcement? Certainly not anywhere near here. The main A2-M2 motorway route has no speed cameras from Dartford all the way to past Faversham (a distance of 40 miles of prime speed freak apprehension opportunity).
There is a mobile camera location on the A249 dual carriageway, but I've probably seen a van there no more than 3 times over the space of 5 years.
I think what I'd prefer to see is either only enforcing very extreme cases (say >35% over the speed limit, so 95 in a 70, 67 in a 50), or minor punishment for small transgressions, and much heavier punishment for large ones. The reasoning being that whilst "Speed Kills" is just wrong in every conceivable way, it is the case that the very fast speed freaks set a bad example to impressionable people and are generally using the roads in an anti-social way.
I'd also like to see automated enforcement (or indeed any enforcement) of other driving offences such as tailgating, mobile phone use, poor lane discipline, etc. etc.0 -
Cornucopia wrote: »"Speed Kills" is just wrong in every conceivable way
Hitting a pedestrian/cyclist at 20mph is very unlikely to kill them.
Hitting a pedestrian/cyclist at 60mph is almost certainly going to kill them (or, at the very least, leave them with life-changing injuries).
So how is "speed kills" wrong in this example?0 -
Hitting a pedestrian/cyclist at 20mph is very unlikely to kill them.
Hitting a pedestrian/cyclist at 60mph is almost certainly going to kill them (or, at the very least, leave them with life-changing injuries).
So how is "speed kills" wrong in this example?
"Speed kills" is a sentiment that has been oversimplified beyond useful, accurate understanding. A more appropriate soundbite might be something like "Carelessness Kills" - that would cover a much greater proportion of bad driving and of accidents.
The challenge is to get over to the Public the requirement for diligent, sociable driving habits. That involves a huge range of things of which choosing an appropriate speed for the conditions is one element. (In other words, the consideration isn't even "speed", but appropriate speed for which the road limit may or may not be a good guide).0 -
One mans poor driving/speeding is another persons perfectly acceptable driving. I drive lots of country lanes that are safe to do 50, 60 or even more on and yet people will toddle along at 25-30mph, holding up streams of traffic, only to speed up and get angry if I try to safely overtake when an opportunity presents itself. Who's the bad driver there then? The guy who safely overtakes, or the guy who tries to speed up to prevent someone overtaking?I hear this sort of argument so often. Recently a friend of mine was done for doing 70mph in a 50 zone through temporary roadworks during the early hours. He was genuinely shocked because there was no work actually going on at the time.
But mirror the various excuses for speeding and anger at speed camera vans and the lack of discretion of fixed speed cameras with a post I saw the other day on my local Facebook page. Someone's cat had been killed by a speeding driver and the comments were many. Lots of people saying how awful speeding is, calling for traffic calming and a 20mph limit through their village. "It's just a matter of time before someone's child gets killed."
But when I drive at 20mph, most other drivers get frustrated, drive right up my bum and then overtake.
The problem is that people don't care how their speeding (or generally poor driving) affects others, but they want action when other people's speeding affects them. And all the people on that Facebook post getting angry at people speeding through their village probably get in their car and come speeding through mine. Through the night it's very normal to see cars coming through our village at 50+mph.
It's like NIMBYism.
The biggest scam is the speed awareness course. It's a joke and should be scrapped. Speeding is illegal and should be punished by a hefty fine.
The speed limits in this county are a mess. Like I said, the school I speak of has children running down a 40mph road and that's just ludicrous. I would suspect kids have been knocked over and badly hurt there in the past.0
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