The Great Speed Awareness Course Scam
Comments
-
Stopped reading after this :rotfl:There's the rub. Road related incidents are not caused by speeding. They are always caused by poor drivers or pedestrians unable to drive properly or assess conditions and pay attention.
If you have a problem with the SAC`start a petition or speak to your local MP(it won`t get you anywhere but will keep you off the internet for a couple of days).0 -
There's the rub. Road related incidents are not caused by speeding. They are always caused by poor drivers or pedestrians unable to drive properly or assess conditions and pay attention.
If a dumb pedestrian or cyclist or motorbike rider is going to step or ride out in front of a moving car then an accident is going to happen. The notion that driving slower would help, is frankly an unending bit of kidology because clearly 20mph would then be better than 30mph and 10mph would be better than 20mph and then 5mph and so on. So are we all to drive at 5mph everywhere ?
Nope it's a nonsense.
Speed does NOT kill. Not now, not ever.
Neither does the speed of a bullet kill.
What kills is a person firing a bullet at another person.
What causes accidents and fatalities is people not being in control of their vehicle or paying attention or 100 other similar reasons, but the speed is not one of them. Speed might affect the severity of the outcome but it's not the cause and if anyone actually cared about reducing the number of accidents the money and effort would go towards educating both pedestrians and drivers in their respective environments. Focussing on speed is frankly just stupid. The old codger who can barely see and who can't turn his neck when reversing is far more a road accident risk than a capable driver doing 5mph over the limit.
The NSACs about half way through play this incredibly lame piece of video with Tiff Needell. It is utterly ludicrous. They put a cardboard cut-out just at the outer edge of a car's braking/stopping distance for 30mph and then demonstrate driving at 30mph and braking and sure enough the car stops just short of the cut-out. Tiff then ramps the car up to 35mph but DOES NOT move the cut-out. So now the cut-out is within the 35mph stopping distance. Guess what? Tiff hits the cut-out. Shock !
This goes on. He increases his speed and each time the cut-out stays located within the original 30mph stopping distance and of course he hits the cut-out with increasing force.
The whole thing is utterly ludicrous. What they are doing is a bit of kidology, trying to show people how fast you are going before you stop. At the end of the day, if you are going to place a cut-out within the car's stopping distance then of course the car is going to hit the cut-out. The speed is irrelevant.
The solution, if they really cared about finding one, lies in making changes to ensure that cut-out, or rather pedestrian, is NOT in front of a moving car in the first place.
I noticed too that the course opened with a whole bunch of statistics about the number of road casualties nationwide each year broken down by severity. They made no attempt whatsoever to explain the nature of those crashes and what the causes were, whether drivers or pedestrians, mobile phone users, drink drivers and so on. But people are sat on a Speed Awareness Course so the psychological trick floats through the air that this must all be a result of speeding, which of course is totally not true. Much of the course ran along a similar line, psychological nonsense that really didn't stack up at all.
In the end it was a 4 hour spiel, death by powerpoint with joviality thrown in where possible to keep the saps happy.
The sadness of it all is that there was an opportunity there to focus AWAY from the issue of speed and more towards being an all round better driver, how to better assess conditions, how to anticipate, what to anticipate, what changes to make in different situations and so on. That is what is really needed.
Go on then show us and example of an unfired round still in the chamber killing someone or a stationary vehicle striking and killing a pedestrian.0 -
AndyMc..... wrote: »Go on then show us and example of an unfired round still in the chamber killing someone or a stationary vehicle striking and killing a pedestrian.
There was that famous geezer who crushed himself on his drive with his parked car.
Sure, it moved, but it was the car holding itself stationary against the wall that killed him.0 -
westernpromise wrote: »Although there is an opportunity for attendees too. You're going to be meeting lawbreakers of the opposite sex who may be quite fanciable and clearly not bound by moral norms, so a bit of wa-hey may be possible.
What if they are Audi drivers?0 -
so you got caught speeding a little, probably no great shakes, maybe doing anywhere from 31mph to 41mph in a 30mph limit (and yes they are pulling up people at 31mph !!!!) and they offered you an nsac (national speed awareness course).
!
tl:dr............There's the rub. Road related incidents are not caused by speeding. They are always caused by poor drivers or pedestrians unable to drive properly or assess conditions and pay attention.
.
tl:dr (again)0 -
Did someone mention conspiracy nonsense. If so, spot on. The speed you get done for isn't the speed on your speedo - everyone knows that, right? Everyone I know who has got a speeding ticket or had the course opportunity, was doing 36 in a 30. Classic. Far as I know, all static cameras are the same, and allow a margin of error along the lines of 10%+2. Road traffic policing officers have portable devices, or in car cameras, which will be more accurate, so they can do you for less, but probably don't unless they have reason to do so e.g. someone killed on that bit of road a few weeks ago, police go down and set up a speed trap to get motorists to slow down.
The reality is, lots of people who get done for speeding seem to want to blame anyone except themselves. It's not smug to point out the blindingly obvious about not speeding - it's pretty much amongst the best money saving advice for drivers.
I've never been caught speeding because I don't speed in a thirty, but I'm quite happy to go down the motorway anywhere between 60-90 depending on whether I need to save money on fuel, or need to get somewhere quick. Take the risk, pay the fine, or pay for the course. Plus the fine or course costs the driver pretty much the same anyway? so isn't the rant about where the money goes, not that drivers are being scammed?0 -
BigPhil wrote:Plus the fine or course costs the driver pretty much the same anyway? so isn't the rant about where the money goes, not that drivers are being scammed?
Not so much where the money goes, but rather the whole fake precept that the scam is founded on, i.e. that this is somehow all about teaching people to be better drivers and reducing accidents.
It IS a simply a scam wrapped up in the cosy blanket of pretence that they care about changing driver's behaviours. Perhaps some years ago someone genuinely thought it was all a good idea, but clearly the fat cats realised that this was a fantastic money spinning opportunity, backed up by the police and authorities and began to milk it for all it was worth.
So now you have sub-contracted detector vans roaming the streets whose sole intention is not to catch people speeding in order to rectify their behaviour, but rather to catch people speeding in order to then exploit them for a £90 hit, effectively blackmailing them onto a course which will generate over £500 per HOUR for them. It's an obscene amount of money generation.
As I say though, their time is limited as the insurance companies are not getting their cut of this lucrative action. Once the insurance companies club together and start penalising those who have attended NSACs (so they can rake in more money in premiums) then NSAC business model collapses and these fat cat private businesses will dry up overnight.0 -
The B.O. would warn you.Mercdriver wrote: »What if they are Audi drivers?0 -
Clearly you weren't paying attention... the point of that demo is to show how much longer the stopping distance is at 35 than at 30 and so on because many people don't leave enough. Not to mention those who think they are better drivers than Tiff...At the end of the day, if you are going to place a cut-out within the car's stopping distance then of course the car is going to hit the cut-out. The speed is irrelevant.
The solution, if they really cared about finding one, lies in making changes to ensure that cut-out, or rather pedestrian, is NOT in front of a moving car in the first place.
The OP is right in one or two sentences... Speed on it's own doesn't automatically kill. Inappropriate speed for the conditions or speed beyond the capability of the driver/vehicle combo can and sometimes does. Inattention is a big factor too.
And the course I took a few years ago was run by the AA and delivered by an advanced driving instructor of 30 years standing so did offer some good points on anticipation and observation. It probably did improve my driving a bit by reminding me of things or bad habits I've acquired. And the cost to me was less than the fine - even with the 40p for awful machine coffee :money:Wash your Knobs and Knockers... Keep the Postie safe!0 -
Not so much where the money goes, but rather the whole fake precept that the scam is founded on, i.e. that this is somehow all about teaching people to be better drivers and reducing accidents.
Writing as someone who went on a SAC about 18 months ago, (36mph in a 30 limit, my fault entirely and no arguments about getting caught) I would disagree with the above comment.
Since I attended the course, I would say that I am more aware of the exact speed I am doing and I consider getting caught and doing the course as a wake up call and consider myself lucky to only have had to pay £75 and spend a few hours in a classroom.0
![[Deleted User]](https://us-noi.v-cdn.net/6031891/uploads/defaultavatar/nFA7H6UNOO0N5.jpg)
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 343.2K Banking & Borrowing
- 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 449.7K Spending & Discounts
- 235.3K Work, Benefits & Business
- 608K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 173.1K Life & Family
- 247.9K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards