Going back to school tomorrow

[rabbitstew]

The courses are not an automatic option to getting the points and a fine, they are for "mild" speeding offences only.

 

It was my 1st offence of any kind in 44 years of driving so it must be pretty obvious that I'm NOT a systematic exceeder of the limits or I'd certainly have been caught before. The rule is to be doing the speed limit (or less) when you get to the sign and keep at that speed until you clear the sign at the end of the limited stretch. This is what I'm now doing and I'm frustrating like hell the drivers behind me who are wondering what I'm playing at. Well it's tough for them 'cos I don't want any more of the points/courses.

 

Funnily enough last year I got flashed by a mobile camera van which was actually dangerously parked on the chevrons where a slip road joined a dual carraigeway. Any drivers coming up that sliproad would not be able to easily see the vehicles on the road due to the van being in the way.

 

It was sods law really for me, as at the time I was doing about 35k miles a year and had had a clean license for as long as I could remember as im paranoid about getting points. Id just overtaken a lorry and had a massive long queue of cars behind me desperate to get past me, and the camera van got me just as I pulled back in to slow down. 81mph in a 70mph.

 

I wrote to them asking to do the speed awareness course and the local police force said they didnt offer it for this offense.

 

To make things even more interesting, my missus got flashed about 3 months later, speeding in a 30 zone - which personally I think is much more dangerous than going slightly over the speed limit on a dual carriageway where most days the cars are doing 85mph anyway. And she was immediately offered the speed awareness course. It was a different police force, so I guess each areas has its own ideas as to who they should offer the course to. Maybe its only those speeding offenses they think are really dangerous, rather than "mild" ones.

 

She actually found the course very interesting and enjoyed the course, she learnt loads and even now, a year or so later, she still tells me about stuff she learnt on the course and has remembered - like how to workout the speed limit on a road if theres no speed limit signs, and stuff like that.

[rancer]

I've never been *caught* speeding and after doing my driving course at work im a hell of a lot better behaved in low speed limit areas.

 

If you can do it, go and do some skid pan / stopping distance training. It's an eye opener and worth it's weight in gold for most people just by showing them what ABS is really for (letting you steer). It's also MASSIVE good fun

 

I'm all for more stringent MOT / safety requirements (yearly, starting after 1 year) coupled with increased limits on dual carrigeways and motorways.

 

Lower and higher speed limits where appropriate and better controls on ensuring cars are safe. It's the way forward. I'd even go as far to say that cars over a certain age shouldn't be allowed on the roads unless they can show they have been brought up to current safety standards.

 

Having said that, we'll all be using electric hover cars soon enough