Anyone attended 1 of those speed awareness course's?

To be fair to Nightmare...

(and I have no idea what his driving is really like and how fast he likes to drive) you're confusing principles and the law. It is possible to break the law and still have principles.

 

Wrongity wrong, I was zapped in Suffolk but attended a course in Cambridgeshire. I could have attended one in Norfolk (where I live) but the one in Cambs was closer, you get the choice when the letter comes back after you accept the offer to attend a course, several companies provide the courses and they're nationwide so the lorry driver can't have been the brightest button.

 

If only. Admiral actually came under fire recently for doing exactly the opposite - hiking the premiums of drivers who attend these courses: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/...s-drivers-attend-speed-awareness-courses.html.

I'm surprised to hear of your bad experience with it. Everyone I know who's been on the one in Northamptonshire has said they found it really interesting, learned a lot and were glad they attended. I was even considering attending voluntarily. Straight up.

 

attended 1 at priory campus a couple of years ago and found some of it genuinley interesting. Before i attended though i contacted my insurance company to see how much more it would be if i took the 3 points, needless to say i attended the course, not because of principles but because it benefited me more than anyone else

 

Do you get Tax Free petrol as well?

 

Isn't the simple answer to this thread just to drive within the speed limit?

 

I completely agree with that. There's some places where the speed limit is just set far too low, especially if you're driving late at night where there's no other cars on the road. For example, what harm does driving 80-85 on the outside lane of a straight motorway when there's no other cars for miles do? I feel I can drive perfectly safely, occasionally at speeds over the limit and if I'm in a rush I'll do exactly that, with no incident.
That said, if you're caught it's your own fault, but I don't agree with these back hand tactics used to catch people. I bet there's been many an accident where someone has slammed on the brakes to avoid been caught by a mobile speed camera only for the car behind to crash into them. There wouldn't have been any issue if they hadn't been surprised by the camera. It's like putting distractions at the side of the road in an attempt to scare/put off/shock drivers that are much more dangerous than driving a few miles an hour over the limit.

 

I thought that one simply got the missus to take the points...:tongue:

 

Bad driving?

Aren't you supposed to leave a big enough gap to be able to stop in an emergency?

 

Re: Bad driving?

Does everyone? and even if they do, it only needs for them to be distracted by something or not be paying complete attention.

 

Re: Bad driving?

Or driving too fast to be able to stop...

 

Hmmm!! A bit holier than thou' response. As an ex 'Grade 1' driving instructor I drive to the conditions and not to some random pole or arbritrary speed limit sign decided upon by 'committee' That sometimes means driving BELOW the speed limit but where conditions dictate sometimes ABOVE. I picked up a 3 pointer on the A1 on a forward facing camera coming back from Standsted. It was a dry summer night, 2am dual carriageway with no turnings, No other traffic within sight I was alert and driving a well maintained performance car (BMW 520i Sport with good tyres) and I got clocked for 82mph which in all fairness probably meant I was going a bit faster.
Now I could have been going along the same stretch in Rush hour in freezing fog in a clapped out old Metro with minimal tread on my tyres at 60mph and the camera would NOT have snapped me even though I was driving dangerously. As has been mentioned it is speed PLUS something else - in other words INAPPROPRIATE speed that is the issue.
That is why a police patrol wins hands down over fixed cameras when it comes to safety but they do not generate income and actually COST money.
Speed awareness courses - yeah I need one of those like I need a hole in the head. Two academics who probably have little practical driving experience lecturing in a classroom!!?? Incidentally I consider myself a very safe driver and had to take a rigorous 2 hour practical test including motorway work when I took my ADI all those years ago. You were allowed virtually no minor faults during that period in order to obtain the ADI licence.

Finally I DO make errors when driving like everyone does but if we consider speed alone like the people who advocate cameras then we may as well go back to the days of the man carrying the red flag in front of the vehicle at 2mph as ALL speed is inherently dangerous. It is where/how you do it that matters.

 

But what many seem to be asking for is sympathy for exceeding a legal limit for which the consequences are absolutely clear if caught. And iwe can't pretend its breaking a law because of some morally crusade or on principle, its just because you want to be able to drive faster than you're told.

I didn't for a second say I've never exceeded the speed limit, but if I do and I get caught doing so I can't complain about the punishment.

 

I spend most weekends on the M74/M6/M61/M62/M1 on my way to Oakwell, I don't get there in 3 hours doing 70mph, that's for sure. Sometimes it takes 5 hours due to traffic/weather, but if it's clear weather and clear motorway I'll go a little bit quicker to make progress.

 

I'm being facietious to an extent. And as I've said in another post I'm not claiming that I never break the speed limit, but just don't have a lot of sympathy if you get caught.

There is a serious point though. There's a direct correlation between the speed you hit someone at and their chance of survival. And on motorways you can be the best driver in the world, but the faster you are going the less chance you have to react to the numpty who pulls out without indicating.

 

The Children who live in the Wilson Street area and the Aldam House Estate don't use the bridge.

"The 15 year old pillocks didn't choose to have the School built in an inappropriate place".

The reason there is a round-a-bout there is because it is safer than on road junction.

Speeding was always an issue on the bypass. You could be doing 60 on it and some speed freak would come past you at 80 or 90.

Nut cases would hit the White Rose at excessive speed making crossing the road in that area very hazardous.

I don't find that round-a-bout a problem. I love chucking the car into the tight little curves.

The bypass is much safer now. Just ask the people who live down the bottom end of Littlefield Lane.

 

Always loved Clarkson's quote on this topic. The highway code says you should be able to pull up from 60mph in 240ft, a Ferrari 458 can do it in just 99ft... so why can't Ferrari's go [more than] twice the speed limit?

 

You are not allowed to drive at 20 mph on a motor way unless you are in slow moving traffic. There has always been a minumum speed of 30 mph on them.

I use the M1 every day between J39 and J41 and there is a guy who drive a 4x4 who sits in lane 1 at 40 mph. He causes problems for anyone trying to get round him because of the speed differential between lanes 1 and 2.

I did pass a woman once doing 30 mph on an empty motorway going in to Wales. I actually slowed down to check how fast she was going.

I think the most dangerous drivers are the "Lane 3 Exocets" who join the motorway and cut straight across the lane 3.

I saw one nutter drive down the hard shoulder at at least 80 to join the motorway from Wooly Edge Services.