Speed Awareness Course?

[wanda]

My pet hatred is the '45 mph' driver. Where I live in rural Derbyshire there are only A and B roads and country lanes. The lanes are generally national speed limit, while the A and B roads have a variety of speed limits (typically 30, 50 and 60 mph).

Many of the major routes are congested (the A6 from Derby north to Buxton for example) but have various limits depending on conditions which I regard as sensible. What really angers me though, are the idiots who drive at 45 mph (42.5 on a Sunday) on all the fast and safe sections, thus holding up all the traffic that wants to make progress, but then sail past schools, hospital entrances etc at exactly the same speed.

I have every sympathy for people who are caught out by badly designed or misleading signs however.

One of the reasons I upgraded my car from the 1.4 petrol Almera to the 1.9 diesel Megane was to improve overtaking opportunities. There is nothing worse than being caught in a 'tw@ sandwich' where you are behind a car following a bus on a hilly road, only for the car in front to fail to overtake when safe, and there isn't room to overtake both the car and the bus yourself. At least now with a more powerful car, such situations arise less often.

Amen brother The van man needs a good the

[ajojets]

Best thing to do if you get offered one of the courses is to do as I did, send the wife. she loved it and I saved a fortune as she could have gone shopping on here day off ,that would have cost me more than £60.

[shawty500]

Great post.

I know they are supposed to give you 10% le-way on the speed, I have only ever been done once for speeding, got caught doing 34 in a 30 on christmas eve 2006, pulled me over breathalised me (I cant drink anyway due to medication for life), next he is kicking tyres inspecting the car, (a 56 plate car in dec 06 :S) trns round to me almost an hour later (on xmas eve!) and says well everything seems in order, insurance checks out ok, no prior convictions but I got to give you 3 points and £60 fine?!?!?!? I was like 34 in a 30, down one of the steepest hills I have ever seen, when the 30 sign appears literally 50 yards down from a national sign?!?!

Wish I got offered the course, I was only 22 at the time, so it really affected my insurance, looking back, I bet he only did it because of my age.

[TubaPlayer]

Best thing to do if you get offered one of the courses is to do as I did, send the wife. she loved it and I saved a fortune as she could have gone shopping on here day off ,that would have cost me more than £60.

[peter h]

I had one of these for doing 37 in a 30, So I pretty muched deserved it.

The course cost me £120 in maidstone, Kent so dont get caught down here.

The course was pretty informal, and yes they went on about how kids can be killed at 35mph. I did ask if they wore a hoodie was it really an issue, but got told not to be flippant.... was like being back at school and being 39 at the time, i found it amusing.

ours was an all day event with lectures and awareness in the am and a practical driving tuition in the afternoon (hence the price I suppose).

Thing is I have a PCV licence (bus, coach etc) and i am very confident when I drive, and this showed on my tuition/assessment and the examiner could not fault my driving, just I should be more aware of things like street lamps etc.

Yes, i learned something, but it wasnt how to slow down, it was how to not get caught again... so some benefit :P

[joeishmather]

I've got caught 50 in a 40, its a dual carriageway so I dnno why that the limit... I've had the thing thru asking if I was the driver so now I'm waiting to hear what's going to happen next.... recon ill be offered the speed awareness course??