Speed awareness course

[Marcus Barlow - Show and Events Co-ordinator]

I have the pleasure of my first speed awareness course tomorrow 8am prompt..

 

I just can't decide whether or not to walk there, mountain bike it, public transport, take the tin top or go in the Westy!  🤔

[RickRack]

I done mine in Wolves approx 5 yrs ago and had to get a certificate for my employer to prove I’d completed it. 
whilst waiting in the queue for the cert I asked if anyone fancied a race home 😳🤣🥴🤪

[Paul Hurdsfield - Joint Manchester AO]

I did one online about a year or so ago. I didn’t get a choice it was online or points.

[Marcus Barlow - Show and Events Co-ordinator]

15 minutes ago, Paul Hurdsfield - Joint Manchester AO said:

I did one online about a year or so ago. I didn’t get a choice it was online or points.

I had the choice of online or attend in person and chose the latter as I'me hoping for more feedback and education attending in person 

[Geoffrey Carter (Buttercup)]

They are very interesting if you go with the mentality that you want to learn something. Within 5 minutes you will know the ones who are not interested and don't want to be there.

 

I have done more than one and I actually found them really enjoyable.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

I did one a fair few years ago, went in the Westfield. Was asked for (current) photo ID. I was still on my ancient paper driving license and didn’t have a current passport, so used the only one I had. 
 

An MSA (Speed) race license, one of the two people running the course laughed, and was interested. The other took offense and told me I was a trouble maker and she’d have her eye on me!

 

It made the rest of the course really fascinating. The guy, who turned out to be a (driving) instructor for trucks was genuinely trying to teach new skills/refresh knowledge that had been forgotten. The lady, a (car) based driving instructor seemed to just look down on us all and was more interested in taking cheap shots at everyone.

 

Did another during lockdown, an online one. No dodgy person leading the session here, just a really good presenter, who again made the whole thing really interesting, and left you feeling like it was productive and you’d taken something useful away.

[Captain Colonial]

Never had the pleasure of doing one (yet).  Last ticket was 1988, got done in a trap for doing 38 in a 30.  Was just leaving a village and was clear of the built up area.  The national speed limit applies white circle with black slanted stripe sign was about 20 yards in front of me, so I put my foot down.  A copper with a radar gun literally jumped out and zapped me.  After pulling over, I protested about it and the reply was that the limit started at the sign.  Lesson learned.

[dvd8n]

2 hours ago, Scott Young (Captain Colonial) - Club Secretary said:

Never had the pleasure of doing one (yet).  Last ticket was 1988, got done in a trap for doing 38 in a 30.  Was just leaving a village and was clear of the built up area.  The national speed limit applies white circle with black slanted stripe sign was about 20 yards in front of me, so I put my foot down.  A copper with a radar gun literally jumped out and zapped me.  After pulling over, I protested about it and the reply was that the limit started at the sign.  Lesson learned.

 

That sort of thing really gets my goat actually.

 

The police style the equipment as safety oriented but they always site themselves in places designed to catch people out like speed transitions and places with good visibility.

 

They rarely site themselves outside the likes of schools, hospitals, churches and old folks homes.

[stephenh]

1 hour ago, dvd8n said:

 

 

They rarely site themselves outside the likes of schools, hospitals, churches and old folks homes.

I understand your feelings, but in fairness they do sometimes site themselves in such places. Actually, at least around my area, they tend to sit in places which fall into one of two categories; one is where they know that people regularly exceed the limit and there are accidents, typically approaching hazardous junctions outside built up areas, and the other is in built up areas where local residents have complained about drivers speeding.

 

And I say this with no connection to the police. But I haven't had to go on a course.......yet!

[Alex Gaskin]

I've been caught twice now, the first being a static camera I had forgotten was there (and the only static camera in Loughborough); I was in a rush because I was going to be late on the way to a covid test centre. If I had been doing 1 mile an hour more, it would have been automatic points... Lucky.

One part of the test (Online, covid era so it makes sense) that I found amusing was the distinction between a national speed limit and a 30 zone. Take a standard B road, national speed limit, nice and easy. But if you were to add street lights to it, it makes it a 30. Find it funny that making the road safer by adding lights cuts the speed limit in half.

The next time I was caught I wasn't eligible for the course, caught by a van on a road I drive every day. Saw the van and made sure I was doing below 40, matching the pace of the train of cars ahead of me, as it turns out, it was right on the change from a 40 to a 30, so I was doing 8mph too much.

That one really irked me.

[MR.C]

You wouldn't send your guys out in a camera van,proberbly on overtime on a rarely used road.

Put them where the pickings are rich.

[Captain Colonial]

In the case of my one and only ticket (as above), it later transpired the police were pressured into setting up the speed trap by the local government and MP in order to help make a case for funding and building a bypass for the village.  Don’t get me wrong, the subsequently built bypass was a good thing and I’ll take my lumps for getting caught no matter how near the mark it was, but that in my opinion is not a good use of police resources.

 

Apparently, they ticketed nearly 200 drivers in a week.

[Terry Everall]

IMHO speed traps are purely there to raise money and have little or nothing to do with safety

[jeff oakley]

What you will find shocking is how many on the course haven't got a clue about anything. I went on one and basic highway code they got wrong speed limits for vehicles, road markings etc.

 

I am told the usual one is where they show a picture of a road with two lanes of traffic one way and ask the limit most say 70mph assuming dual carriage way, it is 60, it always gets people going.

 

There was two lecturers as basically they are lecturing you to their view. Any dissent they can throw you off and you then get the points anyway and no refund for the course.

 

My advice is sit quietly don't offer an alternative view smile sweetly and it will be over.

 

As for Terry's view The awareness course I was on there was 25 people in the room, they did one in the morning one afternoon, we all paid £120 for the privilege and got a cup of tea and a biscuit. 

The room costs £250 a day as I had hired it before so even if they paid the lecturers £200 each that was £5350 a day. Even with cost to send letters etc hard not to see it any other way than a pretty good cash machine.

 

What I particularly hate about this is when I got my ticket, I was driving in Shropshire the limit change sign was badly overgrown, no street light down to 30mph. I enquired about challenging this once I had the picture and was told you can but it will fail and you will then be hit with a larger fine, costs and a victim surcharge. It is the only law in the UK where you are presumed guilty and have to prove your innocence against a very determined machine that exists to generate money which is shared between stakeholders, whereas if you get a fine that goes to the treasury. 

[Marcus Barlow - Show and Events Co-ordinator]

Well I found the course quite interesting and kind of useful as I learnt a couple of things I didn't know (or had forgotten!)

 

22 people on the course... 20 males 2 females

 

2 course instructors who were both self employed advanced driving instructors, both bikers and both also told us they had done the course in the past! so real people and knowledgeable. They advised most of the course fees go to the private companies running the course and the Government would prefer the fine and points option as they would get more of the cash. 

 

They advised fixed speed camera locations are where there have been fatalities.

 

One of the main talking points was knowing what the speed limit is without signage and as @Alex Gaskin mentioned the single carriage way 30 mph national speed limit for 'built up areas' is defined as an area with street lights and not as I thought buildings/houses which I thought quite strange.

 

Another good point they advised was to avoid your speed creeping up unintentionally in urban areas was stay is 3rd in a 30 as well as the gap rule of ''only a fool brakes the two second rule''