Speed Awareness Course

[Churchill]

I went on one (34 mph). As MF says, it's a belittling exercise. We each had to explain to the group why we sped, for example. By all in all not too bad.

WHS

And then you write a little pledge on the back of a booklet they give you.

My pledge was "I endeavour not to get caught speeding again!". So far so good.

I tell you what, I've never been to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting or a Catholic Confessional but I bet they've got nothing on the Evangelical Church of Speed Awareness!

"I didn't expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition!" - obligatory MP post...

Etc.

[manclarky]

So driving like a loony gets you a 5 mph average speed increase, saves you 6.5 minutes and gets you a ban.

There's the fuel difference to consider too. 100mph is a thirsty way to travel. So is 85mph, but I imagine not as thirsty.

However, I don't actually know and it's too early to investigate

[Peoplesoft bloke]

Sorry, misread I think, I got my two NIPS dead quick, and my Fine/SAC notices too, delay is only good then for ur mum, means it's lost in the pile, there's websites out there who are ITK on these thing's, have a google, I can't remember the links due to the Special Brew....

your txtspk's rubsh

yr=your
ur=you are

and as you are economising on characters, you can do without the spurious apostrophe.

[Peoplesoft bloke]

If it's your first three points then just pay the fine and take points. Insurance companies don't care about three points. If you've already got points then take the course. I went on one and it was pretty dull stuff. There were two groups of 30 on the course and the was the afternoon session.

Another Stealth Tax.

Yeah Stealth Tax, yeah. Fining people for assaults is flippin stealth tax on violence!

[BrilloPad]

Yeah Stealth Tax, yeah. Fining people for assaults is flippin stealth tax on violence!

Are you only supposed to get a fine? I got 42 days in the scrubs for mine.

[Paddy]

Yeah Stealth Tax, yeah. Fining people for assaults is flippin stealth tax on violence!

Speeding is a fixed penalty offence that has the option of being a Summary Offence. Assault is an Indictable offence. They are not the same.

Speeding offences are normally dealt with a so called “Safety Camera Partnership”, one partner being a private company whom received the majority of revenue. The local one to me is owned jointly by a county counsellor and an ex-police officer.

As mentioned on this forum previously I was fined for 31mph in a 30mph zone dual carriageway with no pedestrian access and on a Sunday morning.

[bless 'em all]

As mentioned on this forum previously I was fined for 31mph in a 30mph zone dual carriageway with no pedestrian access and on a Sunday morning.

Really? I thought there was a tolerance of Speed Limit + 10% + 2mph.

[psychocandy]

Got caught on camera the other week doing 38mph in a 30 zone.

Have been offered the usual fine + 3 penalty points or alternatively offered to attend a 3-4hr Speed Awareness workshop.

Has anyone attended one of these and what were your thoughts ?

Contractor I used to work with drove back to North Wales to attend one of these courses (i.e. 4 hours drive each way) after getting done up there to save getting the 3 points. Bit weird cos he had to not work for that day so it cost him a bit.

[Sockpuppet]

Attended one last year. It went slowly to cover the typical numpty who needs things explaining 200 times. I did however learn a couple of things like what a dual carriageway actual is* and avoided the 3 points, the slightly large fine and the consequentially larger insurance premium.

* its the barriers in the middle. If the barriers are broken the maximum speed is would be 60 rather than 70 regardless of the number of lanes.

Well that just proves either you didn't listen or they're talking tulipe.

The definition of a dual carriage way is a "central reservation". Central reservation != barrier. A grass area between the roads will classify the road as a dual carriageway a crash barrier is not needed.

[Paddy]

Really? I thought there was a tolerance of Speed Limit + 10% + 2mph.

It cost me aroud £350 in court to contest it. They would not take The judge refused to take the +/- 10% into account. Also the law states that they must have two burdens of proof for example the police opinion and the reading on the gun. Or in my case the camera photograph and the camera read-out. The photograph proved I was not speeding. The lines on the road were noteven painted at the correct distance (had they been my speed would read 30mph), the camera was not calibrated. The Police Offices and the Safety Camera representative could not decipher the figures, I had to explain it to them.