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Just got done for 81 in a 70... the motorway was empty, was done 5 years ago for 34 in a 30
I got nabbed a couple of years ago in Slough and did the course on a Sunday morning in Ealing.
Similar experiences to other people regarding the tutors/presenters (Jekyll & Hyde) and my fellow attendees... most took it seriously, but one spent nearly the whole session playing with his phone.
One major learning that I took away was the number of new signs that have been introduced over the years that I was completely unaware of. Straight after the course I ordered a new copy of the highway code for reading material whilst on the bog.
I’d be interested if anyone has got any actual evidence of this happening.
I've already covered this:
it’s bollocks
HTH.
How are you people getting caught so easily?
I drove a 400Bhp+ E39 M5 that would do 0-60 in less than 5 secs and over 187mph and have a licence that's cleaner than the Queen's wipe.
Sort yourselves out!
getting caught at 84mph by a camera means the speedo would have been on 90 mph , as every car I have ever owned over read by a good few mph ./ % of what my GPS records
Take the SAC , it might mean you can drive quicker without getting caught in the future .
Some of the comments on the one I did were outstanding . "Pedestrians dont have right of way " , Yep, spot on , feel free to mow them down without fear of prosecution as they dont have right of way
I was caught on the M4 by Bristol (70 in a smart motorway 60) and sent on a motorway-specific speed awareness course, for which I was able to choose from a list of locations around the country. Quite different from what I understand the normal speed awareness course to be, it was largely focused on the smart motorways, how they work etc.
Obviously there were some quite silly comments from the audience but not that many. Considering the participants are only really turning up to avoid the points I found them to be generally more engaged in it than I expected.
– it’ll get through when there’s no signal, 999 won’t
I found out at Kirroughtree last week that 999 will work when the phone doesn't show a signal (OH locked car with our youngest, her phone and the key inside). I wasn't aware that this was an option before…
Take the course, you will learn something and be a better driver as a result. Unless of course you’re just going to sit there with no intention of learning anything, then just take the points and carry on in blissfull ignorance.
i did the course when I got caught a few years ago. There were two kinds of people on the course, people like me who approached it with curiosity and actually got something out of the course and are probably more considerate and safer drivers as a result, and those unrepentant muppets who thought they knew it all and tried to catch out the course leaders all day, but just ended up looking like the arrogant muppets they were. The sooner they lose their lisenses the better.
its amazing that we pass a test at 17 (usually) and then are able to drive one of the deadliest weapons ever devised by man for the rest of our lives without the need for any further mandatory testing or training, even when we get caught speeding or doing something else wrong indicating our lack of skill/awareness/education/bad habits/arrogance/ignorance. So the course is really an opportunity rather than a punishment.
OH locked car with our youngest, her phone and the key inside
Off topic, but why would you ring 999 in those circumstances? What did they do that you couldn't?
I found out at Kirroughtree last week that 999 will work when the phone doesn’t show a signal
That's because an emergency call will use any network it can find. e.g. if you're on EE but have no signal it'll use O2. 112 is the same (obv...).
I really do think it would be beneficial for each and every driver to be reassesed every 10 years. Those that were deemed as ok, fine off you go, those that fail to reach the standard required have to take referesher lessons and take the assesment again. If they fail a second time they are demoted back to a provisional licence.
It might go some way to reducing the death toll and the self entitled attitude that many people have about driving being a right, not a priviledge.
New cars don't overread by 10%, the last two I've driven have been consistently over by exactly 2 mph.
So if you think you can do 84 indicated and still not get a ticket you're in for a surprise.
Or you could just do what half the Range Rovers on the M1 seem to do and use a combination of false number plates and radar detectors.
I did a speed awareness course last year (85mph on the M5 near Bristol), cost was £90-something quid so pretty much the same as the fine so it comes down to can you take time off work easily (I wasn't offered an evening option) and do you think it will affect your insurance much declaring the points.
The course is pretty pointless IMO, OK it reinforces a few things but apparently I was the only one (out of about 15 people) that knew they were speeding and occasionally choose to speed if I judge road conditions allow it (yeah I should burn in hell I know). My driving hasn't really changed since (and yes I'll only have myself to blame if I get caught again)
I [i]thought[/i] I would find the course pointless, and the room full of arseholes who think they know best... but neither were true. For me the ooh, it's dangerous to speed and the look around you (er, I'm a cyclist, I [i]have to![/i]) stuff didn't mean much (bleedin obvious), but things like how passengers feel when you're driving them, why speed limits are changed, and a few other bits I found very useful. Not £100 worth of useful, but I certainly didn't feel it was a wasted morning.