Speed awareness courses

[aerodynamica]

Hi all, bit of an off topic one here - I am attending one of those speed awareness courses to avoid getting 3 points on my licence.

Anyone else done one of these? I am wondering what to expect - is it a class and a test or some sort of interative thing. The bumf I got for the booking doesn't say what to expect just that it is 4h

(before you ask.... 36 in a 30 zone..... )

[NewcastleFalcon]

It’s been a while since my last one I expect the format will have been changed. No tests to pass anyway but no doubt you will be thrown in with a fair crop of others. You will be lucky if your group doesn’t include at least one gobby whinger.

Regards Neil

[aerodynamica]

Ha, ok i look forward to it

[GiveMeABreak]

I've done a ahheem... few over the last 6 years due to the little jobsworths in their white vans getting loads of overtime and making everyone else's life a misery.

No test, but you have to participate - each are run slightly differently. My first one was pathetic - the materials were soooo out of date - the videos had cars from the 80s. I complained and said look - if I'm paying £90 for a morning's course, I expect the materials to be updated - gave them a lousy review and said it was a waste of time on my feedback.

However the next one a few years later, it was completely different - updated materials - non condescending, and I actually came away learning something (working out the speed limit when there are no signs) - which was useful. But we all joined in and the day soon goes by. We had groups and had to work out hazards from a photo - did some 'what happens next' type of things and we had to work in groups to highlight dangers on different clips of video etc. That one got really good feedback as I actually enjoyed it.

So it really depends who you get - a droning on old skool type that is stuck on using an overhead projector and showing clips of Dixon of Dock Green or someone a little more dynamic and with it.

[aerodynamica]

Ha cheers Marc - hope it's the latter! I'm talking a day off work to attend it tomorrow. And to add to that - I got busted on the road out of Blackburn and got the stuff in from Lancashire police offering the course instead of points - fair do's but when i went to find a 'course near you' on the site there were none! I live in Glasgow and it turns out none of the Scottish police forces do the course - it's only England so i searched for the nearest one and that was in Carlisle of course. So I'm staying overnight in the very hotel the course is happening in I'll treat it is a holiday

[bobins]

..... when i went to find a 'course near you' on the site there were none! So I searched for the nearest one and that was in Carlisle of course. So I'm staying overnight in the very hotel the course is happening in I'll treat it is a holiday

Don't turn up to the course in the morning hung-over. I don't think it'll go down too well

[Hell Razor5543]

I did one back in January. It was very interesting, and there were several teamwork items. I had to go to Bournemouth, as Dorset Police are not part of the National Scheme.

[aerodynamica]

..... when i went to find a 'course near you' on the site there were none! So I searched for the nearest one and that was in Carlisle of course. So I'm staying overnight in the very hotel the course is happening in I'll treat it is a holiday

Don't turn up to the course in the morning hung-over. I don't think it'll go down too well

......errrrrr

[aerodynamica]

I did one back in January. It was very interesting, and there were several teamwork items. I had to go to Bournemouth, as Dorset Police are not part of the National Scheme.

Hm well I'll see how it goes. At the end of the day I just don't want the points! I've also got a new dashcam that records gps data including my speed so I'm playing the game!

[Hell Razor5543]

One question was based around a police recorded test. They got a advanced police driver to travel at 30MPH and then, as he passed a marker point, do an emergency stop. They then placed a marker at the point where his vehicle stopped. They repeated the test, but this time he was travelling at 32MPH. Try and guess how fast his car was travelling when it got to the stop marker from the previous test? (This was a question posed to me by the tutors; others around me said speeds around 2 - 3MPH. I said 8MPH, which was scoffed by some of the others on the course).

Spoiler: show

It was travelling at 11MPH!!! This is because of the increase in energy. To calculate the difference you have to cube the speeds (first test; second test), subtract the lower from the higher, and then (however it is said) reverse cube the result to get the difference in speed).

[GiveMeABreak]

Yes and who’s seriously going to do all those calculations when driving. It’s one of those useless bits of information. All you need to know is the distances to keep at the speed you are going for the conditions on the road.

[Hell Razor5543]

This does explain why a minor increase in speed can cause so much damage, as the vehicle has a greater energy level than you might expect.

On which roads are you more likely to be killed in an accident (I cannot recall the percentage levels)? Please place them in order (most dangerous first). Motorways, Urban, Rural.

[Stickyfinger]

Rural

for good reasons so the "story" is slightly different from that it is being used to support.

[Michel]

Urban, as has been the case since stats began. Stands to reason - there's a damn sight more cars in urban areas!

[bobins]

In this neck of the woods it'd be rural. Unfortunately, it's a very regular occurrence that motorists (and far too many of them are motorcyclists) are killed or seriously injured on the A272 (between Bilingshurst and Petersfield), the A286 (between Goodwood and Haslemere) and the A285 (between Goodwood and Northchapel). The A285 regular comes out as one of the most dangerous (i.e. most serious injury / deaths) in the country.
My mate saw a police motorcyclist very near here the other weekend. He was parked up waiting to catch the motorcyclists crossing the solid white line to overtake cars. He had a very fruitful day doing that