Monday 29th March 2004

Speed Awareness Courses

Good idea badly executed? Courses now offered to drivers caught speeding

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In the face of increasing criticism of revenue raising by Safety Camera Partnerships, a number of police forces have opted to give some drivers the option to go on training courses instead of receiving points. The courses have to be paid for by the motorist.

Whilst the idea is sound, the Association of British Drivers is expressing concerns today that some courses are poorly focused and simply preaching a "Don't break the speed limit" message rather than taking the opportunity to expound the virtues of good observation and hazard awareness as skills which result in safer application of speed.

Commenting on the fact that it's the slower speeders that are being offered the courses, ABD Road Safety Spokesman Mark McArthur-Christie said, "Those convicted at dangerously high speeds are high risk drivers who need training ".

Some councils such as East Sussex have been targeting hazard awareness training courses at those drivers found to be at fault in accidents and those convicted of 'driving without due care and attention' offences with great success.

The ABD would like to see far more drivers picked up for 'due care' offences and sent on such courses and for all drivers involved in accidents to receive such training, regardless of blame.

According to 'Roadcraft', the police drivers handbook, those who have had one accident are twice as likely to have another within 3 years -those who crashed pulling into the path of another vehicle are 3 times as likely to do so again.

ABD Chairman Brian Gregory concluded: "Catching safe drivers for breaking badly set speed limits has always been pointless, and has resulted in great animosity towards the police. It has also failed to improve the death toll on Britain's roads. We fear that these courses will be scoped to justify this activity to an increasingly sceptical public rather than to impart anything useful about road safety ."

Link: www.abd.org.uk

Advanced/Performance Driver Training: Ride Drive , John Lyon's High Performance Course

[bogush]

[quote]
In the face of increasing criticism of revent raising by Safety Camera Partnerships, a number of police forces have opted to give some drivers the option to go on training courses instead of receiving points. The courses have to be paid for by the motorist.[/quote]

Are these drivers "speeding" in excess of the ACPO guidelines?

Or just over the limit?

If I've read these statements correctly they are still prosecuting people as before, and now also pulling in those just over the limit and invoicing them for a contribution to the scamera bureaucracy support fund.

[quote]
According to 'Roadcraft', the police drivers handbook, those who have had one accident are twice as likely to have another within 3 years -those who crashed pulling into the path of another vehicle are 3 times as likely to do so again.
[/quote]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Isn't pulling into the path of another vehicle one of the most common causes of accidents?

So if the people who have that kind of accident are three times as likely to have another accident, and the average for people who have an accident is to be two times as likely, then everyone else probably has no increased risk, including the speeders.

Or am I missing something?

[deltaf]

Yes mate, youre missing the fact that "the partnerships",<a.k.a.> "The Mob" are not interested in the kind of sensible views and points youve made.
Theyre simply interested in profit. Thats as far as their "thinking" goes.
We can sit here all year long, writing to them, complaining to them, criticising them and the result will be precisely zippo.
Stronger methods are now required to "re-educate" them in the ways of the world and to show that profiteers like them will not be tolerated.

[robert farago]

You gotta laff mate.

The British police suffer from an obsessive compulsive disorder. Like people who constantly check to see if they turned off the gas, they view their compulsive anti-speeding behaviour as successful (the house didn't blow up did it? the speeder we caught didn't crash did they?). Because their behaviour is "successful", they consider it perfectly justifiable to continue it ad infinitum.

There's no arguing with these people. Their traffic schools are just an excuse to try to infect civilians with their mental disorder.

RF