Speed awareness course inbound
Discussion
Highway Code.
Your experience will depend on the instructors tbh; had to do my first one last March and tbh, it was much better than I expected. Leaders were from AADriveTec and were really engaging*; none of this hellfire and damn-nation stuff; they said out the very start "everyone speeds, we're just here to show you the consequences of a few things". 4-hour course and it honestly went by pretty quick; being London the vast majority of my class were Uber drivers and... minorities... whose knowledge (or lack thereof) of the road laws was pretty eye-opening.
My cousin didn't have the same experience; he had an ex-police Sargent who went full-on Metal Jacket apparently.
Your experience will depend on the instructors tbh; had to do my first one last March and tbh, it was much better than I expected. Leaders were from AADriveTec and were really engaging*; none of this hellfire and damn-nation stuff; they said out the very start "everyone speeds, we're just here to show you the consequences of a few things". 4-hour course and it honestly went by pretty quick; being London the vast majority of my class were Uber drivers and... minorities... whose knowledge (or lack thereof) of the road laws was pretty eye-opening.
My cousin didn't have the same experience; he had an ex-police Sargent who went full-on Metal Jacket apparently.
- by engaging I mean 1x East-end Landan boi and 1x tiny little chinese man who sounded like Adam Buxton's impression of the queen
Edited by parabolica on Sunday 21st January 17:08
parabolica said:
Highway Code.
Your experience will depend on the instructors tbh; had to do my first one last March and tbh, it was much better than I expected. Leaders were from AADriveTec and were really engaging; none of this hellfire and damn-nation stuff; they said out the very start "everyone speeds, we're just here to show you the consequences of a few things". 4-hour course and it honestly went by pretty quick; being London the vast majority of my class were Uber drivers and... minorities... whose knowledge (or lack thereof) of the road laws was pretty eye-opening.
My cousin didn't have the same experience; he had an ex-police Sargent who went full-on Metal Jacket apparently.
Thanks for the info. Yes it’s the AA course. I would honestly like to know why our motorways and DCs are not in line with European speed limits.Your experience will depend on the instructors tbh; had to do my first one last March and tbh, it was much better than I expected. Leaders were from AADriveTec and were really engaging; none of this hellfire and damn-nation stuff; they said out the very start "everyone speeds, we're just here to show you the consequences of a few things". 4-hour course and it honestly went by pretty quick; being London the vast majority of my class were Uber drivers and... minorities... whose knowledge (or lack thereof) of the road laws was pretty eye-opening.
My cousin didn't have the same experience; he had an ex-police Sargent who went full-on Metal Jacket apparently.
cat with a hat said:
Turn up and be shocked that you have to share the road with the general public.
You'll here quotes like "but I feel safer when I follow the car in front closely", "why aren't you allowed to stay in the middle lane" and "I don't like it when someone tries to overtake me".
You'll here quotes like "but I feel safer when I follow the car in front closely", "why aren't you allowed to stay in the middle lane" and "I don't like it when someone tries to overtake me".
We were told that 3rd gear is the most efficient gear at 30mph. (Politely) called BS on that, explaining the throttle input required to overcome engine breaking and that 4th / 5th would be better from an efficiency standpoint, but apparently the tutor knew better and has done "extensive testing" so I was wrong. 
Other than that, it covered:
- Speed limits for different roads and vehicles
- Crash stats
- Braking distances
- Hazard perception
- Why people speed and how to avoid it
Not too painful to sit through, but very basic and mostly irrelevant to speeding.
90% of the people are clueless, not knowing speed limits or what road markings mean, so admittedly it was probably very useful for them.
The crash stats are just for injuries and deaths on different types of roads, no indication of how or whether speed was a factor.
Braking distances are just the advisory ones, had to bite my tongue to avoid pointing out that it's completely dependant on the car / tyres / brakes.
Hazard perception, we were told to "count the pens", then flashed an image of some pens and pencils briefly. Turns out it said "10 pens" or something in the top left corner, but not sure what that was supposed to teach.
All in all a massive waste of time and money, but better than points.
Other than that, it covered:
- Speed limits for different roads and vehicles
- Crash stats
- Braking distances
- Hazard perception
- Why people speed and how to avoid it
Not too painful to sit through, but very basic and mostly irrelevant to speeding.
90% of the people are clueless, not knowing speed limits or what road markings mean, so admittedly it was probably very useful for them.
The crash stats are just for injuries and deaths on different types of roads, no indication of how or whether speed was a factor.
Braking distances are just the advisory ones, had to bite my tongue to avoid pointing out that it's completely dependant on the car / tyres / brakes.
Hazard perception, we were told to "count the pens", then flashed an image of some pens and pencils briefly. Turns out it said "10 pens" or something in the top left corner, but not sure what that was supposed to teach.
All in all a massive waste of time and money, but better than points.
Strudul said:
We were told that 3rd gear is the most efficient gear at 30mph. (Politely) called BS on that, explaining the throttle input required to overcome engine breaking and that 4th / 5th would be better from an efficiency standpoint, but apparently the tutor knew better and has done "extensive testing" so I was wrong.
Other than that, it covered:
- Speed limits for different roads and vehicles
- Crash stats
- Braking distances
- Hazard perception
- Why people speed and how to avoid it
Not too painful to sit through, but very basic and mostly irrelevant to speeding.
90% of the people are clueless, not knowing speed limits or what road markings mean, so admittedly it was probably very useful for them.
The crash stats are just for injuries and deaths on different types of roads, no indication of how or whether speed was a factor.
Braking distances are just the advisory ones, had to bite my tongue to avoid pointing out that it's completely dependant on the car / tyres / brakes.
Hazard perception, we were told to "count the pens", then flashed an image of some pens and pencils briefly. Turns out it said "10 pens" or something in the top left corner, but not sure what that was supposed to teach.
All in all a massive waste of time and money, but better than points.
Thanks. Kinda what I thought. Other than that, it covered:
- Speed limits for different roads and vehicles
- Crash stats
- Braking distances
- Hazard perception
- Why people speed and how to avoid it
Not too painful to sit through, but very basic and mostly irrelevant to speeding.
90% of the people are clueless, not knowing speed limits or what road markings mean, so admittedly it was probably very useful for them.
The crash stats are just for injuries and deaths on different types of roads, no indication of how or whether speed was a factor.
Braking distances are just the advisory ones, had to bite my tongue to avoid pointing out that it's completely dependant on the car / tyres / brakes.
Hazard perception, we were told to "count the pens", then flashed an image of some pens and pencils briefly. Turns out it said "10 pens" or something in the top left corner, but not sure what that was supposed to teach.
All in all a massive waste of time and money, but better than points.
Strudul said:
We were told that 3rd gear is the most efficient gear at 30mph. (Politely) called BS on that, explaining the throttle input required to overcome engine breaking and that 4th / 5th would be better from an efficiency standpoint, but apparently the tutor knew better and has done "extensive testing" so I was wrong.
Other than that, it covered:
- Speed limits for different roads and vehicles
- Crash stats
- Braking distances
- Hazard perception
- Why people speed and how to avoid it
Not too painful to sit through, but very basic and mostly irrelevant to speeding.
90% of the people are clueless, not knowing speed limits or what road markings mean, so admittedly it was probably very useful for them.
The crash stats are just for injuries and deaths on different types of roads, no indication of how or whether speed was a factor.
Braking distances are just the advisory ones, had to bite my tongue to avoid pointing out that it's completely dependant on the car / tyres / brakes.
Hazard perception, we were told to "count the pens", then flashed an image of some pens and pencils briefly. Turns out it said "10 pens" or something in the top left corner, but not sure what that was supposed to teach.
All in all a massive waste of time and money, but better than points.
Other than that, it covered:
- Speed limits for different roads and vehicles
- Crash stats
- Braking distances
- Hazard perception
- Why people speed and how to avoid it
Not too painful to sit through, but very basic and mostly irrelevant to speeding.
90% of the people are clueless, not knowing speed limits or what road markings mean, so admittedly it was probably very useful for them.
The crash stats are just for injuries and deaths on different types of roads, no indication of how or whether speed was a factor.
Braking distances are just the advisory ones, had to bite my tongue to avoid pointing out that it's completely dependant on the car / tyres / brakes.
Hazard perception, we were told to "count the pens", then flashed an image of some pens and pencils briefly. Turns out it said "10 pens" or something in the top left corner, but not sure what that was supposed to teach.
All in all a massive waste of time and money, but better than points.
The pens and pencils thing is to show you how easy it is to miss one thing when you’re looking for another. Another version is to have you count something whilst a gorilla walks across the scene, many miss the gorilla altogether.
I guess the aim in awareness courses is to demonstrate that if your travelling at high speed you’re more likely to miss something and make an error.
Not specifically related to driving, it’s a gimmicky thing used quite widely to point out something quite obvious, though I'm sure a lot need that guidance.
REALIST123 said:
The pens and pencils thing is to show you how easy it is to miss one thing when you’re looking for another. Another version is to have you count something whilst a gorilla walks across the scene, many miss the gorilla altogether.
If you're puling out of a junction looking for cars and the gorilla is a bike, then fair enough, but considering a bike is something you should be looking for, I don't see how that applies.
Probably taking it too literally, but spotting the gorilla is more like noticing an aeroplane flying overhead. Not relevant to the situation and you should be concentrating on people / cars etc, not getting distracted by other stuff.
Just seems like a silly exercise designed to trick you but doesn't really prove anything.
fatboy b said:
parabolica said:
Highway Code.
Your experience will depend on the instructors tbh; had to do my first one last March and tbh, it was much better than I expected. Leaders were from AADriveTec and were really engaging; none of this hellfire and damn-nation stuff; they said out the very start "everyone speeds, we're just here to show you the consequences of a few things". 4-hour course and it honestly went by pretty quick; being London the vast majority of my class were Uber drivers and... minorities... whose knowledge (or lack thereof) of the road laws was pretty eye-opening.
My cousin didn't have the same experience; he had an ex-police Sargent who went full-on Metal Jacket apparently.
Thanks for the info. Yes it’s the AA course. I would honestly like to know why our motorways and DCs are not in line with European speed limits.Your experience will depend on the instructors tbh; had to do my first one last March and tbh, it was much better than I expected. Leaders were from AADriveTec and were really engaging; none of this hellfire and damn-nation stuff; they said out the very start "everyone speeds, we're just here to show you the consequences of a few things". 4-hour course and it honestly went by pretty quick; being London the vast majority of my class were Uber drivers and... minorities... whose knowledge (or lack thereof) of the road laws was pretty eye-opening.
My cousin didn't have the same experience; he had an ex-police Sargent who went full-on Metal Jacket apparently.
parabolica said:
Highway Code.
Your experience will depend on the instructors tbh; had to do my first one last March and tbh, it was much better than I expected. Leaders were from AADriveTec and were really engaging*; none of this hellfire and damn-nation stuff; they said out the very start "everyone speeds, we're just here to show you the consequences of a few things". 4-hour course and it honestly went by pretty quick; being London the vast majority of my class were Uber drivers and... minorities... whose knowledge (or lack thereof) of the road laws was pretty eye-opening.
My cousin didn't have the same experience; he had an ex-police Sargent who went full-on Metal Jacket apparently.
I also had a positive course experience with AA Drive Tech. No preaching. No guilt trips. As long as you engaged with the course it was worth being there. I actually thought as I left it was the sort of thing it would be worth everything having every 5 years or so!Your experience will depend on the instructors tbh; had to do my first one last March and tbh, it was much better than I expected. Leaders were from AADriveTec and were really engaging*; none of this hellfire and damn-nation stuff; they said out the very start "everyone speeds, we're just here to show you the consequences of a few things". 4-hour course and it honestly went by pretty quick; being London the vast majority of my class were Uber drivers and... minorities... whose knowledge (or lack thereof) of the road laws was pretty eye-opening.
My cousin didn't have the same experience; he had an ex-police Sargent who went full-on Metal Jacket apparently.
- by engaging I mean 1x East-end Landan boi and 1x tiny little chinese man who sounded like Adam Buxton's impression of the queen
Edited by parabolica on Sunday 21st January 17:08
I learnt that there was 24 people in the morning and there was another 24 booked for the afternoon and they ran courses 6 days a week at £100 per individual.
48 x 100 = 4,800, x 6 = 28,800 per week.
This was at Lincoln and there are another half dozen locations in Lincolnshire where you can attend the course.
48 x 100 = 4,800, x 6 = 28,800 per week.
This was at Lincoln and there are another half dozen locations in Lincolnshire where you can attend the course.
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