Speed awareness course....interesting but.....

[King Herald]

So I got busted after 40 clean years, 37 in a 30, totally my fault, missed the speed sign. I elected to do the course, I mean, who wouldn't???

Learned some stuff I never knew, but towards the end the guy asked for "the benefits of speeding, why would you do it?"

I spoke out and said 'for fun, enjoyment, because some people like driving fast'.

He wouldn't accept that, struck it off the list?! All he would allow on his 'list' was "to get there quicker".

I find that a little narrow minded, a little obtuse, naive even, on a course that is supposed to be all about teaching people why they should not speed.

Or did I simply misunderstand the question/whole point of this course?

[manracer]

But he can hardly accept them as benefits of speeding on a public road and though the question doesn't explicitly state that, in the context of a government run speed awareness course you can see why.

I totally agree with you though.

[cuprabob]

You basically said it's OK to break the law for fun....I can see why he wouldn't add that to his list

I would imagine an answer along the lines to get out of a dangerous situation may be better.

I do agree with you though

Edited by cuprabob on Thursday 27th July 14:11

[RobM77]

If he allowed 'to get there quicker' but wouldn't allow 'for fun', then I presume he's saying the reason for wanting to get there quicker is more important than having fun. The issue there is you could be in a hurry for a myriad of reasons, from a wife about to give birth in your passenger seat to missing the start of a football match! I presume he wasn't justifying either - surely the law is the final say and doesn't care what the reasons are?

[Bennet]

So what exactly did he say in response?

[zeDuffMan]

You were sticking it to the wrong man if you wanted to make a point of it. A bit like complaining about the price of something to the person putting it on the shelf.

[deggles]

King Herald said:

I find that a little narrow minded, a little obtuse, naive even, on a course that is supposed to be all about teaching people why they should not speed.

I'm inclined to agree with you. You can't have rational discussions with these people unfortunately. If he's going to ask the question and try and engage the audience, he shouldn't just discount your answer however much he disagrees or fails to understand it. If he was doing his job properly he should take all the responses on board and aim to demonstrate the balance of risk vs. reward. Some people just can't comprehend that 'fast' does not equal 'dangerous' in 100% of circumstances.

[meehaja]

The guy who did mine was really good. He had a sensible, mature approach to speeding and driving in general. He told us that he wasn't going to say don't speed, as we all would, maybe not straight away but everyone does, he told us instead to make sure that speeding was an informed choice, not a default state. If you want to do 37 in a 30, do it knowing that the risks are high, if someone steps out you probably won't be able to stop and you'll probably kill them, if you've considered all that and feel it is safe to continue then you can make that choice, the danger is people casually doing 40-45 in a 30 without even realising it.

[Gary29]

I'd just sit there quietly and try to get out of there as quickly as possible.

[cuprabob]

Gary29 said:

I'd just sit there quietly and try to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Sounds like a good plan

Nothing worse than having a smart @rse who likes the sound of their own voice making it longer for everyone else.

[shielsy]

Gary29 said:

I'd just sit there quietly and try to get out of there as quickly as possible.

This will be my tactic.

I'm hoping to be offered a place on the course as I recently got my first speeding ticket after 13 years on the road; 35mph in a 30.

[Sheepshanks]

meehaja said:

.. he told us .... the danger is people casually doing 40-45 in a 30 without even realising it.

The stupid thing is that those doing 43+ don't get offered the course.

[sidgolf]

a possible counter would be that driver-concentration tends to drop if they are forced to crawl along at a snails-pace.

[RobM77]

sidgolf said:

a possible counter would be that driver-concentration tends to drop if they are forced to crawl along at a snails-pace.

This is certainly a major effect for me. Nevertheless, I figure that because of the high mileage I drive I can't afford to take chances, so I hardly ever break the speed limit. The most I'll ever do is a bit over on the motorway if I'm running late; I'll certainly never breach a 30 or 40mph limit, as that's where the most cameras tend to be. It's nice to never worry about being caught, but I do get incredibly bored at times.

[Sheepshanks]

RobM77 said:

sidgolf said:

a possible counter would be that driver-concentration tends to drop if they are forced to crawl along at a snails-pace.

This is certainly a major effect for me. .

I find it needs quite a lot of concentration to stick to 30, and at the same time fend off those anxious to overtake.

OTOH I was very early for a meeting yesterday so drove for a bit at the same speed as the trucks were doing on the motorway yesterday. That feels like you could run faster.

[Pica-Pica]

RobM77 said:

sidgolf said:

a possible counter would be that driver-concentration tends to drop if they are forced to crawl along at a snails-pace.

This is certainly a major effect for me. Nevertheless, I figure that because of the high mileage I drive I can't afford to take chances, so I hardly ever break the speed limit. The most I'll ever do is a bit over on the motorway if I'm running late; I'll certainly never breach a 30 or 40mph limit, as that's where the most cameras tend to be. It's nice to never worry about being caught, but I do get incredibly bored at times.

I agree, 30 limit is sacrosanct. You can be alert and observe as well as you like, but when a seemingly sensible kid steps into the road, just not worth the lifetime of 'if onlys' after.

[King Herald]

cuprabob said:

Gary29 said:

I'd just sit there quietly and try to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Sounds like a good plan

Nothing worse than having a smart @rse who likes the sound of their own voice making it longer for everyone else.

Not sure if that is in jest, or a predictably new age PH response to my post?

The guy was asking seriously why people break the speed limit, I responsed with what I consider a bloody good reason why. People DO drive faster than they are supposed because they LIKE driving fast.

He refused to acknowledge that, and rejected it as a reason people do it. I'm pretty sure there are a LOT of drivers or riders on PH who like to press on over and above the speed limit whenever they think it is safe to do, and think they won't get caught, and it is not just because they are in a hurry to get where they are going.

The course was to finish in four hours, no longer, he pointed that out at the start, so nothing that was said was going to change that.

[alorotom]

A chap on my speed awareness course a few years ago started arguing with the AA chap delivering the course about stopping distances and speed and that his 911T with carbon ceramics could o faster and stop quicker than something 'boggo'

He was right but it was received like a cold cup of sick ... and also came across like he was just trying to brag about his wheels in a Considerably Richer then Yow manner

[King Herald]

RobM77 said:

his is certainly a major effect for me. Nevertheless, I figure that because of the high mileage I drive I can't afford to take chances, so I hardly ever break the speed limit. The most I'll ever do is a bit over on the motorway if I'm running late; I'll certainly never breach a 30 or 40mph limit, as that's where the most cameras tend to be. It's nice to never worry about being caught, but I do get incredibly bored at times.

One interesting snippet he demonstrated was that if you were ten minutes late, for example, and wanted to make it up by doing 80 instead of 70mph on the motorway, you'd have to drive 100 miles without dropping your speed to catch up that ten minutes. I'd never really thought that out before.

I rarely breach a speed limit in a town or built up area myself, but I got caught when I lost track of what the limit was while cruising through some town one afternoon. Riding a bike for 40 years, in various countries, I tend to gravitate towards whatever speed feels safe if a speed sign isn't very evident. A van up my rear end made me think I was in a 40, not a 30, and lack of concentration on my part lead to me getting busted. Guilty, no excuses.

On my one bike, 1200 Bandit, it can be a bit awkward keeping down to 30 as the motor is a bit lumpy below 2000 rpm..... speed tends to creep up without noticing, if I'm not continually nodding up and down twixt speedo and road. That's not an excuse, just I need to pay close attention.

Edited by King Herald on Thursday 27th July 16:16

[KTF]

King Herald said:

37 in a 30

"the benefits of speeding, why would you do it?"

I spoke out and said 'for fun, enjoyment, because some people like driving fast'.

30 limits tend to be in a built up area. Using your own reasoning, what fun and enjoyment did you get out of 37 in a 30?