Speed awareness Advice
Discussion
My wife recently completed a speed awareness course after being pinged by a laser operator about 100yd down the road from a speed camera. Chap knew what he was doing as apparently he had quite a catch of people who had sped up after the fixed camera.
Anyhoo, she comes back from the speed awareness course with a bunch of stuff she was told that made my hair curl. 'Obviously the at 20mph the child survives and at 30 the child explodes stuff'. But she was also told that in a 30 mph limit you should always keep in second or third. The explanation for this is that it'll prevent you from exceeding the speed limit. in a twenty you should be in a correspondingly lower gear. I assume first or second.
One of the people queried this to say about the polution, noise and fuel consumption effects, but was told by the course lecturer that the lower gear has been proved not to use any more fuel and neither would it make any more noise, and that arguments to the contrary were unproven and therefore not welcome.
Probably not worth challenging but honestly does anyone believe this.
Anyhoo, she comes back from the speed awareness course with a bunch of stuff she was told that made my hair curl. 'Obviously the at 20mph the child survives and at 30 the child explodes stuff'. But she was also told that in a 30 mph limit you should always keep in second or third. The explanation for this is that it'll prevent you from exceeding the speed limit. in a twenty you should be in a correspondingly lower gear. I assume first or second.
One of the people queried this to say about the polution, noise and fuel consumption effects, but was told by the course lecturer that the lower gear has been proved not to use any more fuel and neither would it make any more noise, and that arguments to the contrary were unproven and therefore not welcome.
Probably not worth challenging but honestly does anyone believe this.
Funnily I was just told this by our company commissioned driver safety trainer - take the speed limit in forces first number and use the coresponding gear so if 30 then third gear etc.
The advanced motorists seem to feel this is the correct way and like you to be at 1500 rpm or so i was told in my recent "safety education"
The advanced motorists seem to feel this is the correct way and like you to be at 1500 rpm or so i was told in my recent "safety education"
I've only ever done one course, which was when they were still in their infancy. But even then we were warned that anyone trying to invoke an argument/discussion against any of the delivered 'propaganda' would find themselves excluded from the course and facing the 3 points & fine.
So I kept my mouth shut when the 'expert' drove us along a dual carriageway at 50mph instead of the posted 30mph, and also when they only pointed out/scored 5 (their total) of the 20 (that I'd found) or so 'hazards' on their short hazard perception video.
They also didn't seem to like my 'reason for speeding' - which was 'fun'. Everyone else put things which meant the same - i.e. that they were in a hurry (late for work, late for meeting, late for dinner, overslept, etc.).
So I kept my mouth shut when the 'expert' drove us along a dual carriageway at 50mph instead of the posted 30mph, and also when they only pointed out/scored 5 (their total) of the 20 (that I'd found) or so 'hazards' on their short hazard perception video.
They also didn't seem to like my 'reason for speeding' - which was 'fun'. Everyone else put things which meant the same - i.e. that they were in a hurry (late for work, late for meeting, late for dinner, overslept, etc.).
I have been on a Speed Awareness course recently and was told the same about third gear in a 30. Actually i'd be amazed if it makes any real world difference to fuel economy, if you're on a slight incline you might be better off in third anyway... and it does seem to help keep you to the limit with the increased engine braking.
I said i sometimes speed 'cos i enjoy it, and it was accepted as a perfectly valid reason for speeding.
The course instructors also said the only difference between us and 'them' was that we'd been caught and they hadn't. They were very realistic about it all which was nice!
I said i sometimes speed 'cos i enjoy it, and it was accepted as a perfectly valid reason for speeding.
The course instructors also said the only difference between us and 'them' was that we'd been caught and they hadn't. They were very realistic about it all which was nice!
I attended one last year and asked if the course presenter was actuallyu believed that stat, or whether it was just something they were told to say.
They asserted once again that it was true, so I offered to drive them round the block at 30 in 3rd and again in 6th so that they could see the difference on the trip computer. The response was "I'm not going to argue with you, you're wrong and I'm moving the course on."
I'm not advocating 30 in 6th, the engine struggles a bit. But if you do it in my 2.0 Diesel Golf, you can return a steady 80+mpg on the flat. 3rd gets more like 50mpg driving in the same manner.
Using 3rd at 30 to give a bit more feedback as to the speed the vehicle is doing is actually a pretty smart idea. Pretending that the economy is the same as using a higher gear just shows ignorance.
Re the above two posts, the presenters were clear that there was no pass or fail and they invited discussion. There were two presenters. The geezer was alright, but the woman was the most patronising know nothing that it's been my displeasure to suffer for a very long time.
They asserted once again that it was true, so I offered to drive them round the block at 30 in 3rd and again in 6th so that they could see the difference on the trip computer. The response was "I'm not going to argue with you, you're wrong and I'm moving the course on."
I'm not advocating 30 in 6th, the engine struggles a bit. But if you do it in my 2.0 Diesel Golf, you can return a steady 80+mpg on the flat. 3rd gets more like 50mpg driving in the same manner.
Using 3rd at 30 to give a bit more feedback as to the speed the vehicle is doing is actually a pretty smart idea. Pretending that the economy is the same as using a higher gear just shows ignorance.
Re the above two posts, the presenters were clear that there was no pass or fail and they invited discussion. There were two presenters. The geezer was alright, but the woman was the most patronising know nothing that it's been my displeasure to suffer for a very long time.
Boydie88 said:
If they said it is to stop quicker due to the greater engine braking effect I could possibly believe it, but to say it doesn't affect sound and fuel use is just daft. Don't think I'd be able to sit through such b
ks from a supposed advisor.
This is what they said on mine. They used the reasoning that when lifting off in third, the effect of the engine being at higher revs encouraged the car to slow down, rather than being in too high a gear and not having the engine braking.ks from a supposed advisor.I would have laughed if they claimed it didn't affect the sound and fuel use though.
mikeveal said:
Using 3rd at 30 to give a bit more feedback as to the speed the vehicle is doing is actually a pretty smart idea. Pretending that the economy is the same as using a higher gear just shows ignorance.
I guess it will be car dependent. In our MINI (the alfa doesn't work out the mpg for you 
) you wouldn't be in a higher gear then 4th at 30 mph (six speed 'box, 1.6 petrol engine) and realistically there is no tangible difference between 3rd and 4th mpg wise, and the car often feels happier in the lower gear anyway.medieval said:
Funnily I was just told this by our company commissioned driver safety trainer - take the speed limit in forces first number and use the coresponding gear so if 30 then third gear etc.
I'm going back a bit but the ex-Police driver trainers we used for years at work liked to keep the car in as low a gear as possible at all times - they never seemed happy if the engine wasn't screaming. Fast A road bends were taken with the engine 500 rpm off its limiter.mmm-five said:
I've only ever done one course, which was when they were still in their infancy. But even then we were warned that anyone trying to invoke an argument/discussion against any of the delivered 'propaganda' would find themselves excluded from the course and facing the 3 points & fine.
So I kept my mouth shut when the 'expert' drove us along a dual carriageway at 50mph instead of the posted 30mph, and also when they only pointed out/scored 5 (their total) of the 20 (that I'd found) or so 'hazards' on their short hazard perception video.
They also didn't seem to like my 'reason for speeding' - which was 'fun'. Everyone else put things which meant the same - i.e. that they were in a hurry (late for work, late for meeting, late for dinner, overslept, etc.).
I have attended one course in Sheffield a few years ago and was impressed.So I kept my mouth shut when the 'expert' drove us along a dual carriageway at 50mph instead of the posted 30mph, and also when they only pointed out/scored 5 (their total) of the 20 (that I'd found) or so 'hazards' on their short hazard perception video.
They also didn't seem to like my 'reason for speeding' - which was 'fun'. Everyone else put things which meant the same - i.e. that they were in a hurry (late for work, late for meeting, late for dinner, overslept, etc.).
The guy taking the course was a very experienced driving instructor and examinar and was realistic in delivering the course.
Made me think about my surroundings more and I found it very useful.
I passed my test in 1982 so have a fair few years of driving behind me but still went with an open mind.
He also said the only "understandable (not valid)" reason for speeding was the thrill or fun of it.
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