Thought I'd give an insight on what to expect on a speed awareness course if you get caught speeding.
As some of you may be aware if you get caught speeding slightly above the limit (10% + 9mph I believe) you can get the offer of a speed awareness course which, for me was £92.00 as opposed to the £60 and 3 penatly points on your licence. It's a no brainer really.
For those of you that are a little nervous about what to expect on the day, this will give you a rough idea of what you're in for.
My time slot was today (15th August) at 12.30. I was told to arrive 15 minutes early so that I could be signed in. On arrival I had to produce some form of photo ID, so I showed my driving licence and got a tick by my name then a group of us where told which conference room to attend. In my case, there were four tables with rougly six seats per table and 24 people in the room.
The course lasts four hours long with a rather pointless ten minute break but it does give you time to grab a drink and use the toilet.
I went into the room not expecting to take much away from the afternoon but was pleasently suprised to find how friendly the environment was. Ages ranged from about 19-65 and not boy racers who all drive saxos and the instructor was friendly, even cracked a joke wherever possible.
so anyway, a quick health and safety briefing and it was onto the course, we set out by introducing ourselfs to the others at our table and where we got caught speeding and then had a small a5 bit of paper to fill out at different points over the four hours. We discussed excuses for why people speed and ways to avoid just creeping above the speed limit.
A major part of the course was stopping distances and how much difference doing 35mph in a 30 zone can make to your stopping distance. There is a lot to take in and you have to be on your toes because questions do get fired at random people around the room and you have to show active participation in the course or you can fail if you have the wrong attiude etc.
Stats for road deaths, accidents and what speeding ticket money is spent on is drilled into you aswell as various videos on more stopping distances at different speeds carried out by Thames valley police (in my case) and you will also be giving real life accident scenerios to shock you into thinking twice about your speed.
Speed limits on different roads were discussed and you'll be amazed at how many people get confused by the national speed limit on different types of road. Another major point that will be drilled into your skull will be that although its a 30 zone, thats maximum of 30 and you should drive at a speed within the limit that you think is safe for the environment/situation.
Interactive quizes with remote controls like on who wants to be a millionaire are used during the course to vote on various questions.
All in all, its not as bad as you may be expecting and providing you go into the course with an open mind you may actually learn something useful! but if nothing else you don't get those three points on your lience!
and don't worry, it's not patronising in anyway or a telling off or you being talked down to for four hours it's merely designed to educate you on the consequences of excessive speed whether you deem it safe or not.
