Safe Speed Forums

I decided to plonk this here.

I read in the papers that Rooney (Cheshire resident and MUFC footballer ) has been offered a DIS course as an alternative to his fracas at the roundabout at Stanley Green retail park in Cheadle Hulme in May.

The woman driver he collided with had minor whiplash injuries and Rooney was unhurt.

If he refuses - could get a fine of £5,000.

The DIS course will cost £150 and comprises one and half days of tuition.

This is a standard course and focuses on COAST, driver ATTITUDE and lots of hazard perception. The morning session involves a complete revision of the Highway Code and a discussion of COAST values - with hazard perception exercises (DVD - and just a little longer and more involved than the L-test version - and we give them homework in our version of this!

Woe betide these people if they fail to hand it in the next day!

Not a soft option either - we put them through a similar session to own lads and we expect commitment. The afternoon session is always a drive with an specially trained ADI or a policeman - usually an instructor. On the third session - they have a written exam and more driving.

But this course is heavy on the COAST

Oldham DIS centre spokeswoman is quoted as saying :"It's all about hazard recognition and spotting dangers and influencing your decision making - looking at how accidents happen and how they might be avoided"

I fully agree with the BiB who is quoted:

"This system was brought in to educate drivers rather than punish. It's not a soft option and the result is an improvement in standards!"

However, I would like to see a general encouragement to ALL drivers to consider a training course - and IAM/RoSPA etc should be encouraged.
and as car manufacturers develop more and more safety gadgets - perhaps we should consider encouraging lessons to learn how to use them anyway. Might be a marketing ploy - free lessons in how to drive your new car - safely ?

We do keep track of our DIS customers - and they tend to keep out of any bother after the course..

We do arrange the courses to fit in with work commitments - and Rooney will be free to play in his fixtures just the same. He apparently has until November to decide.

_________________
Take with a chuckle or a grain of salt
Drive without COAST and it's all your own fault!

A SMILE is a curve that sets everything straight (P Diller).

A Smiley Per post
FINES USfor our COAST!

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon - but driving with a smile and a COAST calm mind.

See:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manc ... 727035.stm

_________________
"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Watcha IG,

I can't help but ask whether you think someone like me needs to go on a driver improvement scheme.

I have had a licence for 25 years, never caused an accident (have been hit up the arse 2ce whilst sitting at red lights), and up until recently, never the threat of an endorsement...

But I am "on film" driving past a Gatso @36 in a 30 at the bottom of a dual carriageway. Of course, no pedestrians were in the road or near the road at the time, nor were there any parked cars either.

Does my pig-ignorant, selfish, despot abuse of the speed limit with my reckless act of ignoring it (the limit) and driving past 6mph over the top make me a 'salvageable character'? Or do you think I am beyond redemption and my perverse behaviour, although worthy of the gallows in other respects, fully warrants the £60 charge and 3 points?

I'd love to go on one of these courses - but do they take middle aged hooligans like me?

If you were in one of the 11 offering Speed Awares - you'd have been eligible. Lancs/Staff/Northhants are similar to DIS in many ways and TVP cheapskate with DVD games only.

We offer DIS to careless customers - national scheme. Pratnerships Speed Awares vary and quality varies too. Avon/Somerset/Lincs/Norhhants/Lancs/Staffs are the most comprehensive per my reading of internal bumph and the next best - Leics/London - with Wilts and TVP probably the skimpiest.

In our patch - more than likely you would have had benefit of - ahem - discretion - or just a pull and gentlish chat about COAST. We are more concerned with truly dangerous rather than nit picking. Most of the time our 36- ers slow down and you see "oops" - and we leave it at that.




I am sure you are already salvageable as there is some sound advice from the collective on the board. I use a "useful gadget" in danger areas - as this tells me where the schools are - and most are tucked down side streets and not on main roads. I find it handy to have a two mile bleep warning as kids could be anywhere along the road at vulnerable times. Added bonus? Alerts to camera !

in our patch - we are tough on road safety and anything which compromises it - but we apply common sense, intelligence, discretion and - nope - we don't nit pick.



You could always book a short course with an ADI or do an IAM. Buy some Hazard DVDs from the computer shop - they are actually good fun - and the only numpty is the one driving the car - and a fine example of poor "tyre and tarmac!" on the DSA one!

_________________
Take with a chuckle or a grain of salt
Drive without COAST and it's all your own fault!

A SMILE is a curve that sets everything straight (P Diller).

A Smiley Per post
FINES USfor our COAST!

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon - but driving with a smile and a COAST calm mind.

So TVP now stands for Tightwad Valley Police? They used to send speeders on a DriveTech course, though arguably the wrong speeders as it was only an option for low overspeeds. A bit faster and they just gave points and fines, so well thought out . Still, I know someone who was sent on one after TVP caught 'em speeding, and he said it was a pretty good course. If they've given up on it rather than rethinking it a bit it's a bloody shame. DVDs .... They been down the car boot sales or something?

_________________
Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

Heavier speeders are the ones that need training, and perhaps are good targets to experiment with the use of speed limiters - particularly if that could be offered instead of a ban.

If you want to encourage more drivers to do advanced training, then the best incentive would be lower insurance premiums. If you could find at least one insurance company that offers these incentives and if they would advertise them, then certainly it would encourage people to get the training.

That's OK then - I only weigh 10 stone.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

As I began to read this I couldn't help but myself think of Basil Faulty and his Morris Minor giving it a damned good thrashing.

Really? So someone who drives at 120mph on a deserted motorway in perfect conditions is more in need of training than someone who blasts past a school wih kids spilling off the pavement at 29mph?

It's not just nonsense - it's dangerous nonsense.

_________________
Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Hi In Gear

Two weeks ago I was unfortunate to meet up with a police van hogging the fast lane (40MPH tops) through a procession of roundabouts to the end of a duel carriageway.

I stayed in the slower lane, leaving approx 2 SEC gap all around me, covering both lanes. consistently we would both approach the up and coming roundabouts and me not wanting to get hit on the police van blind side I did not attempt to "undertake" (although I could have easily out powered her, much to the annoyance of everyone behind me.

We both came to the last but one roundabout in the same positions as before only this time the young plod in the passenger seat thought it very funny, I was giving him a very stern look of disapproval.

After 4 miles of waiting behind this van and 4 miles of very unhappy rush hour traffic egging me on, I did the unthinkable, I used the power in my car, my horn (one quick blast) to catch the attention of the van driver and with eye contact in the van mirror I drove past on the inside, accelerating from 46MPH to 70MPH

Two miles further up the road, guess what, I was pulled for undertaking.

My question.

After being humiliated and made to feel like a criminal I was told to behave or I would be nicked next time.

I brought up in conversation your COAST awareness advice and recommended they look at this site.

What surprised me was the lack of any knowledge about COAST.

Is COAST only operating in your area, and how long is it before South Wales police learn how to
1. Drive.
2. Show proper respect to other road users.
3. Admit that women police officers are on some kind of trip.
4. use COAST

Regards

Martin