Safe Speed Forums

My ex girlfriend is a slow and "careful" driver and I would say not that confident either. Anyway she has had her picture taken and they want £60 for it. She's been offered the speed awareness course and has decided to take it.

I sent her some links to pepipoo for legal advice and to here "for tips on safe driving and accident statistic". She replied that she knew all about the accident statistics, "if you hit me at 30 there is an 80% chance I will live and if you hit me at 40 there is an 80% chance I will die" were her exact words. She's an accountant for a big firm and a clever girl and I thought the analytical part of her brain would see that there is more to not crashing than driving slowly. But hey ho.

We have banged on for a while about driver education and it got me thinking, I wonder if they are using these courses as selective education, just educating the people they catch for a small profit instead of covering everyone at a fairly high cost???

Got it in one - it's now become a money-making scam to fund speed cameras. If it's a first offence, it now makes a lot of sense to take the fine and 3 points rather than the course.

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"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

I doubt if many people would be happy to attend a speed awareness course when they had not been caught speeding, even if it was free of charge.

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

I reckon the selection criteria for attendance of SACs is set such that those who do the course are those less likely to argue or think. Adam's ex is a prime example.

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

Did you miss a smiley from that Steve? You are well aware of the selection criteria and you know it doesn't include any psychological profiling.
The reason that the criteria excludes people who are substantially exceeding the speed limit is because they are Speed Awareness courses. It is reasonable to assume that someone doing 50mph in a 30 zone is well aware that he is breaking the limit and would not benefit from the course which is aimed at people who inadvertently break the limit by a small amount.

As I have posted elsewhere, the SAC I attended in Greater Manchester certainly concentrated on the awareness aspect of speed. Beyond quoting the probabilities of pedestrians being killed at deferential speeds the instructors didn't beat the "speed kills" drum. The major part of the course was to teach the class how to be continually aware of the speed limit and how to avoid breaking it. Considering that 30% of the class were unaware that street lights => 30mph speed limit, and that at least one professional driver did not know the speed limits for a transit van, I think that the course was worthwhile. But not for me of course - I have nothing to learn about driving

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

Correct, there is no psychological profiling, not at an individual level anyway.
The point you raise is irrelevant as it does not address my suspected correlation and motivations behind the criteria.


What's in a name? Apparently, a lot!

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

"
The name accurately reflects the content of the course.

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

By the selection criteria.

Start with the desired conclusion (aim to get in those who will part with money will minimal argument), then select the criteria to fit (those a small amount over the limit), then call it what you want.

Why not fully roll it out to all learners if speed is apparently $o important?


I don't think so. The salient points of speed awareness doesn’t take three hours to convey, even to a group!

My mum's SAC course also covered casualty data, stopping distances, COAST, use of mobiles, fatigue, advice regarding maintainable and breakdowns, and a chunk on speed cameras (including the RTTM fallacy). I have her SAC course pamphlet as proof.


PS: your quote tags are wrong.

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign