Safe Speed Forums

Im back and I also have had time to think. My driving at times has been wreckless and occasionaly dangerous, I have been kidding myself that it hasnt. So the only constructive thing to do is to slow it down and generally improve the standard of my driving, either this or I cant see how Im going to go 3 years without a ban. Hopefully everyone on here will now not see me as a bad driver but rather someone who is trying to improve as I am. To be honest its a lot less stressful when taking it easy behind the wheel! Please also disregard my last posts as they are pretty much boll0x excuses.
Cheers everyone and hoping I can be of some use to this forum and perhaps get some tips as well!

What a man!! and I mean a man.

Welcome to the board mate, hope we can have a lots of friendly debates. Trust me, i'm far from a perfect driver, I don't know who is, yet ackowledging it is the hardest part. This site has helped me in alot of ways, mainly appreciation, so stick around.

cool



agreed

Dan by posting what you have above then you've immediately proved yourself to be a far better than the majority of the driving population.
The 'new you' doesn't need to be an expensive experience. You can start by having a read through Roadcraft
and then finding your local IAM or Rospa group. I belive they do free evalutions (someone step in and correct me if I'm wrong here). If you want to go a bit further then there's places such as RideDrive. Their instructors are Police drivers so they aren't as, shall we say, strict as IAM is supposed to be.

Glad to see you back Dan. And as others have already said.

Did you get anywhere with Pepipoo by the way?

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

Welcome back mate. I Don't think ANYONE intended to cause that much insult, sorry but glad to hear that you decided to come back.

Hope you have luck with your fight, and hope that you enjoy your stay this time.

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

Dan, I sent you a PM ( a private message ) on the 18th you may not have noticed this tool at the top of the forum page.
It has some constructive suggestions.
glad you are back.

hi dan
well done mate...........look christmas is coming up
why dont you push for an iam advanced driving course
i did this 3 years ago .....it makes your driving enjoyable
and safe.......
welcome back goldy

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Audere Est Facere.....To Dare Is To Do

Cheers guys, just ordered Roadcraft from amazon it looks like a good read.

If you want to save a few quid (sorry dan for late posting) borrow it from a public library.

Johnsher Thanks for the Ridedrive weblink! Looks great, but can anyone tell me how to go about advanced driver training (where you get an advanced driver certificate thats recognised by insurance companies) . I have done a quick search on this forum but cant find much. Just need info on prices and locations of any centres. I dont no much about this at all! Seriously considering it plus it will bring my insurance down a bit.
Thanks!

Here you go Dan,

Here's a link to the IAM website, search for courses in your area, prices etc

http://www.iam.org.uk

Thanks for that. Pleasantly suprised at the cost. I thought it would a lot more pricey than £85. Think I might go for this!

Dan - Police Office with several years of police driving experience on my c.v. (trained at Hendon as a young cop!) But - I'm still leanring how to drive - still assessing each drive and evaluating it. (Same on bikes - motor and pedal - and COAST is always in the back of my mind.)

As for getting copped on the A road (which think I may have driven on some time on a holiday or something..), if yu saw no repeater lollies - then think your C O A S T needs a shake up. You usually do see them, though I do admit that foliage in some areas leaves a lot to be desired (:bunker: - pun not intended! )

Glad you have ordered copy of Road Craft. If you go on assessed drive with IAM - criticism would be constructive and well intentioned. I would also consider booking a couple of hours with an ADI just to identify any bad habits to work on as well if the IAM branch is one which does not do preliminary assessment. Also - purchase "Know Your Road Signs" and "Driving the Essential Skills" - plus a new copy of the Highway Code!

Browse in the motoring section of your local bookseller and check out any works by John Lyons, Paul Ripley., Peter Amey and Tom Topper as well as AA's "Expert Driving" and "IAM - How to Become an Advanced Motorist". Up to you to add to your bookshelf - they adorn mine anyway! By the way - they all say COAST in their own way!

But remember - COAST is a set of good practice principles and if you follow this - you are usually at the safest speed for the road (usually around the speed lmit +/- 10% ) - and because COAST means you actually see the lollipops and the lurking vans - you are usually safe! from me! and my lads and lasses! as well (We don't have scams - but our mob are basking sharks! )

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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.

Yes, agreed again, very much so in fact, but it depends on what you mean by taking it easy.

If you do it right you can travel very fast and still be relaxed, and I think that is how it should be. If it isn't done in a calm and orderly manner, then it is probably not as safe as it should be.

...and to the chap who implied that 94 in a 60 was insane, I can assure you that 115 in some 60s can be quite satisfactory. It does need some good observation and wariness though.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

As our friend InNeutral here quite rightly reminds us COAST is a very good system, but I've got an improved version - it's called COASTAL

All the usual ingredients are there of course - And Luck.

I wish us all lots of it - the good sort, that is - just in case...

Best wishes all,
Dave.

dude, don't worry about the lords and ladies of the forum, dunno how much you get around internet discussionboards but everywhere has them, and flame wars just wouldn't be the same without them.

sounds like you're a youngster with a hot car and an inclination to temptation, and any man who can't understand that is an old man indeed. been there, done that, the stag, duck, pheasant, telegraph pole, proton 1.5 and others will testify. not to mention wembley to gloucester in under 70 minutes. but roads are for everyone including old gits doing 25mph in their micras who havn't looked in their rear view mirrors since 1962 and it all makes for a dangerous combination.

sounds like you're already up for the driving advancement which is a good idea, once you do you'll feel more professional in your approach to driving which'll make compliance with traffic laws easier. book yourself in, then when you stand in front of the magistrate in your best suit look in in the eye and tell him you understand you've done wrong, tell him you're remorsefull about the whole thing and tell him you're doing the course. it should help a lot, cos he's probably seen 90% louts that day wearing their streetwise clobber and trying to show their mates how hard they are and a little respect can go a long way.

sorry if this all sounds a little patronising BTW, i expect you've more or less come to the same conclusions anyway.

PS it's reckless without a w. I don't usually correct spelling but "wreckless" is doing my nut in.

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Fear is a weapon of mass distraction

Hi Dan,

A couple of comments I have to add.

One is - 94 in a 60 limit might be an instant ban, especially with a previous. I guess you won't know the actual they're accusing you of until you get an NIP. 20 mph and above is usually a court appearance, 30 mph and above is a possible ban. The court can order between 3 and 6 points, or an instant ban. The number of points generally depends on the speed above the limit. The fine generally depends on income, and is independent of speed.

I have just started with the IAM myself. One thing they did tell me is that you can't be a member if you've been banned from driving. (Don't know whether you could use this in mitigation or not, though!)

RoSPA run an advanced driving course as well. I'm not sure whether they have a similar requirement - possibly not - but you'll have to check with them. Some seem to prefer the RoSPA course anyway.

IAM do give you a copy of their book and the Highway Code on signing up, so if you do sign up, you won't need to buy these separately. I'm told that the IAM book is essentially a distilled version of Roadcraft, anyway.

I don't think this is an absolute rule - they will look at individual cases. If someone's ban was some time ago and they showed a genuine desire to improve they would not be turned away.

The Duke of Gloucester - the former President of the IAM - was recently banned under the totting-up procedure, but expressed his intention to retake the test once his ban had expired.

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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

Hey guys thanks for all the replys! Keeping my fingers crossed that I will be accepted on the advanced course. Hopefully if I can tell the judge that I am actively trying to improve my driving skills then he/she may be a little more forgiving.
Should get the NIP in the next few days and hopefully the court date will be quite soon as I have just returned to uni after the summer and I want this out of the way. I have got a load of work to do and dont want hanging over my head for months. Does anyone have any ideas on the how long the court date will be. I mean is it likely to be 6 months away? Fingers crossed its sooner rather than later! Cheers for now!