Driver awareness course - Anyone been on one?

[ArDee]

As I do a far amount of driving on company business around the world.

I was sent on a defensive driving course a few years back; a day of theory followed by a day of driver instruction with an ex-police pursuit driver. I’ve had a couple of refresher sessions as well; morning of theory followed by 4 or 5 hours of instruction.

That was all about positioning on the road and anticipating and reading what other drivers are going to do. A very good course.

 

[Matthew_T]

No guys, I havent been caught. I just wanted to know some general information about the course.

 

[Crackle]

No guys, I havent been caught. I just wanted to know some general information about the course.

As good as a confession that.

 

[stephec]

After getting the 'fine or a course' letter, I googled around and this seemed to be the consensus (tho' I'm sure it makes a helluva difference what and how long your 'previous' is). I paid the 60 quid & took the points, and my renewal ended up being about 10% higher.

Wasn't there a post on a thread about this not that far back, where someone had been on one of these courses, and one of his fellow attendees was a wee grey-haired old dear, mightily (and vocally) indignant about how she couldn't understand it because she'd never speeded in her life and many many etcs, and on the way home from the course he was passed by a merc convertible doing around the ton, at the wheel of which was a wee grey-haired old dear...

A guy at work told me the same story. He did his course in Carlisle, then watched the little old lady blast back up the M6 to Scotland.

 

[mr_cellophane]

No 1 daughter did one. She said it was full of old people moaning about how youngsters drive.

 

[Archie_tect]

Matt raises his head above the parapet and everyone takes pot-shots at him.... as usual.

Do the course Matt- it's useful because if you concentrate you'll learn something every driver needs to know but few seem to.

 

[TonyEnjoyD]

I did the speed awareness one last month saving me £13 and 3-points.
I actually enjoyed it and learned a few things.

A half day well spent

 

[pplpilot]

I did the speed awareness one last month saving me £13 and 3-points.
I actually enjoyed it and learned a few things.

A half day well spent

Same here, i was actually quite embarrassed how little i knew about the highway code. All in all it was a light hearted informative session, we actually had a laugh.

I recall the ADI going around the room asking what we had all been driving at the time of being caught, just to gauge a cross section of folk in the room, so around we went in turn, car, car, van,lorry,car,bus,bike, got to the snotty looking cow in the corner that had a face like she had found a skid-mark on a hotel towel said , oh I was in my new Mercedes S class... We pissed ourselves!

 

[stuee147]

the driver awareness is a good cause it make you look more at who and what is around you more than just where you need to go. its like the difference between being aware of clear road and a couple of folk on the paths to being aware that there is a kid on the path riding in the same direction as you and that there is a couple of other kids coming up on the other side of the road so there is a good chance that the kid on the bike could hop the curb and head over to his mates. and about not just reading the roads but what others are doing or going to do by where they sit on the road ect.
i found it very useful and informative if you do a lot of driving or drive in busy city centres then i would recommend doing a course i can honestly say its saved me from a number of crashes over the last 20 odd years.

 

[asterix]

No 1 daughter did one. She said it was full of old people moaning about how youngsters drive.

Matt raises his head above the parapet and everyone takes pot-shots at him.... as usual.

Q.E.D.

Anyway, thanks to the rigor with which the local authorities are enforcing limits in the Haute Vienne, everyone I know has a speeding ticket. I don't, probably for 2 reasons: first the vehicle I use (an old van) is geared so it is easy to comply with limits whereas the cars I have driven encourage you to drive too fast; second I daren't get caught because of all the scorn and derision I have poured onto the heads of those who do*!

* not really, admittedly I experience a frisson of internal schadenfreude but outwardly express a degree of sympathy calibrated to their stance on cyclists.

 

[Spinney]

[QUOTE 2975703, member: 30090"]Yep, we all make mistakes.

But the next time Matt posts a vid of a speeding motorist....[/quote]
Matt did say that he hadn't been caught speeding...

 

[asterix]

Matt did say that he hadn't been caught speeding...

Nobody wants to believe that..

 

[Spinney]

Nobody wants to believe that..

 

[Cycling Dan]

If you get caught speeding and do the course is it still classed as a conviction and one which requires you to declare it to your insurence or not?

Also if you do it yourself and then declare it will it push your premiums up as it's associated with you normally speeding and being caught by the police.

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

Wasn't there a post on a thread about this not that far back, where someone had been on one of these courses, and one of his fellow attendees was a wee grey-haired old dear, mightily (and vocally) indignant about how she couldn't understand it because she'd never speeded in her life and many many etcs, and on the way home from the course he was passed by a merc convertible doing around the ton, at the wheel of which was a wee grey-haired old dear...

Yeah, that was me. Most memorable thing about the course actually.