[MrPogle]

My Speed Awareness Course was very interesting and a real eye-opener. Some of the things were just a bit humorous, like the girl who didn't even have a full licence because she was done on a driving lesson, but other things quite shocked me.

1) A woman who was adamant that the speed-limit on a motorway was 80 even though everyone else in the sub-group (6 people) said it was 70.

2) An old guy (80 plus) who arrived with a carer who did all the writing for him because he was too doddery to hold a pen.

3) A man who drove a Transit van AS HIS JOB but didn't know it was subject to different speed limits than a car.

4) They put up this photo



and 80% of the audience thought it was a dual-carriageway.

We are sharing the roads with these people. Is anyone else shocked/worried?

[Kerr]

Not knowing that a dual carriageway requires to have a central reservation to be called so, isn't that big a fault to me.

I've heard quite a few people say the speed limit for a dual carriageway without a central reservation is 60mph.

They've just got their names wrong but understand they aren't the same.

As long as they drive to the road, you can't complain much.

[djgandy]

You can see why people might call it that, a kind of colloquialism for dual laned road. The first 4 points are more shocking though :O

Interestingly, I don't think I have seen any roads like that for a long time. Reminds me of driving in Ireland.

[Hotcoupe]

Originally Posted by MrPogle

Is anyone else shocked/worried?

Did it shock you to discover that despite owning and driving a BMW, that speed limits are still enforceable?

You must have been worried when you were stopped.

The irony meter is going off the scale in this thread

[gsm]

I had to go on a speed awareness course for doing 28 mph on Tower Bridge, there was another guy who was caught at 23 mph on the bridge, now does that really warrant a speed awareness course.

[IanS100]

Originally Posted by gsm

I had to go on a speed awareness course for doing 28 mph on Tower Bridge, there was another guy who was caught at 23 mph on the bridge, now does that really warrant a speed awareness course.

Would it because you were exceeding the speed limit? be thankful you didn't get 3 points and a fine

[mob17]

I have a "what's driving us" course coming up

[stringy93]

I can believe it! I drive over 60,000 miles a year and some of the things you see people doing is beyond belief! It seems to be gradually getting worse aswell

[gsm]

Yes, indeed I was speeding. Guilty as charged but come on £95 because tower bridge is an ancient monument and 30 mph will make it fall down

[J Dub]

We have about 6 days of these a month where i work (they hire a meeting room) 25 people a time 2 courses a day.
It does not shock me at all (yes I have done one where I work, of course to see what it was about and company research :P)
We had one guy drive over a light bollard whilst trying to park, then struggle to get into the building saying he did not know he had just run this LARGE light over and got a huge dent in his bumper, then asked 'is this where the speed awareness course is'
Hey it takes all sorts, yet it does seem the 'older' generation seem to know best about driving, yet the majority of people attending are, yes older people.
Still better than 3 points and hey never know you may learn something, if nothing else that its every other bugger on the road that you need to look out for.

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by MrPogle

3) A man who drove a Transit van AS HIS JOB but didn't know it was subject to different speed limits than a car.

4) They put up this photo



and 80% of the audience thought it was a dual-carriageway.

We are sharing the roads with these people. Is anyone else shocked/worried?

Oops...

Re vans, I've driven vans (less than 7.5t) for work since I was 18 (1990) probably 100's of 1000s of miles and I must say I never knew they had different limits either until I googled it tonight thinking you were talking shite. Speed cameras can't tell the difference though

Doesn't matter anyway as I do 80 everywhere in it, it's a white van so it doesn't count..

Are you an examiner?

And the dual carriageway thing, isn't that picture (looks like A556 into Manchester) a dual carriageway without central reservation where the NSL is 60 as opposed to a dual carriageway WITH central reservation where the NSL is 70?

I guess not eh?

The HWC makes a big thing about Dual carriageway WITH central res (as opposed to ones without presumably??)

Maybe another 25 year error by me..

[rich1068]

I'm not shocked. There are plenty of idiots out there. At to be honest we're all idiots at some point. I completely lost my rag with someone the other day, they were in the wrong and could have probably caused a minor bump if I hadn't spotted him undertaking but it didn't excuse my behaviour, I was quite ashamed of myself.

Anyhoo, speed awareness courses are a waste of time. I've done one and avoided 3 points and a fine. Excellent. But I took nothing from it other than a clean license and I imagine the others in my group were the same. Obviously I'm a motorist but they're a sop to motorists. And the guy who took the course was the biggest tool you could have the misfortune to spend 4 hours with.

[gangzoom]

Originally Posted by rich1068

I'm not shocked. There are plenty of idiots out there. At to be honest we're all idiots at some point. I completely lost my rag with someone the other day, they were in the wrong and could have probably caused a minor bump if I hadn't spotted him undertaking but it didn't excuse my behaviour, I was quite ashamed of myself.

+1 we are all idiots sometimes, as human beings we are all excellent hypocrites. Life really is too short to worry about other peoples driving standards...if you want to really see bad driving go and hire a car in India

[parapaul]

I'm not shocked. I had to do one of these 'Speed Kills' courses a few months back, and 3 or 4 of the people there were self-employed trades guys - plumbers, plasterers etc, and none of them knew that their transit vans had different rules.

It was a morning of my life I'll never get back, but it saved me 3 points on my otherwise clean license.

[Robbie200]

Originally Posted by doughboy

And the dual carriageway thing, isn't that picture (looks like A556 into Manchester) a dual carriageway without central reservation where the NSL is 60 as opposed to a dual carriageway WITH central reservation where the NSL is 70?

I guess not eh?

The HWC makes a big thing about Dual carriageway WITH central res (as opposed to ones without presumably??)

Maybe another 25 year error by me..

The picture is a single carriageway. It's not dependent on the number of lanes, but rather the number of carriageways. These carriageways need to be separated by a physical barrier e.g. safety barrier, verge etc.

[IanS100]

Originally Posted by Robbie200

The picture is a single carriageway. It's not dependent on the number of lanes, but rather the number of carriageways. These carriageways need to be separated by a physical barrier e.g. safety barrier, verge etc.

At least we don't have 3 lane roads any more, they could be quite bum clenching at times

[doughboy]

Funny how all you lot on these courses who don't drive vans seem to know the speed limits for them, but you're the ones who got caught speeding!



A speed awareness course is hardly the place to be judgemental of other peoples road rule knowledge.

Originally Posted by Robbie200

The picture is a single carriageway. It's not dependent on the number of lanes, but rather the number of carriageways. These carriageways need to be separated by a physical barrier e.g. safety barrier, verge etc.

Yep you're right, but regarding the 70mph national limit, it use to say it applied to "dual carriageway with a central reservation" , this implies there are also dual carriageways WITHOUT central reservations.

Well it did the last time I read the highway code in November 1989, prior to my driving test, But it's quite clear now.

Originally Posted by IanS100

At least we don't have 3 lane roads any more, they could be quite bum clenching at times

I thought they were great, they forced cars to keep left making best use of the road width, allowing you to overtake.

Now those roads are 2 wide lanes instead, the slow cars just drive in the middle of the lane (or just left of the centre line) preventing passing.

[IanS100]

Originally Posted by doughboy

I thought they were great, they forced cars to keep left making best use of the road width, allowing you to overtake.

Now those roads are 2 wide lanes instead, the slow cars just drive in the middle of the lane (or just left of the centre line) preventing passing.

Going back the lack of basic knowledge, understanding & simple common sense by so many drivers these days, I think they'd be a recipe for disaster, with pimply youths pulling out to overtake without looking because they're too busy chatting on the phone

[oldbilly]

Quite shocked by pimply youths! last night traveling into work down Farrington road in London, road not particularly busy and just coming up to a junction the lights are green suddenly two pizza delivery bikes appear from the right having jumped the lights straight onto the edge of the yellow box into the path of the oncoming lane, a car coming from the other way stops just! one rider drives off on the inside of the stationary car on the wrong side of the road against traffic and swerves over behind the car to the correct lane narrowly missing another car behind, the other takes a wide forward arc to the right and under takes another car that has just gone through the junction swerving off in front of it just missing the front bumper!