[BigStu1972]

Has anyone else been offered one of these as a way of escaping 3 points and a £60 fine?
I’m actually thinking of taking the points and paying £60 as the course will cost me £95 and is 4 hours long which means I will have to take half a days holiday.
My licence is clean at the moment but am I right in assuming that 3 points will have little effect on my insurance premiums?

[un1eash]

I would take the course, declaring 3 points for teh next 5 years will likely cost you more then £95.

[Ian J]

Some insurance companies will load your premiums and it's worth taking the course anyway as all it will take is three momentary lapses of concentration in the next three years and that's your licence gone under the totting up procedure

[BigStu1972]

Originally Posted by un1eash

I would take the course, declaring 3 points for teh next 5 years will likely cost you more then £95.

I didn't think 3 points effected your insurance premiums. I thought it was 6 and over.
What's annoying is that I was caught doing 60 on a 50 mph dual carriageway which up until last month had a 70mph limit

[tonyrees687]

Take the course ,might learn something worthwhile.

[BigStu1972]

Originally Posted by tonyrees687

Take the course ,might learn something worthwhile.

Like?

[un1eash]

Originally Posted by BigStu1972

I didn't think 3 points effected your insurance premiums. I thought it was 6 and over.
What's annoying is that I was caught doing 60 on a 50 mph dual carriageway which up until last month had a 70mph limit

It varys between companies but mine did add around £50 to the premium.

[Curry Monster]

Originally Posted by BigStu1972

I didn't think 3 points effected your insurance premiums. I thought it was 6 and over.
What's annoying is that I was caught doing 60 on a 50 mph dual carriageway which up until last month had a 70mph limit

Try fighting it in court if you feel that you have been unfairly caught speeding...

Personally I would just take the course...

[tonyrees687]

Originally Posted by BigStu1972

Like?

Well apart from the obvious. It might save you a load of money. Insurance costs going up all the time , and any excuse for insurance companies to put your premiums up, I think to take 3 points rather than education is just plain daft ,for you and other road users alike.

[s70rmp]

i did the course recently (21st July) and it was done on a weekend so I didnt lose a days holiday and mine was £79

[John]

Originally Posted by BigStu1972

Like?

The difference in stopping distances between 70 & 50 and maybe a reason why they changed the limit so drastically on that stretch of road

When I did the SAC it was actually cheaper than the fine, so it was a no brainer.

[Mondzz]

The robbing bastards are charging me £130 for a driver awareness course that i have to go on for a full day 8:30-5pm on a saturday after an accident i had.

Taking it rather than the fine and points but its a total joke.

[Inked]

Originally Posted by Mondzz

The robbing bastards are charging me £130 for a driver awareness course that i have to go on for a full day 8:30-5pm on a saturday after an accident i had.

Taking it rather than the fine and points but its a total joke.

Surely it's your choice, don't see how it's their fault. From what you have stated, it sounds like you were caught committing an offence which led to (at least in part) an accident. Sounds like you got off lightly to me.

[BigStu1972]

I just realised that I already have 3 points so I'll have to take the course

[paulyoung666]

Originally Posted by Mondzz

The robbing bastards are charging me £130 for a driver awareness course that i have to go on for a full day 8:30-5pm on a saturday after an accident i had.

Taking it rather than the fine and points but its a total joke.

thats not as speed awareness course though , as i am sure you know , better to take that than the alternative ( which was what ? ) .....

[John]

Originally Posted by BigStu1972

I just realised that I already have 3 points so I'll have to take the course

I thought you could only take the course on the fist offence ?

[paulyoung666]

Originally Posted by John

I thought you could only take the course on the fist offence ?

It's not speed awareness its drivers awareness , must have been instead of driving without due care and attention or similar ....

[gibbsy]

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

It's not speed awareness its drivers awareness , must have been instead of driving without due care and attention or similar ....

The silly mare that hit my missus on a roundabout was charged with driving without dure care. She failed to stop and give way and clouted the front of our car. We had a wonderful witness as the car behind her was a lovely silver BMW with blue lights on the top.

A couple of weeks or so later we had a letter from South Wales Police saying that the woman had accepted a place on a driver awareness course.

[Matt_C]

Originally Posted by John

I thought you could only take the course on the fist offence ?

I'm pretty sure you can already have points on your license, but you can only take the course once in a 12month period.

I did one last year, after getting done for 34 in a 30 (which I genuinely thought was 40). Cost me £90 and was 10 till 2. It's boring as hell, but I'd rather that than take the points since insurance companies don't seem to ignore 3 points like they used to in the past. I've got another three points for using a phone while driving (guilty, with no excuse) and even that hikes my premiums. Go to one of the online insurance websites, Direct Line for example, and do a quote for a car, with all the details the same but with and without the driving offence/conviction and you can see the difference.

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by Matt_C

I did one last year, after getting done for 34 in a 30 (which I genuinely thought was 40). Cost me £90 and was 10 till 2. It's boring as hell.

I did one a few years ago and from what I picked up from the others they were all there for doing about 34mph in a 30mph limit - many of them caught by the same camera.

I agree that it's boring but that's because middle aged first offenders who have exceeded the speed limit by 4mph tend to have speed awareness anyway whilst those caught well over the speed limit who could probably do with a reminder or the dangers of speed don't get put on a course

[paulyoung666]

I got caught for 35 , when they tell you how far extra you travel for those 5 mph it opens your eyes .....

[enigma1701]

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

I got caught for 35 , when they tell you how far extra you travel for those 5 mph it opens your eyes .....

It's not so bad when your actually stopped for speeding as the police are actually doing their job. It's those speed camera that just take a picture and bill you! Money making scam that cos if they were really worried about the speed your doing, you should get pulled over!

Can't they offer you a course on a weekend ??

[SIRUSKEY]

Originally Posted by enigma1701

It's not so bad when your actually stopped for speeding as the police are actually doing their job. It's those speed camera that just take a picture and bill you! Money making scam that cos if they were really worried about the speed your doing, you should get pulled over!

Can't they offer you a course on a weekend ??

There are normally several dates and times including weekends

[njdbaxter]

Everyone here does 45 in 30 zones all across the city and never get fines.

Mate was stopped doing over 40 in the 30 zone and was just toLD to drive a bit slower because of the conditions of the road (snow)

[FZR400RRSP]

Originally Posted by njdbaxter

Mate was stopped doing over 40 in the 30 zone and was just toLD to drive a bit slower because of the conditions of the road (snow)

Er....what...?
Doing 40mph in a 30mph, in snow, and let off with it..?
Hmmmmmmm......

[blankscreen]

i got clipped by a mobile 'piano' camera for 36 mph, on a road i thought was going slow in a 40 mph due to it's width and location, at night in unfamiliar area and chucking it down all i could do to see end of bonnet, wife and 3 kids in the car worried i'd be rear ended going any slower.

i was in my mid 50 att made no difference to my premiums just a pia having to mention it at renewal times.

now have copilot 8 on my iPhone which you can set to warn you if you exceed the speed limit or by 5 mph, I even use this on my motorbike over blue tooth helmet handsfree, i get warned of camas or over speed with very loud chirps but at least i'm aware if i'm speeding on most roads.

We can all be distracted for a few seconds, this helps me to be aware. i'm no angel when driving but i don't want to hurt anyone, as a grandad i especially never want to hurt a kiddy.

as a small aside, your waiting at red lights and an emergency vehicle needs to get through, so as a good citizen and motorist, the highway code says you get out of the way, so you carefully move forward and pull over, but now you get a photo for going through a red light.

unless you have the presence of mind at the time to get the vehicles reg and note the time to prove your righteous intent, you get the fine and points!!!

to that end i now have a camera that records my journey, time, date, speed, and my GPS position it cost £100.00 but just think how useful it could be against a deliberate criminal 'crash for compensation' claim.

[njdbaxter]

Originally Posted by FZR400RRSP

Er....what...?
Doing 40mph in a 30mph, in snow, and let off with it..?
Hmmmmmmm......

dont have to believe me, but it did happen