Penalty points or speed awareness course?
I got pulled over for speeding (38mph) about a minute from my home. I admit I was speeding and it's against the law etc etc but I wasn't driving dangerously, I was driving to the road conditions (wide, straight road with no traffic). So I'm a bit pissed off about that.
I've been offered a choice of 3 points and a fine or attending a speed awareness course (which I'll have to pay for!!!!). Now I don't relish the idea of spending 4 hours bored ****less and having to pay for the privilege, however it will protect my insurance premium. Or at least it used to. Apparently some companies now count these courses the same as penalty points and are raising premiums accordingly.
So now I'm wondering if I should just take the points?
I've been offered a choice of 3 points and a fine or attending a speed awareness course (which I'll have to pay for!!!!). Now I don't relish the idea of spending 4 hours bored ****less and having to pay for the privilege, however it will protect my insurance premium. Or at least it used to. Apparently some companies now count these courses the same as penalty points and are raising premiums accordingly.
So now I'm wondering if I should just take the points?
Post edited by Rebelstar without a cause on
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Not sure how long the points last but if you're normally a careful driver it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
I feel a CGC entry coming on... :-P
edit:
Rebelstar's Road Rage Racers!
Andy's Advanced Action Accelerator!
It's not that bad.
I got caught way back in blackpool near the windmill. At the time only Lancashire and Staffordshire were trialling it. I was one the first people to do the course and at that time, you had to go out with a driving intructor as well,,this was later dropped due to cost. Three years one month later I got caught again, and was therefore one of the the first people to do the course twice.
He also got work to pay for the course as he said if he didn't have to go away for it, then he wouldn't have been there to get caught! They paid up too I think :lol:
And if there is a camera, it's there for a reason, that there will have been a history of accidents at that spot. The fact that you didn't spot the camera kind-of implies that you could have missed a potential hazard at that point too, or were even getting a bit complacent as you neared the end of your journey.
Everyone thinks they're a much better driver than they are, even those idiots in rusty white vans and old gits who can't see past the steering wheel, much less react to hazards in any useful timeframe. Personally I'd love to see a change in the law such that everyone has to retake a test every 10 years or so - that'd sort out a lot of bad habits.
- IONIAN-GAMES.com -
I wasn't intentionally speeding. The speed crept up, I noticed and was bringing it back down but by then it was too late. I don't think driving slightly too fast is always dangerous whereas compulsively checking the speedometer every few seconds (which I've found myself doing since the ticket) most definitely is.
I don't doubt you. I was just attempting a little humour there.
Anyway, you might want to invest in a SatNav that does audible warnings for when you're over the limit, or turn them on if you've already got one. It might be a bit of an eye opener to find out just how often you accidentally drift over the limit; it certainly was for me.
As for whether it needs to be disclosed. Best to check with the authorities if legally you have to declare it. Same as with 'spent' criminal convictions, an employer/insurer/whatever mike like to know, but legally you don't have to tell them.
Got lucky though, I was up to 95mph at one point as I shot past him!
I got ?60 fine and 3 points (turns out you can't use them like Nectar points...bloody swizz!).
I should have had a 42 day ban, but I played the "Out on business" card. Copper said visibility was good and I was going along the A163 which is pretty flat and you get a good 360ish view...so just got the fine and points.
Didn't affect my insurance premium.
I'd say take the points/fine.
I was so annoyed and really pee'd at that point:evil:. When I pulled over and the police officer asked me the usual "whats the speed limit on the road there", I really gave him it and told him what I thought of his conduct and tailgating, and that I thought he was a boy racer messing around. I'm sure he was in the wrong and think he knew it, because after the conversation about driving at excessive speeds I was let off with just a producer.
Cops, gotta love em
All driving convictions within the last five years need to be disclosed, so you can't dodge that by doing the course, just the points. That said, some insurers will see taking the course as a positive thing; you just might have to switch if you're currently not with one of them.
Anyway, the reason I say do the course is that your insurance premium will almost certainly go up. I'm just a named driver on the wife's insurance and Direct Line wanted another ?150 (on a ?300 premium). We went elsewhere and got it cheaper than the original premium anyway :-)
Learned a few things there. For example, the speed limit on a road with street lights is 30mph (unless otherwise signed obv.). Even if the road is in the middle of the countryside, if it has street lighting, the speed limit is 30mph.
Things i learnt.
There is only 3 speed limits that are unsigned (ie signed upon entry)
30mph. With street lights.
60mph national speed limit - single carriage way.
70mph. National speed limit - dual carriage way.
All other speed limits are sign posted at regular intervals with smaller signs, you can usually see one.
Incidently a dual carriageway means any road where the two lanes are separated with a reservation, and not necessarily 2 lanes of traffic each way, so you can have dual carriage way with only one lane each way.
Zebra crossings are only ever in 30 mph (or less) zones.
School 20mph signs are only advisory unless a number with a,red circle sign.
Motorway speed signs - the old ones with flashing amber lights are only advisory.
There was noting else on the road and I think the irony gave him enough entertainment not to bother booking me.
Do they mention the road into Fareham, which has the stupidest number of changes ever? It consists of half a dozen hundred-yard dashes marked at 40mph, slowed down to 30mph just for the space of each junction.
And why do both sides of a road have to have the same speed limit? When a dual carriageway enters a town from a motorway, it makes sense to slow down the incoming traffic. But why does traffic leaving the town centre need to be similarly restricted?
- IONIAN-GAMES.com -
There was one road near where I used to live south of Houston which did have a different speed limit, depending on direction (35mph one way, 45mph going the other). However, there was absolutely no difference in what you were leaving/approaching on that stretch and it was a single carriageway so I suspect it was just someone cocked up when putting up the signs.
Providing there are solid white lines down the nearside of the lanes.
If there are no solid white lines, then it is a 50mph speed limit.
...Gawd, on a slight aside, driving instructors always refer to them, but I always found it impossible to remember which was "nearside" and which was "offside"... Never worked out why they didn't just say left and right..
Nah man, it's easy.
Nearside = side nearest the kerb.
Offside = When you are played in and there is no defender between you and the goalie. Unless you are in your own half, then you can not be offside.
Hope that helps. :D
On another note, I've read* that speedometers tend (or are more likely) to display a slightly higher speed than you're actually going (i.e. they can be calibrated marginally higher, but not lower, than your 'actual' speed).
...So, adding that onto an assumed built-in margin of error for the speed check, does that mean that at the point some people are caught doing 35 in a 30, their speedo's needle could show around the 40 mark..?
* as in, read on the internet without checking any facts against reputable sources