Speed Awareness!

Back in December on a road that I (thought that I) knew well in Bath, I exceeded a 20mph limit by a significant amount - believing at the time that I was in a 30mph area.

I was completely unaware that I had been caught by the speed camera and so the letter detailing the offense was a bit of a surprise when it arrived some weeks later.

Avon and Somerset Police are one of only four police authorities in the country that currently offer the option to take a 20mph Speed Awareness course as an alternative to the automatic £100 fine plus three penalty points that the offense carries.  It is of course possible to take the case to court but given that the end result of that could be a £1,000 fine, I don’t imagine that many people would try that option.

So it was that a few days ago I headed to Taunton (the nearest course within the 120 day time limit  that I could find whilst in the UK) to join a group of 30-40 other motorists of all ages for some classroom driver education.

At the start we were asked how we felt about being there and the responses ranged from ‘embarrassed’ to ‘cynical’ but over the three hours of discussions, video exercises and a workbook, most of us, I think, learned quite a lot about our own attitudes to driving/ how we might drive more safely/why and where the 20mph zones are created.  

Certainly the course provided plenty of food for thought and opportunity for reflection and was a useful refresher on the practice of driving and the Highway Code after nearly forty years behind the wheel.