What did you learn on a speed awareness course you didn't know before?

[rondo]

Or I suppose you had forgotten?
Or what were you surprised other people did not know?

I feel a bit daft but the terminology just makes no sense to me! It’s like near side and offside of a car - I cannot get those to stick in my head either and end up saying drivers side or passengers side if I need a tyre changing for example !!

I do know to pull back over to the left once I’ve overtaken, I just call it lane 1.

Just stay as far left as you can and stick to the speed limit.

I hear you on "nearside" and "offside"

This x100, inside and outside lane completely confuses me for the exact reasons you've given. My driving instructor resorted to left hand and right hand lane !

That's caught me out walking and cycling.

My local council went around painting 20mph signs on the road but didn't put up signs on lamp posts/poles.

So the actual speed limit was still 30 mph for around 2 years.

It took some sharp eyed people to complain and then they put some 20mph signs on lamp posts.

I agree, it takes me time to work out which one people are talking about and I always have to remind myself that it is the opposite to what seems obvious to me!

@WoahWannaDanceWithNoBody oh my god, I’ve literally said I know they are not called that. You still move faster in the outside lane than inside because you should only be in the outside lane if you’re over taking. If you’re not over taking, you should remain in the inside lane. Totally normal language for people in my world to use. I realise that’s offends you. It doesn’t mean I don’t know the “correct” term, I just wrote informally on a mn thread.

That workmen/women in roadworks are so vulnerable, and have been killed and had horrific accidents due to speeding drivers. Having been caught speeding past empty roadworks late at night over Christmas getting to work in a hospital, that fact stuck with me!

I haven't done one, but I think all learners could do with taking it before they are allowed to take their practical test. It might reduce the number of newly passed boy racers we seem to get round here! Actually, I think all drivers should take it periodically.

I think it was your initial reaction after your terminology was pointed out.

It's a shame that the language of lanes wasn't covered - too many people refer to the fast lane and slow lane and don't realise that it's the inside lane they should be trying to travel in whilst using the other lanes for overtaking.

@cakeorwine but people get really confused about inside and outside/nearside and offside. It’s not clearer language. I was just trying to explain a scenario and got had a go at. Really wasn’t trying to offend anyone. You never know what people are going through so maybe choose your words more kindly.

I don't believe I was the person who used the word "thick".

I don't believe I was the person who used the word "thick".

oh and one thing I learned before even doing it was how much of a price difference there is between different courses, which surprised me. I assumed it was all 1 national course not completely different providers teaching slightly different things. Apparently there's £20 difference (which equals 25%ish) between the cheapest and the most expensive.

Are you me?! I was caught doing 36 in a 30 and had my course in Crowthorne. Was it this accident you were told about?:

www.getreading.co.uk/news/berkshire-history/gallery/horrific-m4-crash-involved-51-21689893

@cakeorwine implied by the patronising comments.

I haven’t read the full thread so it may have been mentioned already but a useful tip is to know that the metal bars of the removable front (and in some cars, rear) headrests are designed in strength to be able to put through a car window, if you ever find yourself locked in a car in an emergency.

Or of course, you could grab your own headrest if you ever needed to assist from the outside.

That a speedy awareness course is a more finely balanced cross section of the UK population than a Question Time audience.

Mine was brilliant for people watching. Some people ashamed, some bored, some engaged, some jolly. And one woman on my table who, in spite of being there for the same reason as the rest of us, appointed herself our instructor. She was hilarious.

I don't drive, but learned a lot from my DH after his course (he came round a corner on a random steep junction, left his foot on the gas after the road levelled out and ended up doing thirty in a twenty for exactly the wrong ten seconds). He didn't know the street light thing and neither did I (I have a driving licence but crammed the entire Highway Code the night before my test thirty years ago).

I’ve learnt from this thread that there are a lot of excuses people use to justify their speeding!

I did mine over a decade ago but still remember these things:

1. Stopping distance at 35mph is so much further than 30mph

1. Turning right off an A road is one of the most dangerous manoeuvres

1. Overtaking on fast roads is so risky it's almost never worth it.

1. "More paint, more danger" meaning if you're on a country road with a lot of road markings then there's probably been serious accidents there previously

1. Driving in 3rd gear keeps you at 30 - and isn't bad for your car

I learned that it was nothing to fear. I did an online course during lockdown. I’d been afraid that we’d be both shamed by our lawbreaking and shocked by horrific accidents. Neither. The course directors were cheerful, encouraging, affirming, and even made the point that speeding is nothing like as bad as dangerous driving. At times it even seemed like therapy, as they were encouraging us to see that there was no need to be anxious about arriving late. All very effective tuition, I think.

Never needed to go on one, but I would hope ... some humility?

There's no such thing as a slow lane. There is lane 1 and two overtaking lanes.

@NannyGythaOgg yes I’ve already been corrected multiple times 🙄😂