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?

True story, I learnt that I was pregnant on a speed awareness course. I went into shop on way to get snacks and bought a pregnancy test... couldn't wait until I got home... I didn't know before I went in so technically did learn it during the course!

The reasons why cameras/chevrons/speed bumps /20 mph limits etc go in. I had no idea they count the casualties/deaths as justification.
Otherwise it was just interesting . I was glad I'd attended. It was at a holiday inn and the food was fab!!

It was mostly just a revision for me, but the content has definitely stuck, over 4 years on. One thing that stuck especially were the calculations of how much quicker (or rather not significantly) you’d reach a destination when driving xmph over the limit
My fine was a weird one and I could have contested it (others did successfully), but I was glad I went on the course, I actually quite enjoyed it!

this chat about the slow and fast lane is GRIPPING

What astonished me was the general ignorance of speed limits. There were are number of people on my course who genuinely thought the limit, for a car, on a dual carriageway was 50mph (and in the case of 2 participants, 40 mph).
What Struck me was the comparison between 2 cars, 1 doing 100mph, 1 doing 70mph. If both break at the same time, how fast is the 100mph car going when the 70mph car stops? The answer is that it's still going at 70.

One thing I learned was that it is not a dual carriageway - unless there is a central reservation (of some kind)

When there are 2 lanes going in each direction, it is NOT a dual carriageway unless there is some sort of barrier/reservation between the opposing lanes of traffic.

I learned that the instructor or whatever you call them, was that fuckin boring and condescending that I'd rather drive at 29mph that go through listening to them again!!

@Towerofsong You can actually sign up to updates online to the Highway Code, so they email you if anything changes. It's really useful.

It's been 70mph for dual carriageways since the 70s.

Yes - the thinking time may be the same, but a car will travel a lot further in that time if doing 100 mph compared to 70 mph.

But people seem to not know what safe distances are between vehicles.

To identify hazards, be reminded of what all the signs mean, have reiterated stopping distances and top tips to avoid speeding in future. I passed my driving test 38 years ago so it's always helpful to be reminded and refreshed and to avoid points on my licence of course.

I learned the words SMIDSY and Smombie. Other than that I don't think I learned anything but I generally quite like a course and I also enjoyed spending time with different people.

That even cyclists can get caught.

On the motorway you stay as far left as you can, pay attention to the gantry, and don't drive in a lane with a red X on the gantry sign!
Are you saying you didn't know this before your SA course??

No, I knew it, I was simplifying the conversation that had gone before.

My SA course was in the days before red Xs on the gantry though so it wouldn't have come up.

That my small town/large village produces a lot of speed demons. I live in Nowheresville and the course was in a large town ten miles away. There were two of us there from Nowheresville and the other one (who of course I knew, I also knew his wife, son and dog) that he'd done a course before and there had been three.

That three or more streetlights = automatic 30 zone.

Two things:

When you see street lamps on one side of a main road it means the road bends in the other direction.

And driving at say 75-80 mph compared to 70mph over a considerable distance saves almost nothing in terms of time. It's only seconds quicker and absolutely not worth it.

I see @WorriedMillie has posted the same thing as me!

See, I try to always stay in 3rd gear in residential or town areas. And my ex has always given me crap about it!

Does "not being able to understand the basic road sign with a massive 30 on it" count as "incredibly stupid"?

on the motorway driving too slow is considered just as dangerous as driving too fast, and can get you pulled over if your too slow on a motorway

I learnt nothing I didn't know - certainly nothing that stayed with me past the day of the course.

That I will never, ever speed again if it means sitting through that. They pull the blinds down to make it even worse.

I was very surprised other people did not know the default speeds for road types, ie 30 under street lights, 60 on A-road, 70 on DC, etc.

What I learned was the rules about repeaters. So now I look out for them if not sure.

I went years ago, must have been 20-25 years ago.
All forms of life in that room. One person didn't speak English
well at all, but kept asking questions, then not understanding the answers. The
screen wasn't working so then used one of those old overhead projector things,
this caught fire at one point. This didn't deter the presenters though, they
just put out the fire and carried on without anything. Oh it was hilarious!

I've been to another one since, that wasn't half as much fun.