Speed awareness course - sex discrimination?

[MrsFionaCharming]

This is just theoretical pondering I’m not actually planning on making a complaint. Also, I know speeding is bad and I’m happy to face the consequences of my actions, this isn’t about that. Just interested to know others thoughts.

I’m doing a virtual speed awareness course tomorrow, lasting around 3 hours. When I signed up, it specified you must not be caring for children at the same time. I have a breastfed 6 week old. Now, my husband works flexibly and baby will happily take an expressed bottle so it’s not a problem. But what about women who don’t have a partner or with a bottle refusing baby? That woman wouldn’t be able to do the course and would be forced to accept the points and the rise in insurance etc that comes with that. Given a man wouldn’t be in that position and made to accept the points due to his biology, could this be considered sex discrimination?

I heard that you discuss it with the person running the course would can help advise the best practicality for this.

also those attacking op, get off your moral high horse, she could have been doing 30 in a 20 or just over the limit and caught. It happens. But you go back to your perfect faultless lives 🙄

You could ask them? They probably just want you to be paying full attention. I don't know if they'll play horrific accident clips you might not what your child exposed to though.

30 in a 20 is ridiculously over the limit

I was in this exact postion, breastfed baby who refused bottle but had to attend the virtual course (My fault for speeding i know!). I told them the situation with baby, they told me i would need someone with me who could look after baby in a different room but when it came to feeding, baby could come in the room and i could turn my camera and mic off to feed the baby whilst still listening to the course. No issues at all.

The way things are going it’ll soon be illegal to breastfeed whilst driving.

☹️☹️

PMSL

This

It would be discriminatory if no accommodations are offered. You do not know if this is the case, as you did not need to ask. Perhaps a break can be arranged or the course deferred.

Another problem is that if you don't feed or express, especially in the first 12 weeks, you risk a blockage that can become life-threatening.

Personally I would speak to them about it and ask if they prefer I bring my pump or my baby.

But ultimately I would simply accept the points since it would be very distressing to separate from a BF baby that young. I'd just think 'well, I did speed so fair cop'

Surely this comes under inconvenient, or shit happens, rather than discriminatory?

just make the situation work like 99.999% of people would, ask for help, amendments etc, you are making a mountain out of a molehill and making discrimination look far more trivial than it is, you’re doing yourself and other women no favours at all

Until Covid, speed awareness courses were all in person. So much harder to manage with a baby than now.

You can defer, and when the baby's feeds are more predictable, have a friend or family member watch the baby while you do the course, and you can feed when necessary. It's the lack of focus throughout that they're worried about. Not having a baby attached to you for fifteen minutes.

These courses really do need concentration, and that's why they say it.. My over the limit moment wasn't deliberate or reckless, but I found the course excellent and I'm a better driver in general for having done it

Deferral seems a reasonable adjustment to me.

I wish that this was not a choice and motoring crimes were taken seriously.

I just read that the offence was in April. Why did you not do it while you were pregnant rather than now, when it's much more difficult?

Seriously!!

A month before it was 30, then changed to 20...

I love how someone up thread has explained how they made perfectly reasonable adjustments for this exact situation, and yet people are still being outraged. The fact is the speed awareness course requires full attention, so they don't want you doing childcare at the same time. That is reasonable. In the case of breastfeeding, accommodations are offered to allow the baby to feed. Also reasonable.

It was changed presumably because it was deemed that 30mph for that road was not save

At 7.30 on a Sunday morning

Anyway I don't want to derail the thread

When you choose to drive you also accept the responsibility that comes with it - taking care of your car, keeping up to date with the Highway Code, facing the consequences of driving badly.
If you are not in a position to take those responsibilities then you should not be driving.

I don't think any driver does not break the speed limit at some point.

No
If you do not want to do a speed course do not speed

Well here's the answer! If they didn't make adjustments it would be discrimination.

I wouldn't ask but would just get on and feed the baby during the course if required but have someone on hand to look after them for the duration.

I'd just email them after - I'm sure there will be a chance for feedback - and say they should include some wording about nursing mothers, possibility of deferring, etc.

My husband looked after my baby whilst I was on the call and I was told to just mute myself if I had to go and feed the baby.

I didn't ask about deferring so don't know if there is an option.

I imagine for most of the course people would have their mics off anyway unless they were required to say something.

The reason I'm continuing to engage is not so much because of the central question — I don't think we had/have enough info to make a determination about possible discrimination one way or the other, and individual reports of adjustments made don't tell us about broader policy — but more because of the nature of the comments people have made, suggesting they think discrimination doesn't matter when people have committed offences, or when people have a protected characteristic through their own choices.