I did my course yesterday 8 people 4, 40 plus ladies 2 other blokes around my age (60s) and a young lad. The course was lead by a driving instructor. It was very informative and you didnt feel chastised. It was interesting to study the demographic. It was again shocking that 60% of the class did not know the national speed limit on an A road was 60mph. They thought it was 50! One lady said that her pet hate was being over taken on the inside. (obviously a middle lane hogger) One guy tried to get arsey about the speed limits in his area. But soon realised the others were peed off with him and he towed the line. Three hours of my life I wont get back, but I was in the wrong and got caught. But you cant get away from the feeling that the major offenders racing through my village on open pipes in the evening donât get caught.
Zackerly!! Now overlay that demographic, quite possibly fairly representative, with age groups versus fatalities and serious injuries. Are we targeting the right people at all and context does not seem to be taken into account?
You will probably find the people on these courses are the older more mature end of the population that get caught for straying slightly over the limit. I think when I did mine I was told it was 10% + 1 mph was the enforced limit and those caught 20% over the limit, typically the boy racers, wonât get offered a speed awareness course, they will just get fined and points.
Yeah Iâll buy that. When I got the follow up letter it pointed out that in a 40 limit my 46 was not considered a âhigh speed offense?â That kicked in at 53mph apparently. So yeah, we get sent to the kindergarten Stalag. 
Iâve done three of these over the years for minor speed infringements captured on camera. As an alternative to penalty points, giving up a morning and being charged ÂŁ100 for the priviledge is a bit of a bargain. I havent had any actual points since 1992. There is some genuinely useful information imparted. Apparently you can only do the course once in a three year period, so if you get caught again within three years you wont get offered the course as an alternative to points.
Russell
Yeah I got that info. I am happy to have the option of âno pointsâ for sure. Perhaps some kind of recognition that I am not in the maniac category.
So I shall be a good boy and âride the rapâ as required. Not arguing that at all. Cheers!
I got one about a year ago, 7pm on an empty rural road near home,never see a van parked on the pavement there before, 39 mph, itâs a 40 down to 30 then some traffic lights, I just paid the fine and drank my coffee at home while it zoomed away through the motions 
These are the limits West Yorkshire work to. Surprisingly high to me but then the cynical me says speed awareness fees are split between the speed awareness partnerships while fines and points remain with the government.
https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/ask-the-police/question/Q365
Iâve been saved a couple of times by using the Waze app - like google maps but notifies you if thereâs a speed camera ahead. Probably complicated on smart motorways but great on country roads.
I hear what you are saying about e.g. Waze type devices. Just not something I use on the bike.
My purely personal attitude (everyone is different) is it is just something else to take your attention. I am a bit of a neanderthal and my 4 wheel vehicle is 13yrs old and not equipped with many modern gizmos. However the vehicle I was driving at the time of my offence was so equipped signalling up speed limits, warnings of police vehicles present etc. The speed limit ones I accept were a useful reminder. The other stuff I found unreliable or out of date and needlessly distracting. I personally do not like or trust SatNav on every occasion having been misdirected more than once over the years on 4 wheels. Useful in a strange city for sure to find an address or re-orientate if lost. If I am two wheel touring my default is good old maps. Even homework on Google maps before setting off gets me an âin headâ plan to go by and thereafter my generally good sense of direction. Once again, just my Luddite attitude to handing myself over to questionable tech? (In my admittedly wacky world I kinda enjoy sometimes getting lost??) Yeah.. go figure! Maybe I just kind of like finding my own solutions. Maybe it is just an âold guy, curmudgeonly personaâ ? Whatever it is just me.
Horses for courses I guess. Whatever turns your crank is fine with me.
Slight addendum if nobody minds? The same vehicle at the time of my offense was threatening to have me soil myself a good part of the trip. Long wheelbase van. I was convinced it had a steering problem or mismatched tyres or alignment issues as it continually seemed to track road grooves and took effort to control and correct. A lot of the journey was in pretty wet conditions.
Well, how dumb am I or out of touch when I raised the issue someone said âAhh, lane keeper?â
Again not driving many up to date vehicles that simply did not occur to me. It also had an increasingly annoying huge red warning of âDRIVER FATIGUE! Take a break!â
I have been aware this stuff existed but not experienced just how intrusive and unnerving it was to feel it taking control of my steering inputs. I found it excessively intrusive personally and on the point of actually dangerous. This all came up after the fact and I donât know whether there is an option to switch it off in which case I would gladly have known about it before setting off.
So, while yâall fall off yer seats laughing take pity on this old fool and his ignorance but I promise you, I am far from some nervous Nelly behind a wheel.
Donât even get me started on âself driving vehiclesâ ! 
What a drag. And what a bad boy indeed!
Oh I repent! Honest I do! 
Bless you, my son.
Something I just thought of, I remember when I did my course the guy said if you opted for the fine you have to inform your insurance company, but as you opted for the course (so no penalty points), you donât. Since then somebody else has told me that actually, same if youâve gone for the course, you should inform your insurer. Whatever, if you have informed your insurer, very likely they will up the premium next time as âa punishmentâ, same as if you had the audacity to make a claim. And it carries over âXâ years, during which you keep paying more each year. And, while still pending, you have to declare it when taking out new insurance, e.g. buying another vehicle, and so it increases the cost. Itâs 3 years to get rid of penalty points, same for speed awareness course, that is if you offend again within 3 years since doing a course you wonât be offered it again and it goes straight to fine and penalty points. Insurers possibly the same or quite likely may have their own rules. All more reasons to try to avoid getting âdoneâ!
Something else I just remembered from my course, imagine a game where you are blindfolded then plonked down in a road anywhere in Britain, take the blindfold off then you have to find out what is the speed limit of the road youâre on. Can do this with Google street view. Fun for all the family!
A clue to start, if there is an organised system of street lighting, then itâs 30 mph, unless there are signs to say otherwise.
Hmm interesting question. Telling your insurer is an invitation to be punished twice over depending on their attitude.
On my insurance renewal following an SP30 offence a few years ago I declared that I had got that and was carrying 3 points. (I was changing insurer btw) The quote I got Iâd have said seemed little affected? No way to tell really and the trouble is I am pretty sure they can access that information but I was happy with the quote I got as not being very different as the year before..
When I renew again in a couple of months I will be scrutinising closely exactly what I am being asked.
The interesting thing I discovered on researching is that taking the option of the re-education course is solely recorded only by the relevant police authority. i.e. it is not recorded as an offence as such. The insurance business has no direct access to that information and it is kept solely to exclude you from being allowed another within 3 years. After that point the record disappears apparently.
My possibly erroneous assumtion is that fessing up to the infringement and volunteering to do the course allows essentially a âpassâ on a conviction?
Thus unless I am specifically asked on a quote request I will certainly not volunteer the information. If asked I am not going to lie about it but not gonna put my head in a noose.
As an aside I have been, like many of us, buying insurance for both four and two wheelers for getting close to 6 decades, In all that time I have had just one claim about twenty yrs ago.
No claims bonuses in my opinion are a mirage! Check your next renewal notice and ask yourself if it has got you anything at all??
For the last many years if my renewal comes at more than about 20 quid over the previous I am straight on the comparison site. I honestly donât even care much any more about nitpicking what âextrasâ are included. To be legal on the road I gotta have it so I almost always just take the cheapest on offer as long as it doesnât look dodgy.
Itâs a percentage bet really and, thus far, I am ahead on points.
Thereâs an interesting article in this monthâs Ride magazine about speed cameras being a cash cow. Something I didnât know, If you are done and get a fine and points the fine goes into the Government coffers. If you get a Speed awareness course, half of the cost goes to the local force as a referral fee. So there you go. You are doing your bit to fund your local plod. 
Cool info! I hope that in return for supporting âthe bizziesâ they donât rat us out to the insurance industry.
On the bit identifiying hazards, I was told ironworks and potholes were not a hazard and moving to other side of road to clear parked cars was unneccesary. I zoned out when they gave an example of road signage being sometimes incorrect an untrustworthy. They gave an example of signs onthe wrong side of the road till I pointed out they were in Europe or had the slides back to front. learned much that day.
Ha! Gotta remember to just keep my big mouth shut!! I am truly curious though to see just what kind of advice and expectations come up..
I am, as I am certain you are, well aware of the chasm that exists between experienced drivers or riders and the âlowest common denominatorâ âShouldâ rules imparted to new road users. Often they simply confuse the issue when lifetime learning and real world experience tell you otherwise? As life long bikers know, much of that advice however well meant, is no substitute for observation, âreading the roadâ, and sometimes âSpidey senseâ that keeps us alive?
Keeping the right side of know it all arrogance but trusting your best judgement in every situation will be seldom respected by those of the ânannyâ persuasion. What can you do?
The mobile infatuated, drunks, suspicious substance abusers and the plain brain dead are evrywhere and they are all trying to kill me. Cynicism is not always a bad trait? 
seems a bit heavy handed
Yup! Considering the many worse behaviours we see every day it does seem pretty draconian. Wondering why it went to court? Just pay the fine? Doesnât say if he already had points racked up?