Driver Awareness Course

Driver Awareness Course

 

 

 

 

Well, today was the day I chose to account for my actions by attending the course rather than taking the points and paying the fine. The plus of this means I don't get the points and my insurance isn't affected.

 

That's the end of the positives.

 

Four hours cooped up in a small room with 17 others being spoken to like naughty children in a really condescending fashion (in  spite of the fact they kept reminding us we weren't at school and we were all adults so should  be nice to each other!) was not my idea of the best use of the time. Incidentally, the whole thing could have been covered in half the time.

 

 

What did I learn?

 

 

Using your handbrake whilst stationary could save your life/lessen your injuries if someone drives into your car.  Good.

 

Statistics show that fewer people speed nowadays (NO - that just means that everyone who speeds is not always caught doing it! When I mentioned this,  it was glossed over as they were rather proud of the fallen numbers.)

 

I also learned that in  today's driving test you may not have to perform an emergency stop. Only 1 in 3 drivers are asked to perform this test. Wow!

 

Everything else I knew already. (The faster you go the longer it takes to slow down. Never stay in your car on the hard shoulder. The only driving lane on a motorway is the inside one - all the others are overtaking lanes only. Maximum driving speeds in different areas, road signs, markings ... etc., etc., ... for four hours ...)

 



 

Of course it doesn't hurt to be reminded of all of these things which is why I think it would be good for everyone to have to do a similar course every few years. It is not necessary for it to be as long or as expensive. Maybe we should all even have to have a refresher mini test every 10 years?

 

We were shown a clip of a mother who had lost her 14 year old son describing how she felt and then shown how the accident happened in a re-enactment. In my opinion it was the fault of both the driver and the boy. The driver was driving too fast through a village and couldn't see what was around the bend. Likewise the boy was crossing the road where he didn't have a clear view of the road in both directions.

 

Playing Devil's Advocate I said I thought the boy was as much at fault as the driver because he didn't cross in a safe place. Wait for it ... I was asked at what age I thought someone could make a fair judgement  of when it was safe to cross the road - I said I knew about the Green Cross Road at primary school and that, before that, my parents had taught me pedestrian safety. No - apparently 17 years of age is the official age at which you are able to gauge when it is safe to cross the road !!!! Where do these people get their statistics from?

 

Public Information Guides used to be on TV all the time. Remember the Green Cross Code Green Giant, Learn to Swim, Clunk-Click? 

 

The lady sat next to me said it was all about common sense but, since that seems to be severely lacking in the general population today we obviously need these TV guides back!

 

We need them to remind people to put their lights on in poor visibility and that fog lights do exist for that very situation.

 

We need them to remind people that indicators are not there to make the car look pretty.

 



 

We need them to remind people who cycle to have lights and reflectors on their bikes. And that cycling along the pavement and through red lights is not an option.

 

We need them to tell pedestrians that they are not the only people in the world when they are walking along talking on their phones or listening to their music without paying attention to what's going on around them. 

 

We need them to remind everyone to have consideration for others.

 

We need them to remind us that CONCENTRATION  is key to being a safe driver. It was my lapse in concentration thinking about lists of things that had to be done which caused me to be doing 36 in a 30 zone.

 

Several people thought it would have been useful to have discussions about ...

 

... the possibility of EVERYONE having the opportunity to do a Driver Aware course every 3 years in return for  paying a lower insurance premium.

 

...  the insistence on foreigners coming into the country for more than  a month having to take a UK-standard upgrade test (including theory!).

 

... having a minimum amount of driving hours logged before gaining a full licence.

 

... making it  compulsory to show Provisional plates for a year after passing driving test.

 

... compulsory refresher test every x years.

 

 

I guess these courses have to be geared toward the lowest common denominator but  they should be able to gauge how to present themselves in such a way as not to alienate people.

 

Even today, the best advice I was ever given with regard to driving was from my father who told me to treat everyone else on the road as if they were all idiots. i.e.  that they could do anything unexpected at any moment. That certainly applies to any road user these days. If he were still alive today he would be shocked at how far driving standards had fallen.

 

This may actually spur me on to do my Institute of Advanced Motorists test which I have been thinking about for years. Watch this space ......