Yesterday I paid £80 to be lectured about how I drive too fast…good times.

Not too long ago I was caught speeding in my car doing a “terrifying” 36mph in a 30 on a practically empty road on a hill. I don’t deny that I was going to fast, because I was, but it’s not something I do often. I remember seeing the camera as I came round the corner (I thought the law was that police had to be in plain view, but hey-ho) and the heart sinking feeling of knowing that in a couple of weeks time a letter would come through with a £60 fine and 3 points.

Well, the letter came through, and I was ordered to pay the price for my slip-up, but I had an alternative: take a Speed Awareness course for £80, and I wouldn’t have to worry about the points on my license. Sweet. So I paid the £80, and was given a date to turn up to a venue where I would be taught the error of my ways.

The first thing I noticed is that I was, by far, the youngest person there, by a good ten years. Everyone was grumbling and mumbling about having to be there – to be honest I was glad I didn’t have to pay the points…

Now, I’d heard some horror stories about this course from friends who’ve been on it before. So I was expecting to see pictures of dead bodies, and horrible car accidents, etc, but in fact al I was given was a PowerPoint presentation, a pen and a key ring.

Now I’m not saying that the people taking the course were bad, but they certainly didn’t carry any weight with the materials they had to use. There is nothing unnerving about a power point presentation, well unless it’s documenting Amy Winehouse’s physical decline.

If I really wanted to stop people speeding, I’d show them horrific crashes and gory stuff because the only thing people react too now-a-days is a shock factor. Gentle persuasion maybe worked in 1965 when everyone was so high they’d agree to anything, but in the year 2008, we are not so easily offended.

I sat in a room that resembled a 1980s classroom, and was told off, not sternly but gently, for a couple of hours before having lunch, then heading out on a practical driving assessment.

Now I’d love to be able to show you my scorecard but I don’t have a scanner, but let’s just say I could be the next Ayrton Senna. My mad skillz behind the wheel were given nods of approval from my instructor, and he concluded that my speeding mistake was exactly that, a stupid mistake.

So after a whole day of driving orientated stuff what did I think of the experience? Well if I was running the course, I’d want more shock factor, less PowerPoint, more driving and a better key ring, but I was glad someone finally agreed that my driving is god like.

Tags: Driving
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 16th, 2008 at 11:35 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.