Speeding course hits home hard

1:55pm Friday 27th June 2008

THE moment of dread came when I got an email at my desk.

"Jeremy, were you driving one of the Adver cars on May 4, down Oxford Road?

People became quiet and started to listen up as the message hit home

Jeremy Grimaldi

"If so, as our records show, you were caught driving 36 in a 30 zone by a speed camera and the police will be sending a ticket to your home."

GUTTED, I don't even own a car and I was being handed three points and a £60 fine.

Now came the tough part - weaseling my way out of it.

It was only after reading the small print I realised that might not be so hard.

Option B serendipitously stated that by committing myself to a Speed Awareness Workshop I would be able to avoid three points on my licence, but would still have to pay £60 for the chance to spend three hours in a room learning about what a rubbish driver I am.

When I arrived at the Hilton, in Lydiard Fields, and sat down in my seat I thought this programme would be dubious at best.

It was quite apparent that the other seven men and two women were thinking the same.

During the first hour and a half the driving instructors, Alistair and Mark, could barely get two words out about the benefits of slowing down, without someone yelling "The cops plant those cameras to catch drivers" or "It's just a money-making operation" turning the class into an impromptu discussion on the ethical legitimacy of speed cameras.

After break-time things began in the same way, with even the keenest of my classmates joining in the banter.

However, 15 minutes into the class things changed, people became quiet and started to listening-up as the message hit home.

I began to detect that everyone started taking more notice and focusing a lot more as the lessons began to look at the impact on our driving could have on the world around us - more importantly on the children around us.

After showing a video of a 10-year-old being hit by a car and being told the statistics on just how often only a few miles over the limit can mean the difference between life and death - I think the message sank in.

The crux of the lesson, as far as I could tell, was in this one section described by instructors.

In a nutshell the more over 30mph you go the more likely you are to seriously injure someone if you hit them - and it doesn't take much over 33mph to kill.

After hearing this it was settled. I was going to drive home at 30mph and, even though it resulted in what must have been a 130-mile queue behind me, and a gap the length of the Thames in front of me, I carried on, because the programme actually worked.

Anyone interested in finding out more is asked to visit www.driver-improvement.co.uk.