How many points on your licence?

Bidley

digitalscream said:

Bidley said:

CHRISB50 said:

Zilch, but I had to do a speed awareness course last year.

Exactly this.

Got caught doing 57 in a 50. On an unoccupied, perfectly straight country road.

OK, so I'm a new driver, but this comes up often (several times in this thread already), and it always confuses me a bit. We all know that speed limits don't change when the road's empty (OK, motorways aside), and we all know that people can easily just appear from being a car or hedge, so...why does this always get mentioned when someone's caught speeding?

For my statement, it was less about the unoccupied part, and more about the straightness of the country road.

I always assume speed limits are for public safety. But this road has no junctions (it was surrounded by fields) or bends. It runs alongside a dyke which I suppose is why the limit is in place.

I think doing 30 in a 20phm limit outside a school is a bit more heinous than driving next to a dyke and some fields.

I know you're about to chastise me (being a new driver and hence the tests/lessons are more fresh in your mind), but I'm well aware that I was caught, and I admit to wrongdoing. I'm just miffed because I wasn't affecting anyone or anything.

digitalscream

Bidley said:

I know you're about to chastise me (being a new driver and hence the tests/lessons are more fresh in your mind), but I'm well aware that I was caught, and I admit to wrongdoing. I'm just miffed because I wasn't affecting anyone or anything.

Not at all! Didn't mean to come across all preachy. It's just...baffling, I guess. I don't think I've ever felt the need to break the speed limit, even as a passenger, purely because it's significantly quicker than my other options (walking or public transport) in 99% of cases. Even in a massive rush, treating 80 as the ceiling instead of 70 mostly doesn't significantly speed up a journey anyway, and the consequences of being caught completely negate it IMO. Perhaps it's just something I need to learn with experience and rage

Then again, it's nowhere near as baffling as the fact that - while I was learning - there were people doing all sorts of stupid shit around me and trying to intimidate me into <going over the speed limit | getting out of their way | whatever else> so they could get home 30 seconds quicker, while I was in a car with massive fucking orange flashes all over it showing it was being driven by a learner. Like...what, exactly, did they think was the most likely outcome here, given that they had no idea how long I'd been driving?

mart

snakemanStoo said:

None, but scored a speed awareness course a few years ago.  It was so dull I'm doing everything I can to avoid another one.

You could have asked them to go a bit faster through the course. Maybe even flashed your headlights if you thought they were going too slow?

not_the_dj

0 in 24 years of driving.

Been on one speed awareness course, but apart from that I've been a good boy.

Bidley

digitalscream said:

Bidley said:

I know you're about to chastise me (being a new driver and hence the tests/lessons are more fresh in your mind), but I'm well aware that I was caught, and I admit to wrongdoing. I'm just miffed because I wasn't affecting anyone or anything.

Not at all! Didn't mean to come across all preachy. It's just...baffling, I guess. I don't think I've ever felt the need to break the speed limit, even as a passenger, purely because it's significantly quicker than my other options (walking or public transport) in 99% of cases. Even in a massive rush, treating 80 as the ceiling instead of 70 mostly doesn't significantly speed up a journey anyway, and the consequences of being caught completely negate it IMO. Perhaps it's just something I need to learn with experience and rage

Then again, it's nowhere near as baffling as the fact that - while I was learning - there were people doing all sorts of stupid shit around me and trying to intimidate me into <going over the speed limit | getting out of their way | whatever else> so they could get home 30 seconds quicker, while I was in a car with massive fucking orange flashes all over it showing it was being driven by a learner. Like...what, exactly, did they think was the most likely outcome here, given that they had no idea how long I'd been driving?

Thing is, I wasn't even consciously speeding. I didn't even see the speed camera flash. It was a long, straight road and I honestly didn't realise the speed limit was 50. I thought I was in a national speed limit area, hence my speed of apparently 57mph. Mine is a case of complete ignorance!

But yeah, there are plenty of things that baffle. The idiots that speed, the idiots too scared to go over 40mph in perfect conditions. You're well on your way to being a standard driver - hating everyone else using the road

digitalscream

Bidley said:

Thing is, I wasn't even consciously speeding. I didn't even see the speed camera flash. It was a long, straight road and I honestly didn't realise the speed limit was 50. I thought I was in a national speed limit area, hence my speed of apparently 57mph. Mine is a case of complete ignorance!

But yeah, there are plenty of things that baffle. The idiots that speed, the idiots too scared to go over 40mph in perfect conditions. You're well on your way to being a standard driver - hating everyone else using the road

Aha...yeah, I've made that mistake myself - already! Misreading the speed limit is really the only thing I'm annoyed about with my own driving; it usually happens when I miss a sign because there's something worrying happening nearby. I can see myself getting caught on that quite easily.

Gassage

3, although in 2013 I got a 2.5 yr ban

snakemanStoo

mart said:

snakemanStoo said:

None, but scored a speed awareness course a few years ago.  It was so dull I'm doing everything I can to avoid another one.

You could have asked them to go a bit faster through the course. Maybe even flashed your headlights if you thought they were going too slow?

Good idea.  If anyone is in one of these courses then maybe they could try that and report back how it worked.

Emp_Fab

Good evening Gentlemen and Lady.

At the moment, hang on.,, I don't know...  I shall check.  Please hold....

Emp_Fab

Oh. My. God.

For the first time as far back as I can remember, I currently have ZERO points!!!!

The last three expired just last week.

A clean licence!  So this is what it feels like ?!

My licence has been peppered with speeding offences since I passed my test back in 1902.  I've been on nine points twice, spent most of the time on six or, less frequently, just three.  Been banned once for three weeks too.

I'M CLEAN AT LAST !!

digitalscream

Emp_Fab said:

My licence has been peppered with speeding offences since I passed my test back in 1902.  I've been on nine points twice, spent most of the time on six or, less frequently, just three.  Been banned once for three weeks too.

I knew it! They actually invented the points system specifically in order to deal with you, didn't they?

Hoof

None but expecting some. The other day I noticed a camera van in a 30 mph zone when I was right in it's camera shot. Glanced down at the speedo and it said 35mph. Best of it was I was distracted by a bloke coming the other way in a Hilux flashing his headlights like crazy and wondering what he was doing it for.

holnrew

Clean now, but I had 3 points for a while. I got caught speeding in Wales on the way to visit my sister... and on the way back

Arktik83

I have no points but I was caught speeding around nearly three years ago and I had the speed awareness course.  I was driving home from work down the Bath Road near Hounslow and there was a parade of shops with all parked cars on the left so I'm in the right lane, the guy in front of me was dawdling at 30 in a 40 so I glance over to the left lane and there's no parked cars and the one guy in that lane was a fair distance away from the guy in front of me so flick in to the left hand land to undertake him.  I appreciate this makes me a bit of a cock.  

As I'm gaining speed to perform the undertake the guy in front of me decides he wants to park up so I have to stop suddenly and flick my right indicator on to let everyone know I'm going to move in to the right hand lane, the guy who was dawdling in front of me just dawdles past and then a procession of cars do the same and it takes me a while to overtake the parked car.  By this time I'm livid and so I overtake the park car and zoom off in to the left lane, determined to overtake the dawdler.  

Now I've been passed the speed camera at the bottom of the Bath Road numerous times at around 45 and thought it was inactive.  So I zoom passed at 47 and *bang* bright light fills the entire car and I've been caught.  I was so furious with myself that I think I really should have pulled over and taken a breath because I loathe people driving like cocks and I just literally displayed the complete textbook version of driving like a cock.

So I went on the course and it was pretty educational actually!  Especially when they showed you the stopping distances (like how you'll actually mow someone down at 40 compared to you'd barely clip them at 30) and how to deal with people who are up your arse etc.

Sporky

0. I had 3 when I was eighteen, none since.

cruxiform

Bloody hell, well done guys! 

Well, it's been 8 days and no NIP has come through the post. I think it's 14 days before it's invalid. Could I be lucky?! I'm crossing everything in the hope that I am.

Nitefly

"Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small..."

I wouldn't be counting any chickens just yet, but good luck anyway   

Oh, and in answer to the question, none now, but I've had plenty in the past, although never enough at any one time to lose my license!  In the distant past I used to be a taxi-driver in Lytham St Annes, and it was easy to get caught speeding along the main road to Blackpool past the Pontins Holiday Camp.  Happy days...

octatonic

Currently 3 and quite recently- first speeding fine actually.
It was an overtake on a dual carriageway.
A truck was doing the slowest overtake known to man and once he got around I did a swift manoeuvre around both cars right into the view of a front facing camera .

Clearly my own fault but if I had of taken the bike instead like I normally do of the car then I'd have been fine.

Emp_Fab

You reckless bastard.  There are other users on the road you know, it's not just all about you and your dangerous lust for speed.  

Do you know how long I've waited to be able to say that ?

I was the same when I packed in smoking.

cruxiform

Ha!