A traffic light awareness course has now been added to the list of speed and alertness courses, as an alternative to prosecution.
This one is only available to offenders in Greater Manchester and Merseyside.
I don't know of any others, but it looks like the course providing business is a growing one.
www.drivesafe.org.uk/index.php/home/national-driver-improvement-scheme/traffic-light-awareness-course
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>>" £79.50 in Greater Manchester for the three-and-a-half hour course."
I am at a loss to think that it takes three and a half hours to remind folks of how traffic lights work.
Is there an exam at the end with tick boxes ? :-(
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 10 Oct 11 at 19:47
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>> This one is only available to offenders in Greater Manchester and Merseyside.
I wonder why no other forces have given this course the green light yet? ;-)
....it's OK - I know my own way out.
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>> I wonder why no other forces have given this course the green light yet? ;-)
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>> ....it's OK - I know my own way out.
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probably because they haven't been on the course yet, and the significance is lost on them... ;-)
coat, door, etc
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>> >>" £79.50 in Greater Manchester for the three-and-a-half hour course."
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>> I am at a loss to think that it takes three and a half hours
>> to remind folks of how traffic lights work.
>> Is there an exam at the end with tick boxes ? :-(
>>
>>
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I think you're missing the point that these courses are for people who have failed to grasp the workings despite having a car and a driving licence.
Make it a compulsory, residential, 6 week course and we might get somewhere. There are so many homi-suicidal maniacs now that it's not safe to rely on a green light.
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These courses are designed to give people an insight into another world, a world of situational awareness, where they might anticipate danger, plan ahead..and work out what might happen, rather than just react when it has.
There are vast numbers of people out there, driving, who do not know this sort of thinking exists, let alone practice it.
It's got to be a good thing.
Maybe we should have a system whereby 3 offences in 3 years and you're banned until you pass a civilian advanced driving course.
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I've spoken to two people who've done a speed awareness course, both conceded there's some useful stuff in it.
Very few drivers would not benefit.
Nor do I buy the money making scam argument.
Providing the course must cost a lot more than issuing a fine, so there's more profit for the safety partnership in drivers who opt to pay the £60.
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Lots of things designed to make people more aware and generally better citizens are obviously a good idea.
But every course will need people who have been trained to provide it. That's one more person less in the real economy and one more in the supported economy.
Can we really afford these nice-to-have accessories to life?
Somewhere there must be a man making widgets for export who keeps having to work harder because another trainer/inspector/monitor/regulator etc has been added to the national workforce.
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>> Can we really afford these nice-to-have accessories to life?
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Yes, in a civilized society. Even capitalism has to come up with a solution to redistributing wealth so that demand does not collapse.
There is no essential difference between the "trainer/inspector/monitor/regulator etc" and the sales person selling us the replacement fridge/car/TV/furniture that we don't really need. They are all providing "nice-to-have accessories to life". (In fact, I would argue that the public sector jobs that you scorn are more useful than the consumerist jobs in retail.)
Jobs such as these are already being lost as the Government and private individuals cut back on their expenditure. Over the long-term, capital is substituted for labour in order to increase productivity. Fewer units of labour are needed in the wealth-generating sector, and money gets concentrated into the hands of fewer people. The major choices are:
- To try to create more "real" jobs (incredibly difficult these days)
- Let people go to the wall
- Condemn people to long-term unemployment at poverty levels of benefits
- Individuals voluntarily redistribute wealth
- Governments redistribute wealth by taxation to either increase benefits or create so-called "non-jobs".
Which is your favourite?
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OK, I retract everything I said (it was only a question). We clearly can afford it.
Can Greece afford traffic light awareness instructors? Most people would probably say not.
So how do you judge, on the scale from UK to Greece, their affordability in any particular country?
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>>There are vast numbers of people out there, driving, who do not know this sort of thinking exists, let alone practice it.
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I refer to it as "bonnet vision" as their world does not extend very far ahead of their vehicle.
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Another awareness course - henry k
