So, it’s been many many years since I got done for speeding, probably 25 to 30 years in fact. Got caught about 4 weeks ago in a 30mph zone early in the morning around 7.15am. No other cars on the road ahead or behind.
No pedestrians whatsoever and certainly no kids.
Pavements both sides of the road.
Speed van sitting in a layby clocking people quite happily.
I’ve been offered a National Speed Awareness Course (NSAC) which will cost me £90.
It’s in lieu of any prosecution or points on my license of course but it’s a fine line whether it is worth doing the course or taking the points.
Stats state that last year well over 1 million motorists attended NSACs which means £90 milllion was nicely finding its way into someone’s pockets.
Approx £35 from every course goes to the police, the rest go to these fat cats running this lucrative exploitation racket.
Let me make a prediction here. We are ALL going to see a HUGE ramp up in these detector vans because this very very lucrative racket has a VERY limited life span.
I say this because at the moment MOST insurance companies only ask you if you’ve had any convictions or accidents in the last 5 years. If you took an NSAC then you didn’t get a conviction so you can happily say No to the insurance company.
HOWEVER . . . .
Some insurance companies have already clocked on to this and now ask if you have been on an NSAC and if so, they treat that just the same as a speeding ticket and load your premium accordingly. At this time the Admiral Group of insurance companies are doing this.
Faced with that there is really no point at all in attending an NSAC because it’s going to cost you pretty much the same amount (£90 NSAC vs £100 fine) and your insurance premium is going to go up regardless.
Thus right now, people WILL choose an NSAC because right now most insurance companies are not asking you to declare if you have been on one. But the moment they do all start asking that question, is the moment when this lucrative NSAC business will die out overnight except for a few straggler courses.
Points on your licence are meaningless until and unless you rack up 6 to 9 points. Yes, at that point you’d take an NSAC if odffered one to avoid reaching 12 pts and losing your license but otherwise who cares if you have 3 points on your licence?!
So we are currently in a definitive period. A period in which these NSAC companies (who are all private BTW, nothing to do with the police) are making hay whilst the sun shines, but literally in 1 to 2 years I would say, the insurance companies are all going to start asking people to declare if they’ve been on NSACs and at that point it is Game Over for these private companies, because there will be no reason or incentive for people to pay them £90 to sit in a 4 hour lecture any more. This being the case we can expect these private companies to make the very most of the next 1 to 2 years. There will be an increasing number of vans patrolling all the well known lucrative spots, at the bottom of hills, around corners and so on.
We will need to be very much on our guard to avoid being picked off by these parasites.
Understand that people are being caught at 31 mph in 30mph zones. These private firms do not care. Cameras do not take into account the myriad of circumstances involved in driving. They are one dimensional and emotionless. Every car caught over the limit, however small, is another £90 in the bank.
It is a very lucrative business !
