General Chat

Surely you don't get points if you attend a speed awareness course.

Unless you speed on the way down there :-D

I did not care if I got any points as (a) they would not affect my insurance premium (b) when swapping for a French licence the French drop the UK points. They will have however add back any unspent French points you may have.

The SAC costs £ 110 + all the hassle the pojnts £ 100 no hassle. Even worse once you are enrolled in the SAC if you don't turn up then you get the points, the fine and no refund.

The guy who had the smarts to land me with this one has been moved to where I neither know nor care. I am interviewing for a replacement after Easter. The salary is from £ 39 K HMG fluent English and security clearance essential.
.

Lot of bloody fuss about a course that lasts a couple of hours and which many people have taken.

As you've disclosed the requirements for a replacement, I'm intrigued.
What is HMG fluent English, and what SORT of security clearance?

Three hours plus all the time goint to and fro Sharron. That is why I didn't want to go. I wonder what happens if I fall asleep while the SAC presenter drones on ? Or what happens if I get a fit of the giggles a weakness which goes back to school days.

The local press are showing a photo of a 30mph and 60 mph sign side by side on a Dorset road. Yeah, go for it.

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/newS/16114259.Two_signs__one_road__30mph_and_60mph_signs_spotted_on_same_road_in_Wimborne/

All you might not want to know about HMG Security Clearance. It is a bit Catch22 in that you need a job offer to be vetted, it takes ages and employers won't wait preferring people with a current clearance. Yep, so how do you get clearance in the first place? Good question that.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/security-vetting-and-clearance

"Fluent English" is whatever I consider it to be. A working knowledge of at least two orther languages is also handy. Most candidates who pass are from the Commonwealth hence the min £ 39 K salary so we can get a visa.

Go there with an open mind. From what other (known) people have said, they either learned something new, or were reminded of something they'd been taught but had forgotten.

If nothing else, you've the opportunity of mixing with people other than your normal working or social circle. Seize the day!

OH! HMG Security Clearance. I know what THAT is!
Not HMG fluent English then!! :-D :-D :-D
No need to attempt to be all 'cloak & dagger' about it, just try writing fluent English.

I think you may find more of us than you would give credit for have had/got HMG security clearance.

I found somebody who had been on a SAC course, He was told that he should not use 6th gear or even 5th gear but to poodle around in 4th gear which is safer and "gives better fuel economy". Yes, of course. He didn't say what the best way of driving an automatic might be.

I live in Islington. It is the no.1 branch department of the United Nations with every kind of cooking, culture, music on the planet . The locals are not exactly angels but I am very happy with the diversity. For one thing I never need to go to Lidl or Aldi.

I usually get around on a bicycle it is more practical than cars, and avoids the squash of public transport. The main downer is securing the bike from theft. In the end I copied my doctor's idea and put some mounting hooks on an interior wall.

Rollo, the whole idea of the scheme is that it should cause you the inconvenience of having to return to the place where you transgressed. It is not, after all, a reward for having a car you are unable to control properly because it is too powerful for you.

I would not try to be clever on the course, it will still not make you anybody special to them. They will be expecting to talk to grown -ups who are big enough to accept their punishment.

Well Sharron you are wrong.

The "punishment" and inconvenience are optional. Shelling out £ 100 and no more bother beyond 3 points ( I have a clean licence ) was what I expected. Unfortunately some people cannot follow instructions so I got landed with this. No, I am not going to start reading every piece of bumph that crosses my desk for sig. I stopped doing that long ago.

Some traffic areas give the option on where to take the SAC some do not offer it at all. For Dorset , a poor county, the revenue is the big apple. It is only recently that they have stopped offering SAC to recidivist speeders abd speeds as much as twice the limit.

So who goes on the course? If you currently have a clean lilcence there is not much point. Otherwise you must be worried about hitting 12 points - but these people are not supposed to be offered SAC. Curious.

I drive all sorts of vehicles a high milage every year without a scratch so I suggest comments on my driving are very wide of the mark.

At the site where I was clocked the limit had just changed from 40mph. The car behind me had not noticed . If I had put the Jag anchors full on he would without a doubt have collided with me. Braking safely for the traffic conditions I got a ticket. Foo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVgt13aU1wg

You don't say.

Security clearance is not like an exam you pass , get the cert and then stick on a wall. It is an on going thing which dies as soon as it no longer applies and you have to start all over again. The longer the gap the longer it takes to renew. Then of course there are various levels and scopes of Security Clearance it is not a one size fits all sort of thing.

Most people with Security Clearance never get involved with "cloak and dagger" at all. Any assumption that S.C. is always connected to intelligence suggests a lack of understanding of what S.C. is for.

Not that it matters.

You summed that up very succinctly.

Yes, there are all sorts of Security clearance, hence my earlier question , as your post actually said HMG fluent in English :-S

My reference to 'cloak & dagger' was in reference to your attitude towards Security Clearance.
I'm well aware of what it entails, thank you, having gone through various types of security clearance, including MOD, Government, Foreign and children.

No it doesn't matter but it helps if you write in fluent English.

"I found somebody who had been on a SAC course, He was told that he should not use 6th gear or even 5th gear but to poodle around in 4th gear which is safer and "gives better fuel economy". Yes, of course. He didn't say what the best way of driving an automatic might be."
The best way to drive an automatic is to use both feet i.e. left foot braking.
That way you avoid the classic error of pressing the accelerator instead of the brake with the right foot.
One of our lady lay readers did just that going home from church the other week, shot straight across the main road, hitting another car, and through the front garden wall of the house on the other side.
She was lucky she did it there and without injury, a significant number of people are killed each year by doing it over a cliff or quayside.

There aren't any in Bovington.

Ah well.

LOL Brian...I have only drive an Auto twice( that I recall)

the advice I was given then, was to put my left foot as far out of the way, as possible, to avoid the "clutch" foot hitting the brakes..


worked for me, at the time...

takes a lot of practice, Methinks...........left foot braking, when you are not used to doing it!!



reminds me of an uncle that had "Y"(?) type ford... the pedals were'nt C B A

Don't most people just go and do the course?

Can't remember ever even thinking of mentioning doing mine on here but I was in a Focus when I was camera'd and I only had to get Fred's care organized for the day.Nothing there to impress anybody.

One of our Smarts is automatic (no choice there) and the other one is manual.