Exactly why there are no workmen sometimes when roadworks signs and speed restrictions are in place

Have you ever queued for ages in your vehicle before roadwork signs and then cursed when you finally get to the stretch of road the works are meant to be taking place in, only for it to be totally devoid of any work, and with no workers in sight?

I have and, like many drivers out there who transfer their everyday stress into their car journeys, it has made my ‘rageometer’ go up another level.

Well, now I know there’s no work being carried out for a reason. The signs are put there a couple of weeks before the highways maintenance to get motorists used to the sudden drop in speed – it’s put in place to protect the workmen.

This was one of many nuggets of information I picked up at a speed awareness course I attended online recently, after being caught doing 35mph in a 30 zone while taking my son back to university in Leicester last December.

I was not looking forward to the three hour course, but I must admit is was informative, interesting and actually a pretty enjoyable way to spend a Saturday afternoon (I’m a Norwich fan, so anything’s better than Carrow Road these last two seasons).

There were just the nine of us on the course, using first names only, and the leader was an amiable, pleasant driving instructor who certainly didn’t patronise or judge in any way. He just tried to show us why the speed liits are there and why we should be sticking to them.

We started by giving our own reasons why we speed, we then had a fun quiz on speed limits, before we went through various themes and topics. It was all really interesting, especially for those of us who have not given any thought to our driving or picked up a copy of the Highway Code since we passed our tests 30 years ago.

We learnt how speed cameras are actually life saving, rather than just money making, and, interestingly, just how little time motorists actually save by speeding, while using much more fuel.

It wasn’t fun all the way though as we were also taught how lack of education is a major factor in road deaths, with 1,752 killed on our roads last year, 25,945 seriously injured, 125,461 receiving other injuries – all at a cost of £36billion to the tax payer. Put into perspective, the £100 I paid to take part in the course and avoid those three points was pretty insignificant.

At the end of the course, we had to put a five-point plan together to help us avoid speeding again. It’s three weeks now since I attended the course, and I’ve not exceeded the speed limit since. I now feel I’m more equipped than ever to drive safely on our roads and I’m grateful for the chance I was given. In fact, in a way, it’s just a pity you have to offend to get on one of these courses in the first place.