DriveTech’s Speed Awareness Schemes profiled in BBC Radio 4’s Law in Action

4 July 2007

Clive Coleman, from BBC Radio 4’s Law in Action programme, www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/lawinaction, recently attended a Speed Awareness Workshop at DriveTech (UK)’s training centre in Islington, North London. Here is transcript of the interview broadcast on 3 July 2007.

Clive Coleman (CC):

I’m standing by a busy main road in North London and it seems that just about every other driver here is exceeding the 30 mile an hour speed limit. Well, we’ve probably all done that before!

But now, if you’re flashed or stopped for speeding, you’ve got the option of avoiding three points on your licence by attending a speed awareness course. Just complete the course and you can drive away with your licence unblemished.

Well, could this really be the way to change driver’s behaviour… or is it just a cop out?

16 police forces in the UK are currently offering speeding motorists this alternative to three points and approximately 80% of those offered the scheme choose to take it up.

DriveTech started speed awareness courses in 2003 and since then, over 120,000 drivers in the Thames Valley, Northumbria and London area have been through their doors. Well, another 20 are waiting around rather nervously for the midday course today among them Kaz, Jackie and Jan.

Jan: I was travelling to visit my daughter in hospital on a road I didn’t know actually and so I was completely unaware that there were speed cameras about and was completely unaware of the speed I was travelling!

CC: How fast were you going?

Jan: I think it was 37 miles per hour

CC: In a 30mph zone?

Jan: Yes.

CC: Why didn’t you just take your medicine and take the 3 points?

Jan: I have an unblemished record of almost 40 years and I was quite upset that I’d been speeding because I didn’t consider myself to be a driver who did exceed the speed limit.

CC: Now from your accent, I’m guessing that you’re not from these parts…

Jan: I’m actually from East Anglia so I’ve traveled quite a way to come here today.

CC: But you thought it was worth it?

Jan: I did, absolutely, yes! I’m sure it’s going to be very interesting to do. At home, I’ve been a member of the parish council for a number of years and, in actual fact in our village, we’ve had a campaign for people that speed!

CC: Tell me why you decided to come on the course?

Kaz: I wanted to see whether the course was worthwhile as I consider myself to be a good driver, because I’m a bus driver.

CC: You’re a professional driver; you weren’t in your bus at the time were you?

Kaz: Oh no, no, no! I was in my private car!

CC: What sort of speed were you doing?

Kaz: I was doing 36 mph in a 30 mile an hour zone.

CC: Jackie, tell me, was there any way in which coming on a course like this, makes you feel, perhaps, a little bit like a criminal who has done something really badly wrong?

Jackie: Oh, I did feel a bit like a criminal yes, because I’m not used to having letters from the police and things like that. Yes, I did.

CC: Faced with the option…three points on your licence or coming onto this course, you opted for the course. Why?

Jackie: Simply because somebody told me that your insurance premiums can go up if you’ve got the points. I thought it was better to pay this money than to have an increased premium.

CC: So it was a financial decision then really?

Jackie: Absolutely.

CC: What are you hoping to get from the course?

Jackie: I haven’t given it any thought really…only to avoid the three points – that’s simply why I did it.

Background Noise: Good morning everyone and welcome to the London Speed Awareness Scheme. On the computers you have in front of you is a program…

… My name is Kevin Isaccson (KI) and I’m the Training Manager of the London Speed Awareness Scheme.

CC: You’ve just put your students to work at their computer consoles, tell me exactly what they are doing.

KI: At the moment, they’re running through a Perception & Performance questionnaire. On the computerised part, there is one section that looks at hazard awareness. There are also sections that look at following distances, perception of speed, their approach to fatigue, their approach to their driving hours. The next part is an inter-active one and a half hour presentation.

CC: Tell me about the kind of people that turn up on the course. Everybody has got their idea of your archetypal speeder, boy racer…go-faster stripes, flames down the side of the car… is it predominantly that kind of person?

KI: It’s not that kind of person at all! It’s every type of cross section that you can find… it’s anyone that’s literally made a mistake.

CC: David Richards (DR) is the Marketing Director for DriveTech.

DR: Basically, these courses are aimed at, what you might describe as marginal speed offenders. These are people who speed just above the speed limit. And, basically, what we’re trying to show today, is that, particularly with pedestrians, the survival rates go down, the faster you go and we’re trying to tell people that if you stick to the speed limit, in general, you’ll reduce the chances of death and injury to other people on the roads.

CC: The theory seems to be catch marginal speeders early on and you’ll stop them from being persistent and dangerous offenders. But just how bad is our speeding record?

DR: Compared with most other countries, we’re really doing very well in terms of the number of people killed and seriously injured. But, as the latest statistics have just shown for 2006, over 3,150 people were killed on British roads so I don’t believe we can be in any way complacent.

CC: Is there any way yet to evaluate whether that the courses that you run have actually made a dent on road traffic accidents, deaths on the roads.

DR: What we’re finding from the course, that over 90% of people who take the course intend to driver slower or much slower as a result of doing the course and, secondly, about 40% of people who come on the course initially, if you like, don’t believe they should be there in the first place because they don’t believe that they were going at a speed that warranted prosecution. However, at the end of the course, that drops to about 10%.

CC: Intentions are one thing…but the National Police Liaison for Driver Improvement Schemes says that there is still no hard data to prove that these courses actually work. So what does David Richards of DriveTech say to those people who accuse the courses of being a soft option?

DR: I think it’s true to say that education and also fixed penalty fines and points on the licence both play an important part in addressing the issue of speed and speeding on roads. And what we see, particularly with marginal speeders that are just above the speed limit, is that through education, we can ensure that they drive more safely when they go out on the roads. For those above that, perhaps fines and points on a licence will be a deterrent for them.

CC: But what about the drivers who have completed the course this morning? Are Jan, Jackie and Kaz really going to change their driving?

Jan: Yes, I am going to think about things a lot more I’m sure. It was different from what I expected. It was very interesting and also to learn that, though I perceive myself as an extremely safe driver, perhaps I’m not quite as safe as I thought I was.

CC: Jackie, you’ve been through the course. Is it actually going to change the way you drive?

Jackie: Oh certainly, it’s given me something to think about. Yes, it will.

CC: Kaz, you’ve completed the course this morning, you’re a professional driver, you’re a bus driver, what’s the course taught you that you didn’t already know?

Kaz: That’s there is no such thing as a perfect driver and accidents can happen anywhere. I think it’s a useful course and think it should be made compulsory for all drivers.

CC: Kaz, Jackie and Jan there after their speed awareness course. That’s all for this week. Drive carefully.

EDITOR’S NOTES

If you are a journalist and interested in observing a Speed Awareness, Seat Belt Awareness or Mobile Phone Awareness (Call Divert) workshop please contact David Richards at DriveTech (UK) at david.richards@drivetech.co.uk or 01344 467271.

DriveTech is the UK's leading provider of  ‘driving at work’ risk management, driver assessment and driver training solutions.

DriveTech’s goal is to reduce both an organisation’s vehicle business costs and the personal risk for ‘at work’ drivers, by significantly improving driver ABC – attitude, behaviour and competence – therefore supporting driver safety and corporate ‘duty of care’ requirements.

DriveTech (UK) has won the Institute of Transport Management’s ‘Fleet Award for Driver Training’ in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 and its ‘European Driver Safety Specialist’ award in 2005.

For further information contact:

David Richards at DriveTech (UK) at david.richards@drivetech.co.uk or 01344 467271.