Derbyshire Police launch new Speed Awareness Scheme

19 September 2008

New speed awareness courses are being made available in Derbyshire as an alternative to penalty points and a fine - with more than 1,000 people already taking part. The courses are being offered to motorists caught committing their first low level speeding offence. If they accept the offer they will then not receive the three penalty points and £60 fine for the offence.

Being run by Derbyshire Constabulary in conjunction with Driving Services (UK) and the Derbyshire Road Safety Partnership the one day courses will focus on education, training and awareness and include classroom and road based work. The courses, which are run by trained instructors, were introduced in April 2008 and are run at Derby and Chesterfield and in the first six months there has been a high take up rate.

Robert Hill, manager of Derbyshire Road Safety Partnership, said: “Many speeders are not making a conscious decision to break the law and are shocked when they learn that they are twice as likely to kill a child if they hit them at 35 miles per hour as they are at 30 miles per hour. The aim of the course is to educate people rather than punish them. Many people have not been offered any motoring tuition since they learned to drive as teenagers and have no idea of the significant risks posed by small increases in speed.”

Chief Inspector Matt Pickard, head of Roads Policing in Derbyshire, said: “The workshops aims to highlight road safety issues to people who break the speed limit and ultimately reduce casualties on our roads. It will encourage motorists to think about their actions, to take responsibility for them and to change the way they drive. The courses are aimed at motorists who have been caught speeding at low speeds and not for those who have exceeded the limit at high speeds.”

Chris Howell, Chairman of the DriveTech group, of which Driving Services is a part, said: “We believe that we have created a course that will informative and engaging for all who attend. We are proud to be part of this scheme, which clearly sets out to educate rather than chastise. I sincerely hope that drivers completing the Driving Services course will leave with a completely new attitude towards speed management and road risk awareness.”

Motorists can decline going on the course and accept points and a fine, or have their case heard at court. People are only eligible if it is their first offence and haven’t attended a similar course in the last three years. The courses take a day and cost £110 and are being run at two set venues.

For further information, members of the media should contact
Steve Johnson on direct line +44 (0)1789 414700, mobile +44 (0)7894 621134 or on steve.johnson@drivetech.co.uk

Editor's Notes

DriveTech (UK) plc is one of the UK’s leading providers of road risk management, driver assessment and education. We work both with organisations whose employees ‘drive for work’ and with members of the public, who are offered education as an alternative to prosecution by the police.

DriveTech’s vision is ‘working together to eliminate road death and serious injuries’ by providing the most effective and innovative solutions, using education and technology, to minimise risk for all road users.

DriveTech (UK) has won the Institute of Transport Management’s (ITM) ‘Fleet Award for Driver Training’ in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 and the ‘European Driver Safety Specialist’ award in 2005. In September 2007, it was named the ITM’s ‘UK Driver Training Solutions Specialist’ for making ‘the most significant impact upon the Driver Training and Safety sector over the past decade’

In 2007, DriveTech (UK) won the South England and South Wales regional award of the Bank of Scotland Corporate ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ of up to £5m, interest-free funding and was runner-up in the national Grand Finale. In addition, the company was named runner-up in the 2007 Thames Valley ‘Business of the Year’ award.