MOTORISTS who are found to have exceeded the speed limit can go on a course as an alternative to penalty points on your licence or a fine.
Here is all you need to know about what happens on a speed awareness course, and how you can go on one.
What happens on a speed awareness course?
Police designed speed awareness courses to educate low-end speeders instead of penalising them.
More than a million people a year choose to attend one.
It's supposed to prevent the driver from re-offending.
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The course is a half-day workshop centred around cause-and-effect.
It encourages speeders to look at why they broke the law and gives tips on how to reduce the likelihood of speeding in the future.
There can be up to 24 people on each course, led by two course trainers.
How much does the speed awareness course cost?
Drivers will get away with not paying a fine if they take the option of the course - but they do have to pay for it.
The course typically costs around £100, with the cheapest ones found to be in Durham and Merseyside.
But although drivers will still lose money for the offence, they will not have points on their licence if they take the course.
How long does the course stay on record?
The speed awareness course is not a lifelong get-out-of-jail-free card.
If you're caught speeding again within three years of taking a speed awareness course, you're quite likely to receive a fine and licence points straight away.
Your details are kept on a database held by the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme.
Can you fail a speed awareness course?
No.
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Attendance is all that matters with a speed awareness course.
As long as you turn up and participate fully in the session, you will be able to complete the course.
There won't be any practical or written tests.
It's just about being there and listening carefully.
What happens if I take a speed awareness course?
Once you're on the course, tutors will try to teach drivers how to reduce the likelihood of speeding in the future.
There'll be information about stopping distances, improving awareness of your surroundings, and working out the speed limit of an unfamiliar road.
It will also touch on the possible consequences of speeding.
If you're offered a speed awareness test, it's a good idea to take it. It means you don't have to take the penalty points on your licence.
Every time you're caught speeding, three points can be added.
If you get 12 or more points on your licence within three years, you could be disqualified from driving.
Within the first two years of you passing your driving test, you'd only need to get six points to be disqualified.
What is the criteria for a speed awareness course?
Not every driver caught speeding is eligible for a speed awareness course.
You will be able to enrol on a speed awareness course if it is your first speeding offence or if you haven’t been caught in the past three years.
You’re only eligible for a speed awareness course if the police offer it to you as a choice.
In addition, there are set speeds that qualify for a speed awareness course.
If you were speeding by more than these amounts, you won’t have the option to attend a course.
The amount by which you can break the speed limit and still be eligible to take a speed awareness course is between 10 per cent of the speed limit plus 2mph, to 10 per cent of the limit plus 9mph.
