Speed Awareness

Speed Awareness

It is well documented that speed, or inappropriate speed contributes to a significant percentage of all crashes and a higher percentage of more serious crashes.

Each year excessive and inappropriate speed kills around 1,200 people and injures around 100,000. This is the largest contributor to casualties on the road.

The overall aim of the course is to explore and challenge the reasons why people speed and to help drivers develop a personal speed awareness strategy to prevent future lapses leading to misuse of speed.

How do the awareness courses operate
and who can attend?

This scheme will allow the police service to divert low-end speeding motorists to education as opposed to the Fixed Penalty System.

There are a number of constabularies who have adopted the National Speed Awareness Scheme, created to educate drivers and riders about the dangers of driving at both excessive and inapproapriate speeds.

Any driver who is detected driving at the speed identified as suitable in a force area and who has not previously attended a course within a 3 year period, will be offered a course in the area where the offence is committed or in an area where the national scheme has also been adopted.

The National Speed Awareness Scheme has been put in place to give offenders who drive in excess of the speed limit the opportunity to attend a driver re-education course on the effects and dangers of speeding. The course gives a driver an option of attending a Speed Awareness course as an alternative to the Fixed Penalty Scheme of a fine and penalty points endorsed on their licence.