1.5 million road users undertook some form of retraining in 2019
A record number of drivers took a speed awareness course last year.
In 2019, 1,282,698 people completed the course up from 1,186,536 in the previous year.
For those caught speeding the chance to attend a course is offered at the discretion of the police and comes in place of a prosecution.
According to NDORS – the organisation behind the scheme – a further 209,538 people attended one of the other eight types of courses that are run.
This means that 1,492,236 road users undertook some type of driver offender retraining in 2019.
This is up from 1,445,817 in 2018 and 467,601 in 2010.
The other courses include:
- National Motorway Speed Awareness course (106,957 attendees in 2019)
- Whats Driving Us? (76,430)
- Safe and Considerate Driving (12,774)
- Your Belt – Your Life (12,417)
The cost of attending a speed awareness course varies across the country ranging from £75 in Durham to £95 in Humberside.
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said:
“It would be good to think that as more and more people pass through the doors of these courses so our roads are getting safer. For some, at least, that appears to be true.
“The challenge is in making the lessons stick once the motorists attending them are back out in the often all-too-aggressive world of modern traffic.”
Research by the RAC Foundation – based on Home Office data for 2018-19 – suggests that 44% of all speeding offences detected in England and Wales result in someone being sent on a course.
ENDS
Contact:
Philip Gomm – Head of External Communications – RAC Foundation
[email protected] | 020 7747 3445 | 07711 776448 | 020 7389 0601 (ISDN)
Notes to editors:
The RAC Foundation is a transport policy and research organisation that explores the economic, mobility, safety and environmental issues relating to roads and their users.
The Foundation publishes independent and authoritative research with which it promotes informed debate and advocates policy in the interest of the responsible motorist. All the Foundation’s work is available at: www.racfoundation.org