Face Up To Speeding

With speeding be a major issue on the roads new pilot schemes to curb speeding in the UK are being tested in certain places. These schemes are aimed at reducing the speeding problem around the country by educating first time offenders instead of fining them.

The new scheme has been put in place in by police authorities such as Thames valley police to give first time speeders the choice of a fixed fine and three penalty points or to attend an informative night class at a £65 cost. This option is only available to first time speeding offenders that were only marginally breaking the limit, up to 36mph in a thirty zone.

Since the scheme has been in place about 90% of eligible speeders stopped have opted for the class instead of the fine and penalty points that can increase car insurance premiums. This has lead to approximately 25,000 people attending the classes since the scheme was put into place last year.

The evening class is similar to a scheme run in Kent which usually lasts for approximately three hours and is designed to educate the drivers to the costs of speeding on the UK's roads. During the class the offenders are:

• Shown videos of car wrecks to show the severity of the damage to a car involved in an accident whilst speeding.
• Shown pictures of victims involved in high speed crashes, which can often show horrific injuries that can have resulted in death.
• The costs of treating a person injured in a high speed crash to public services such as the NHS and emergency crews.
• The attendees will witness a fire crew cutting a dummy out of car wreckage
• Finally the attendees will have to face a talk with families and relatives of victims killed by a speeding driver.

Out of all the people that have attended these classes over 90% have suggested that the talk from the victim's family has hit home the most. These classes have been a huge success and the majority of offenders have reported that the they thought it was a soft option to receiving penalty points and a fine, but it proved to be anything but the soft option. All attendees that were interviewed after the course said that it had affected them and have said that they will think twice before breaking the speed limits in the future. The attendees have been quoted in saying that this could be a good way to combat speeding, instead of issuing a ticket, force the drivers to see what their speeding can cost other road users? not just what it may mean to next years car insurance premium.