Consumer articles ~ Caught speeding? Don't panic just talk about it

The Observer, November 2005

If, like me, you've recently been caught speeding, you'll have paid a fine and been handed three penalty points plus a sharp rebuke to drive more carefully in future. But when you already have three or six points on your licence, it will bring you perilously close to 12 points and a driving ban. And if you're on nine, you'd be advised to speak to a good lawyer.

My problem was that it was my second speeding offence in six weeks. The first was for driving at 42mph in a 30mph limit - and so no possible excuses or get-out clauses there. The second was for doing 35mph in a restricted zone and so was slightly over the limit.

I was about to write and ask for a copy of the film that recorded my speed in case there was any room for error when I received a letter from the police. This letter gave me the choice of going on a three-hour speed awareness course costing Ł60, or paying a fine and having three points added to my licence. The prospect of fewer penalty points was irresistible so I took up the offer.

The only downside was that as I had exceeded the limit in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, the course was in Warwick - just over 100 miles from my home in London.

I arrived at a rather grand mansion house, set in acres of grounds, which is normally used as a training centre for agriculture students. There were 18 of us, all with one thing in common: we had driven at 35mph in a 30mph zone, 2mph above the average 10 per cent margin of error that is built in.

I had no idea what to expect, although I reckoned that there would be many facts and figures and a slightly superior moral tone throughout. The New York diplomat who sat next to me suggested that we were about to have a three-hour confessional, like a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Fortunately, none of us had to admit to any inner demons. We all seemed remarkably normal, in fact. There were no tantrums and no outbursts of anger, just 18 people who were all slightly relieved to be some of the first people to get away with no points on their licence for speeding - particularly the white van man, the taxi driver and the long-distance lorry driver.

We spent much of our study time discussing the costs of serious-injury accidents - from Ł500,000 to Ł10 million a time, apparently - and what makes a driver go too fast. The three top answers were: lapses of concentration - we were told psychological studies show that a typical driver only concentrates 30 per cent of the time and is on autopilot for 70 per cent of it - thrill-seeking and being late for appointments. As one instructor drily pointed out: 'It's better to arrive a few minutes late than dead on time.'

The courses, which are run by the Association of Chief Police Officers, started last month and are expected to go nationwide in the next 12 months.

The key question is: do awareness courses work? One instructor admitted afterwards that, although many of us would take more care for a short spell after the course, we were likely to revert to our bad old ways before long.

One of us went back to the old habits even before the course had begun: a woman from Hertfordshire took a wrong turning on the way to Warwick and when she tried to make up for lost time got caught by a motorway speed camera.

But she won't be able to go on another speed awareness course, as drivers cannot attend more than one in three years.

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