Pioneer course slows down the speeders

Oct 15 2008 by Andrew Hirst, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

DRIVERS caught speeding in West Yorkshire can now escape getting points on their licence but they will have to ‘go back to school’.

Huddersfield has just become the base for the first course to slow speeders down.

The speed awareness course is aimed at offenders who drive just above the limit, not those who go at crazy speeds.

Normally they would have to pay a £60 fine and have three penalty points put on their licences.

But now they can opt to pay £60 and go on the four-hour course. If they do that the three points will be waived.

Police who stop the errant drivers will decide if the motorist should go on the course and give them the chance to do so.

Chief Insp Christopher Moorhouse-Everett, of West Yorkshire Police, said: “The course is intended to educate drivers as to the true dangers of excess speed on the county’s roads.

“Drivers caught speeding to a minimal degree can benefit far more from a little education than from prosecution.”