SOME drivers caught speeding in Huddersfield now have the "monopoly" option - pay a fine or take a chance.

The fine is £60 and three penalty points.

The chance is to go on a pioneering speed awareness course.

There they get a second chance to learn about the dangers of speed and the option to change their driving habits before it's too late.

The aim of the day-long course - which costs £95 - is to get them to slow down in future.

And it means they won't have any points added to their licences.

The course, run by Kirklees Council in partnership with the police, is part of a clampdown on people who drive above the limit - but not excessively.

Those who get the option have been caught doing 36mph or 37mph in a 30mph zone or 47mph or 48mph in a 40mph area.

The idea is to get people to drive according to the circumstances - such as when they pass schools with pupils pouring out - and that will often be below the speed limit in built-up areas.

Driver training manager Ian Edwards said: "This course is not for those who speed excessively.

"It is for people who drive these few mph above the limit and think it doesn't matter.

"Our aim is to show them these extra mph do matter and can make all the difference between life and death - especially to pedestrians.

"We take people who have been caught on specific roads where accidents have been linked to speed.

"Many who attend the course arrive with large chips on their shoulders and feel they shouldn't be here.

"But by the end of the day they see things very differently and understand what we are trying to do.

"Some leave thinking all drivers should come on this course."

One 60-year-old man was annoyed he'd been caught at 37mph on Soothill Lane in Batley as the road was leaving an urban for a rural area.

But as the day unfolded his attitude changed and the cynicism softened.

"I'm glad I came," he said. "It's given me a different outlook and perspective on speed. I hardly dare drive home now!"

The course mixes hard-hitting video footage and discussion sessions with driving on the road under the supervision of driving instructors.

They put the theory they have learned in the morning into practice in the afternoon.

The course's main thrust is that speed kills - even if drivers are only a few mph over the limit.

If a car hits a pedestrian at 20mph, about 5% are killed.

That rises to 45% at 30mph and a staggering 85% at 40mph.

One of the motorists on the course summed the day up.

"Before we came on the course we were annoyed to be done for driving at what we thought was just a small amount above the speed limit," he said.

"Now we have learned how dangerous those extra few miles per hour can be."

* One person is killed or injured on Britain's roads every three minutes.

* On average 116 people die on West Yorkshire's roads each year.

* One third of all accidents may be related to inappropriate or excessive speeds.

* At 20mph the stopping distance is 40ft. At 40mph it is 120ft.