A West Midlands motorist who vowed never to drive again after a crash has regained her confidence after attending a course run by Shropshire’s TTC Group.

Margaret Benton, 68, volunteered to attend the newly launched National Driver Alertness Course instead of receiving points and a possible fine after police were called to a road crash.

It was her birthday and Ms Benton was listening to the car radio as she headed to look after an elderly householder in her job as a carer. She indicated left at a traffic island but with the radio on couldn’t hear that the car’s indicator was still blinking.

She collided with a van, whose driver believed the indicator showed she would be turning, and her car was written off.

She ended up in hospital with a fractured sternum and was deemed responsible for causing the accident. Police, fire and ambulance all attended the scene of the crash.

Ms Benton vowed never to drive again despite it being her first ever accident in 20 years of safe driving.

But she received a letter from police asking her to volunteer to attend the new Driver Alertness Courses for motorists who commit minor traffic offences.

“I hadn’t driven since the accident and I was absolutely terrified of driving again but the TTC instructor was so very kind on the course,” said Ms Benton, now retired, from Sutton Coldfield.

She attended the course in Walsall along with a classroom of motorists before they were each given a two hour on-road driving lesson from TTC driving instructors.

“I was horrified that I had to do so much driving but the instructor took me first to Cannock Chase where it was quiet and then on to more busy roads to help me regain my confidence.

“The course was excellent. There was no blame culture at all and we all talked about our driving and we learned an awful lot. It was very interesting.”

The TTC Group runs courses on behalf of the National Driver Offender Retraining Schemes (NDORS) including speed awareness courses for those caught speeding a few miles over the limit and drink-drive rehabilitation courses for offenders who get up to a quarter off their driving ban after successfully attending a three day course.

The new course, which is also available in Shropshire as part of a nationwide campaign, aims to change attitudes and driving behaviour to reduce road casualties, said Alan Prosser, NDORS manager for the TTC Group, one of the UK’s leading driver training organisations based at Hadley Park, Telford.

“I’m glad that Margaret enjoyed the course and has regained her confidence,” said Mr Prosser.“All motorists should remember to take care on the road when they get behind the steering wheel of their car.”

“A road crash is caused when someone makes a driving mistake. There are hundreds of crashes every day and each one is avoidable. Whether it’s driving too close to the car in front, not paying attention on the road, or considering how your driving affects other road users. We all have to take extra care on the road,” he warned.

An half-day driver awareness course has been introduced by TTC Automotive, part of the TTC Group, aimed at training drivers before they commit an offence and have to attend a statutory course.

They also run Driver CPC courses for coach, bus and lorry drivers.

For more information contact www.ttcautomotive.co.uk or call 0845 270 4363.