Thousands take courses to avoid speed camera fines

Tens of thousands of Midland drivers have escaped speeding fines and penalty points by going on courses after being flashed by roadside cameras, it was revealed today.

About 1,000 have been on the course since West Midlands Police allowed drivers to take up the offer in August. In Staffordshire and West Mercia, the courses have been available for a couple of years. Figures released today show that between March 2009 and April 2010, 13,051 drivers caught in Staffordshire and 24,839 in West Mercia went on the course.

The half-day workshops cost £60 and revenue from these courses alone runs to £2.33million. The money from the courses in the West Midlands and West Mercia is given to TTC, the Midlands-based private company that runs the courses.

The Staffordshire courses are run by Staffordshire Safer Roads Partnership, a consortium of Staffordshire County Council, the courts and the county's emergency services.

The West Midlands courses are run in the four Black Country boroughs. They are open only to those who are caught travelling a few miles per hour over the limit or those who have not been on a course in the past three years.

Ch Insp Chris Edwards, of West Midlands Police, said: "Changing the mindset of drivers who exceed speed limits throughout the West Midlands road network will help to reduce the number of collisions resulting in road death or serious injury."

By Crime Correspondent Mike Woods