Thousands take courses to avoid speed camera fines
Saturday 18th December 2010, 8:31AM GMT.
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
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Brilliant idea and incentive for drivers. Now how about we have PLENTY of signs stating the speed limit on all stretches of road ? Sometimes, (often mostly), one has no idea of the speed limit and looking for those small ones is surely a hazard on British roads.
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The course does nothing in “Changing the mindset of drivers who exceed speed limits”. The only way is to hit these morons in the hip pocket and hit them hard. If that fails, take away their cars and crush them, while they watch.
Cyril, if you can’t see the speed signs, of which there are ample, then you aren’t paying enough attention and you shouldn’t be behind the wheel.
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Speed limits that were introduced in the stone age! Cars have improved, roads have improved, drivers have improved, the only moron around here is ‘YOU’!
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The powers that be have only decided these courses are a great idea since they realised they could make a fast buck from them. The charge levied on attendees is at least £50 more than it actually costs to run the course for each person. It’s not about road safety, it’s about money as usual.
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As someone who has been on a Speed Awareness Course I can say that it was superb and really taught me good tricks which helped me maintain concentration and keep to the speed limit.
Yes negative people like Trog do exist but one day (s)he will lose concentration for a second behind the wheel (and we’ve all done even if Trog says (s)he hasn’t) and you’ll see that flash in your mirror.
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