Speeding: Will You Be Invited To Attend A Speed Awareness Course?

Speeding remains one of the most serious motoring offences in the UK and has some of the most serious consequences. If you are caught speeding you will automatically be faced with the threat of a fine and penalty points on your licence, however, depending on how excessively you have broken the limit, you may be offered the chance of attending a speed awareness course as an alternative to accepting the fine and penalty points.

Speed awareness courses are administered by the Association of National Driver Improvement Course Providers. The aim of the courses is to educate offenders about the hazards and consequences of speeding in the hope that they will be prevented from reoffending in the future.

The courses are deemed suitable for those offenders who have been caught speeding but have not exceeded the speed limit by a huge amount. The specific amount that the speed limit can be exceeded by in order to qualify for an invitation to attend the course varies from police force to police force. The Association of National Driver Improvement Course Providers work to ensure that the teaching of the course is consistent in terms of content and quality within each police force.

If you are deemed ‘suitable’ to attend the speed awareness course you will receive notification of the date, time and place at which you should attend. You do not have to accept the place on the course – you can either accept and turn up when specified or you can decline to take the course and accept the fine and penalty points on your licence instead. Whilst the cost of attending the course can sometimes be similar to the amount of the fine you would receive (approximately £60-£100), penalty points on your licence may, of course, affect your insurance premiums.

Speed awareness courses are to be taken seriously and should not be seen as being ‘let off the hook’. You should arrive promptly at the time specified to take your course or risk being denied entry to the course. If illness prevents you from attending you must contact the organisers as soon as possible and you will be required to provide a letter from your GP confirming that you are unable to attend the course due to illness. If you fail to attend the course you will not automatically be given a second chance to attend at a later date – this will be down to the discretion of the police who will carry out a review of your file.

If you are caught speeding again within three years of attending the speed awareness course you will not be entitled to attend another course but, instead, will be legally obliged to accept the fine and penalty points on your licence.

Speed awareness courses offer people who have been caught speeding, perhaps between 4-7 mph over the limit, the chance to remind themselves of the dangers of speeding without incurring a fine and penalty points.

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