http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6913402.stm
Last Updated: Wednesday, 25 July 2007, 10:06 GMT 11:06 UK
Life in the fast lane
Speeding drivers are increasingly being given the chance to pay their dues by joining awareness classes. After 20 years of driving without a blemish on her licence, Alison Trowsdale found herself back in the learner seat, among an unlikely collection of law breakers.
Trying to squeeze in the weekly shop at Tesco before having to do the school run is how this middle-aged mother got caught speeding.
It's hardly the most dramatic of circumstances and, as breaking the law goes, it's not going to place me at the top of any police force's most-wanted list.
But I accept even if the speedometer just nudges over the speed limit, you are in the wrong. I was told I'd been clocked doing 39mph on a suburban road with a 30mph limit, so it was a fair cop.
The first I knew of my crime was when a letter dropped onto my doormat inviting me to attend an "urban workshop" - as Thames Valley Police refer to their courses.
I did break the law, but I'm not the kind of teenage speed freak who revs over the speed bumps at 50mph in a built-up area or cuts up unsuspecting motorists on the inside lane of the motorway.
I know this is no excuse. At 35mph you are twice as likely to kill a child you hit as you are at 30mph, according to road safety charity Brake. It's a stark statistic.
'Criminalising all drivers'
However, it still comes as a shock after driving for more than 20 years without a single point on my licence and only one very minor bump to my name.
But I am among a new, unsuspecting class of law breakers who are finding themselves in trouble with the police - often for the first time.
Speeding is now the most common offence on the UK's roads, according to government figures. In recent years it has made up more than one third of all driving offences dealt with by police in England and Wales.
SPEED AND IMPACT
Speedometer
At 40mph 85% of people hit by vehicles die
At 30mph 20% of people hit by vehicles die
At 20mph 5% of people hit by vehicles die
SOURCE: DfT
Part of the reason for this could be that the UK is the speed-camera capital of Europe, according to recent figures given to MPs. Numbers have risen from 1,935 in 2000 to just over 5,500 this year.
Most police authorities now offer speed awareness courses as an alternative to points on your licence. They are restricted to drivers who have exceeded the limit to a small degree.
Critics of the cameras, including MPs, say they are criminalising all drivers.
When I arrived at the Bicester training centre for my course, I have to admit I am faced with the most unlikely group of law breakers you can imagine.
The majority are slightly shocked middle-aged people like me. At a guess at least six are pensioners, only one man is in a hoodie - but he's far too old to qualify for a hug from David Cameron.
Indignant
I find out I am one of 45,000 drivers to have attended driving courses in the Thames Valley region of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. If my group is anything to go by, most of those won't have fitted the stereotypical profile of your usual offender.
I was lucky to be offered the course, until April this year - when the scheme was extended - you were eligible only if you were driving up to five miles over the limit.
It costs £74, but a speeding fine is £60 and points on my licence could result in increased car insurance. I think this is what persuades most to sign up for the "urban workshops".
For most of us it is the first time our driving abilities have been questioned since passing our driving test at 17
Not everyone is relieved like me to just avoid getting points. Some of my fellow "offenders" are very indignant about finding themselves on the course. They don't consider themselves law breakers, even though the speed cameras have them down as such.
But we are not here to be judged or treated like hardened criminals, we're told by our sharp-suited instructor Mark. He's not a police officer, which makes the course seem less formal.
Firstly our driving ability is put to the test using an interactive computer session. Considering some older participants haven't even used a computer mouse before, I'm not sure how much the programme reflects their driving skills.
Distracted
Designed by Professor Frank McKenna, a leading expert in driver behaviour, the programme is all about getting drivers to reassess their own habits and understand that speed is to blame for 28% of the 3,172 deaths on British roads last year.
For most of us it is the first time our driving abilities have been questioned since passing our driving test at 17.
It judges how readily you recognise potential hazards on the road, what sort of distance you would leave behind the car in front and also asks what time of day you normally drive, how tired you are, whether other drivers make you cross.
Cars Speeding is implicated in 82% of all road accidents
It highlights my "slight tendency" to get distracted. I'm quite pleased with that considering the kind of distractions my daughters regularly create in the back of the car. But apparently lack of attention is the most common reason for driving too fast.
Mark tells us speed isn't "a bad thing", it just needs to be appropriate to the road. Asked what the speed limits are on all types of roads, most of us knew the obvious ones but few of us knew all of them. The same goes for different stopping distances. It was quite a wake-up call.
Speed cameras don't often get good press and Mark drew the session to a close by attempting a bit of PR spin. Contrary to popular belief they are placed only at accident black spots and are nothing to do with generating extra revenue, he says. Also, Thames Valley Police has 330 fixed speed cameras, of which only 22 are in action at any one time.
Police figures suggest one in 12 people who attends a speed awareness course is likely to be stopped again for speeding, whereas one in four drivers who collects the points is likely to reoffend.
So did it work for me? Two days later, driving along the same road where I was originally seen speeding, I spot a police officer waiting in a lay-by to catch unwitting motorists. Only this time I'm driving past at 30mph.
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So you could be going past a camera at 30 mph, and be smashed out of your face...oh, that's ok then, seeing as your not speeding..
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