Diversionary courses
For offending drivers specifically , education has been used in the form of diversionary courses ( offered as an alternative to prosecution ) for many years now . The Road Traffic Law Review of 1988 recommended an increased use of education in response to traffic offences and , as a result , Devon and Cornwall Police and Devon County Council developed and introduced an educational course to be used as an alternative to prosecution for the offence of ‘ careless and inconsiderate driving ’. This was the first course of its kind and it still forms part of the National Driver Alertness Course ¹.
Today there are a number of courses that are available as a diversion from prosecution , for an array of offences . The National Speed Awareness Course ( NSAC ) is the most-used and has also been most extensively evaluated ². It combines a rational approach ( that explains how individuals are able to recognise speed limits and skills they can employ to adhere to them ) with some fear-appeal elements .
Following a triple-fatal road crash in 2016 that was caused by a driver using a mobile phone , the Department for Transport indicated that it did not consider education to be an appropriate disposal for this offence ³. Whilst it is still permitted to offer diversionary courses , many forces have taken a steer from government and do not offer them , although the ‘ What ’ s Driving Us ?’ national course can be offered to such offenders 4 . This has yet to be fully evaluated . Some local courses have also been offered , including Crash Course in Staffordshire , which has been the subject of longitudinal evaluation , but which is not currently available 5 .
You can find a case study of Crash Course overleaf .
¹ Burgess , C . N . W ., & Webley , P . ( 1999 ). Evaluating the effectiveness of the United Kingdom ’ s National Driver Improvement Scheme . In G . B . Grayson ( Ed .), Behavioural research in road safety IX ( pp . 39−54 ). Crowthorne : TRL .
² Ipsos Mori , Barrett , G ., and the Institute for Transport Studies , University of Leeds . Impact evaluation of the National Speed Awareness Course . Available from : https :// assets . publishing . service . gov . uk / government / uploads / system / uploads / attachment _ data / file / 706208 / national-speed-awareness-courseevaluation . pdf
³ DfT ( 2016 ). A consultation on changes to the Fixed Penalty Notice and penalty points for the use of a hand-held mobile phone whilst driving . Response to Consultation . Available from : https :// assets . publishing . service . gov . uk / government / uploads / system / uploads / attachment _ data / file / 565099 / hand-heldmobile-phone-driving-consultation-response . pdf
4
NDORS ( nd ). The Courses . Available from : https :// www . ndors . org . uk / courses
5
Savigar , L . ( 2016 ). How can education be used to influence road safety attitudes and behaviours ? An exploration of Crash Course as a diversion from prosecution and as road safety training for employees . Report for the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Staffordshire – December 2016 .
73