News

Postcode lottery over cost of driver awareness courses

We reveal fees for driver alertness and speed awareness courses vary by up to £100 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

by: Martin Saarinen

14 Oct 2015

Speed and driver awareness courses differ in price by as much as £100 across the nation’s police forces, an Auto Express investigation has revealed.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, some motorists caught by the police can opt for a course as a substitute for penalty points and a fine.

• Figures reveal penalty points are a postcode lottery

However, our survey revealed there’s no flat rate for how much you’ll pay – and where you’re caught can determine how much it’ll cost.

We reported previously how police forces offer a range of different courses – some up to seven – and now we’ve found out the wide range of fees charged, too. For instance, a driver caught in Dorset for driving without due attention can opt to take a £200 national driver alertness course as an alternative to a court hearing.

.imgHideOnJavaScriptDisabled_4klidqkrihfkfr { display: none !important; }

Yet a careless driver caught in Essex would pay only £100 for the same single-day course. Auto Express calculated that the average driver alertness course fee was £154.

Last year, more than 1.3 million motorists opted for a course instead of the fine and penalty points – an increase of a million from only five years ago.

• A third of drivers with 12 points avoid a driving ban

While Essex offers the cheapest driver alertness course, its speed awareness, What’s Driving Us and Driving4Change sessions are actually the highest priced.

.imgHideOnJavaScriptDisabled_4klidqkrihfkft { display: none !important; }

An Essex Police spokesman told Auto Express: “We decided to standardise the pricing structure of the courses to encourage more people to take them up. Each course costs £100, which is the equivalent of the fixed penalty notice amount.”

• UK smoking ban: smoking in cars with kids now illegal

While the fees remain something of a postcode lottery, police forces do allow drivers to attend the course in another force area if requested.