When Bath Chronicle reporter Ruth Kelly was caught speeding on her way from Bristol to Bath, she was offered the chance to pay a £60 fine and have three points on her licence, or pay the fine and attend a speeding workshop. She chose the workshop option…

---

“Hi, my name is Ruth, and I was speeding because I was in a hurry to get to a concert and I just didn’t notice my speedometer creeping up.” The first five minutes of the Avon and Somerset Safety Camera Partnership’s SpeedChoice workshop at Western Power Training Centre in Taunton felt similar to what an Alcoholics Anonymous club must be like.

I was caught on a speed camera doing 38mph in a 30mph zone.

I couldn’t say I felt angry because there was no real excuse for my speeding – I was just taking advantage of the open road.

When we were told to introduce ourselves to the group, it soon became apparent that my sin was one that had been committed by most of the 11 men and women I was on the course with – we had all been caught breaking the speed limit, but not by a vast margin.

“You are not gross offenders,” the leader reassured us.

“You are ordinary people who we have singled out as low-end speeders.

“Today is not about making you feel uncomfortable, it is about taking something positive from what has been a negative experience.”

After breaking the ice, we were told that the purpose of the course was to teach us to recognise different speed limits for different roads, to talk about the consequences of speeding, and to teach us to take responsibility.

We were hit by a barrage of numbers listing the human cost of collisions and shown figures showing the impact speed cameras have. Further facts given to us from the Department for Transport for 2003 showed that even a relatively minor collision was a huge drain on the area’s emergency resources, costing £17,500.

But what stuck in my head was the video and diagrams showing the damage collisions can do. A video in slow motion of a child stepping out from behind a car and being hit by oncoming traffic was horrifying.

We were told how nine out of every ten pedestrians were likely to die if they were hit while your car was travelling at 40mph, while one in five would die if you were going at 30mph.

With these hard-hitting videos and facts, it was clear that members of the group who started off the three-hour course full of excuses and anger at being caught were feeling less confident.

Filling in the feedback form at the end of the course, I definitely felt the course had hit home.

I didn’t want to be a driver like the one in the video. I checked my speed the whole way home.

---

Do you have a story about the regional press? Ring 0116 227 3122/3121, or e-mail [email protected]