Safe Speed Forums

SPEED AWARENESS COURSES CHANGE DRIVERS
PRESS RELEASE FROM THE TTC GROUP,the UK’s leading provider of driver training courses.
0845 270 4380 www.ttc-uk.com January 18th 2013 with image of Professor Robin Martin and video presentation at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szG-A5dxznU

Speed awareness courses in Avon and Somerset work – that’s the conclusion of independent research published today.

Education courses for speeding drivers have a “long term impact” on driving behaviour, reveals a new study carried out by Professor Robin Martin, of Aston University Business School, Birmingham.
“A speed awareness course does improve people’s attitude and intention not to speed in the future,” said Professor Martin, who headed the in depth 18 month research project into the impact of the course.
He said that it was “one of the best” designed studies to examine the long term benefits of speed awareness courses which were introduced by the Government across the UK to re-educate drivers’ and reduce road casualties as a more constructive alternative to fines or prosecution.

Chief Inspector John Holt of Avon and Somerset’s Operations and Roads Policing Unit , said: “We welcome the findings of the study which reinforce our belief that education is a positive alternative to prosecution, influencing driver behaviour and making the roads safer for all.
“With TTC 2000 as our new education provider our levels of enforcement and education have risen considerably, with projections forecasting in excess of 100,000 people being caught speeding from April 2012 to the end of March 2013.”

Course are held in Bridgwater, Keynsham, Taunton, Bristol, Chipping Sodbury, Yeovil and Weston Super Mare.

Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) researcher Cara Donald interviewed 1,311 motorists caught speeding from five police regions between November 2010 and April 2012. They had all opted to attend the course delivered by the not for profit TTC 2000, part of the TTC Group, the UK’s largest course provider.
Professor Martin and Cara carried out a comprehensive review of how people behaved before and after the course, how much they learned and their attitude to the course, including their future intention to positively modify their driving behaviour.

They tracked their views before attending the course, immediately after and up to six weeks later. Interviewees were encouraged to voluntarily participate in the research and complete a series of questionnaires and attend some focus groups in lieu of a donation made to the NSPCC for each response. A total of £2,315 was presented to the NSPCC.

Professor Martin, an academic who analyses data, admitted that he had never heard of speed awareness courses before being asked to carry out the totally independent research study.
“The results clearly show that the speed awareness course led to reliable improvements in client’s attitude to speeding and importantly their intention not to break the speed limit,” he said during a launch of the research findings to senior police personnel and national road policing officers.
“The benefit of the course occurred immediately and persisted several weeks after course delivery. The speed awareness course led to very reliable improvements in clients’ attitude towards not speeding.”

Many people originally attended the course just to avoid three points on their licence but once they completed the course, they realised how good it was, he said.
A total of 80 per cent said they would attend the course again because they knew they would learn something. Course material was shared among more than just the course attender with a “cascade” effect through family and friends.
Older women had a more positive attitude not to speed than younger men after attending the course, revealed the report.
The motorist’s view of the need for safer road initiatives improved as a consequence of attending the course because they had learned useful information and realised the importance of driving within the required speed limit.
The course challenged misconceptions, raised awareness and positively impacted upon motorist’s future intentions. It helped people to take personal responsibility for the motoring behaviour within a non-judgemental environment.

The research showed that people who blamed others for ‘their’ speeding and had a ‘mindset’ that they shouldn’t be on the course had a more negative view of the education and consequently were less likely to change their behaviour as a result, said Professor Martin.
People who had already amassed penalty points on their driving licence had a lower attitude to the course benefits. Older people had the best attitude, particularly older women. The amount of annual mileage did not have any significant impact on the results.

Attitude and future intentions were positively influenced by the wide variety of motorists of all ages on the course. Individually and collectively participants felt able to reconsider their behaviour and attitudes once they realised they were not alone, added the Professor.

END

Notes to news editor:
Professor Martin’s presentation of the report can be viewed at (Part 1) Cara Warburton: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7Rls6l--T0
(Part 2) Prof. Robin Martin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szG-A5dxznU
Professor Robin Martin is Professor of Social and Organisational Psychology Work and Organisational Psychology Research Group at Aston Business School., Aston University, Birmingham.

Questionnaires were sent out randomly to motorists who attended a speed awareness course in South Yorkshire, Durham, West Mercia, West Midlands and Mid & South Wales. TTC 2000 course instructors were not aware of who was involved in the survey. All questionnaires were returned to Aston University.

People were asked if a speed awareness course essentially improved their intention not to speed in the future/was it good or bad to speed/could they stick to the speed limit/and was it morally correct to keep within the limit.

The TTC Group instigated and jointly funded the KTP research in partnership with Aston University. However, the project was independently conducted by Cara Donald and Professor Martin but supported by a steering group drawn from key stakeholders.
TTC 2000, part of the TTC Group, was involved in the pilot scheme to introduce speed awareness courses in the UK and runs courses in South Yorkshire, Cumbria, Durham, West Mercia, West Midlands, Mid & South Wales, Avon & Somerset, Devon & Cornwall. It is also involved in introducing Driving 4 Change and What’s Driving Us? courses for motorists who commit minor traffic infringements such as red lights. TTC 2000 was formed in 1993 and also runs drink drive rehabilitation courses across the UK.

Their HQ was officially opened by the Princess Royal in 2006. TTC Group chairman Graham Wynn has received the OBE for services to road safety.

For more information or interview please contact TTC Group publicity co-ordinator Elaine Adams on 01952 505026/07970019184. publicity@elaineadams.com
Please email Professor Robert Martin for any more information: r.martin@aston.ac.uk
http://www.abs.aston.ac.uk/newweb/staff ... D=A0000685

A speed awareness course does improve people’s attitude and intention not to speed in the future

The research they did is total bias as it only includes those who took the course as opposed to penalty points !
It is meaningless !

"The motorist’s view of the need for safer road initiatives improved as a consequence of attending the course because they had learned useful information and realised the importance of driving within the required speed limit."

Er, no! I hope they did acquire useful information, but what is more important is that they learn to drive more safely: that is what matters. The desirability of complying with speed limits has little to do with that, although they should be respected in built-up areas.

The easiest way to convince people of anything is for it to be true. What the ‘speed kills’ culture and dumbing down of limits has done is say we are telling you something which is true for all and any instance; which is a blatant lie.