Speed awareness courses have been postponed amid coronavirus fears. This follows news of the suspension of driving and theory tests that we first reported last week.
The UK Road Offender Education (UKROEd), which operates the speed awareness courses on behalf of the police, has suspended all classroom based courses for an initial period of 12 weeks, from 9am on Friday 20 March 2020.
In a statement, UKROEd said: “This is the right thing to do to help protect individual’s health and reduce the risk associated with a wider spread of the virus.”
It also said that it will work with police forces and course providers to “establish options to deal with drivers who have already been offered a course”.
The National Speed Awareness Course provides eligible offending drivers with a short course of training as an alternative to punishment for low-level speeding offences. Although a speed awareness costs around £100, you don’t have to pay the standard Fixed Penalty Notice and you won’t receive any points on your licence.
Anyone who is booked on a speed awareness course will be contacted by the police force or the course provider. UKROEd said that this is a “massive undertaking” and has asked drivers to remain patient while the relevant bodies “work through everything”.
Norfolk Road Safety has contacted everyone booked on a course. In an email, it said: “We are contacting you to advise you that your NDORS (National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme) course has been cancelled. Unfortunately, due to the current situation with coronavirus, all courses for speed awareness… have been suspended for 12 weeks.
“We are working hard with police forces during this time and would ask that you please bear with us until we have further information regarding future bookings.”
In a statement on its website, Dorset Police has said: “With immediate effect all Dorset Police Driver Awareness Courses will not be postponed until further notice.”
Speed awareness course cancellation: will you get points?
You have four months from the date on your letter to complete the course you’re eligible for. Obviously the 12-week period stated in the message we’ve seen equates to three months. That’s a substantial chunk of the leeway time.
We can’t say for certain what cancellations of speed awareness courses mean at this point, in terms of points on your driving licence. Although they shouldn’t translate into an automatic addition of points, it’s worth contacting the course provider and local constabulary that issued your penalty.
The message goes on to give the option of a full refund for the course, which you can request via email. However, if you do so, your details will be ‘passed back to the police’.
