TTC DRIVER EDUCATION WILL HELP CUT ROAD CASUALTIES IN KENT
08/05/2012
Kent motorists who commit minor motoring offences will continue to be educated by the TTC Group, a national driver training organisation, as part of Kent County Council’s aim to cut road casualties in the county.
Kent County Council delivers the courses as service providers to their partners Kent Police.
The TTC Group, an award winning driver training company, has been re-appointed by the council’s road safety team to run the National Driver Alertness Course.
TTC was involved in the design and development of the new course which has been rolled out across the UK and replaced the National Driver Improvement Scheme last year.
“This is a positive and interactive course that puts the driver at the centre of their experience and involves a day of both theory and on the road practical driver training,” said TTC’s Alan Prosser, part of the national review group.
“The course aims to change attitudes and driving behaviour to reduce road casualties. We all need to take care when driving because for every crash to occur someone has made a mistake, which is avoidable. Whether it’s driving too close to the car in front, not paying attention on the road or considering how your driving affects other road users.”
Road safety officers praised the TTC Group which has successfully run diversionary education schemes for Kent motorists since 2005.
Steve Horton, the county council’s Road Safety Team Leader, said the new one year contract extended their “excellent working relationship.”
“I have the utmost confidence that we will continue to receive an excellent service from TTC and that they will provide a quality service which will ultimately contribute to the wider casualty reduction work we carry out.”
The driving course in Kent has been praised for correcting bad driving habits. Motorists choose to attend the seven hour course as an alternative to appearing before magistrates to face a charge of driving without due care.
The aim is to cut the number of collisions and reduce their financial and emotional costs.
Casualties on Kent’s roads have been reduced by half over the past decade - an improvement on the Government’s ten year national target of a 40 per cent reduction. In 2010 a total of 55 people were killed and 498 were seriously injured in road crashes.
Steve Horton said: "We are not complacent about these figures and are very aware that every death or injury on our roads is a huge personal tragedy that affects the family, friends and colleagues of those involved. This is what motivates us to deliver a range of initiatives in Kent, like these courses."
The Department for Transport calculates that every death on the road costs an average of £1.9m in lost wages and taxes and costs in emergency services and hospital treatment.