Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council

Driver Improvement

Background

The National Driver Improvement Scheme finds its origins within the Road Traffic Law Review of 1988. This was known as the North Report (after its author Dr Peter North) and many of its recommendations were incorporated within the Road Traffic Act, 1991.

In the review Dr North identified that:

“It must be in the public interest to rectify a fault rather than punish the transgressor” and that “The retraining of traffic offenders may lead to an improvement in their driving, particularly if their training is angled towards their failings”.

A recommendation in the report was that: “A pilot study of training in basic driving skills should be undertaken to determine whether such retraining produces a lasting improvement in the driving skills of the offenders undertaking it”.

In 1991 Devon County Council undertook to offer retraining for those clients who had come to the attention of the police for offences of driving without due care and attention where an accident had occurred. HM Inspector of Constabulary cited the Scheme as ‘Best Practice’ in 1994, which encouraged more police forces to adopt the scheme, which later became known as the ‘National Driver Improvement Scheme’.

West Midlands

Dudley Road Safety took the lead in the West Midlands, negotiating with the Police to set up the West Midlands Driver Improvement Providers Group (WMDIPG).

The group now consists of the seven Local Authorities (Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton). Dudley acts as the main point of contact with the Police, and since April 1st 2002 administers all the Black Country Centres, which are based in each of the Black Country Authorities.

Courses are now also available in all West Midland City and Metropolitan authorities. Studies on the effectiveness of the scheme show that those completing the course reduce their chances of being involved in road collisions. The vast majority of those who have taken the course comment that they feel they have benefited from it, and often say that everyone should have the opportunity to take it, rather than waiting until they have been involved in an incident.

Further Information

For information about the scheme in the West Midlands contact us on 01384 814569.

Addresses and maps for all course locations in the West Mildands can be found using the link on the left (Driver Improvement Centres).

For further information about the national scheme please visit the national website.

Centre of Excellence Status Award

The DfT named the West Midlands as one of 17 Centres of Excellence for its approach to Road Safety. The Road Safety award was in part in respect of the partnership approach to the Driver Improvement Scheme, and as such we were expected to share our experience with other authorities by organising seminars to share best practice.

As a contribution to the award the West Midlands Group hosted a meeting of the National Group, at which we were able to highlight our unique partnership approach.

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