Scotland's top police officer says speeding motorists should be offered courses to avoid points

Motorists caught driving marginally over the speed limit south of the border are offered the chance to avoid points by paying up to £100 to take part in workshops in which they are taught about the consequences of speeding and how to avoid it.

Mr Gormley said the approach had led to promising results and that he believed teaching motorists about safe driving techniques is likely to prove a more effective way to improve road safety than taking only a punitive approach.

He said: "People who attend them find them really helpful. We do need some research on the genuine impact on reoffending and road safety but instinctively it feels like the right thing to do.

"Instinctively, I think somebody who goes and spends five or six hours carefully and sensibly going through a program that helps them understand and perhaps reacquaints them with safe driving techniques, as opposed to getting a fixed penalty notice through the post three weeks later and you’re scratching your head trying to remember where it was that you were, human nature suggests that the former is going to be more effective. So, it does exist in England and Wales, I think there’s some real merit in those sorts of approaches."

As the speed awareness courses are classed as an alternative to prosecution, it would be for the Crown Office rather than Police Scotland or the Scottish Government to introduce the scheme.

In England, courses usually last between four and five hours and include classroom sessions and practical driving lessons with instructors. Once drivers have attended a speed awareness course, they will not be offered another one for three years meaning they would automatically be hit with penalty points if they are caught speeding again in the period.

Police forces south of the border have cited independent research which they say shows they are effective in promoting safer driving. Courts across the UK can already offer drink drivers the chance to reduce bans following convictions by taking a course.

Dave Nichols, spokesman for road safety charity Brake, said he was generally supportive of speed awareness courses but said he strongly believed they should not be offered as an alternative to penalty points.

He added: "Speed remains one of the biggest killers on our roads, and offenders should not be able to escape penalty points because they have attended a speed awareness course. Fines for speeding remain far too low, but if these were increased, a reduced fine could be offered as an incentive for drivers attending these courses, instead of waiving penalty points."

A Crown Office spokesman said that speed awareness courses were not currently available in Scotland but that it was "happy to consider diversion schemes" in the area if they were shown to improve traffic safety.

Mr Gormley made his comments while giving evidence to Holyrood's justice sub-committee on policing. In the session, he backed statutory stop and search as an "important tactic" but emphasised that it should be intelligence led and have the consent of the public, saying the police should be on the front line of defending citizens' human rights.

He also acknowledged concerns over the "Strathclydisation" of the national force since its introduction in 2013 and said enabling officers to make decisions relevant to the areas they were policing was "really important."

Meanwhile, Andrew Flanagan, The chair of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), conceded its scrutiny of the national force "could be improved" in relation to major projects, such as its trouble-hit i6 computer system.

Kevin Stewart, the Aberdeen SNP MSP, said: "So, you're basically saying to me you don't have the experience to scrutinise major projects to the degree you probably should?" Mr Flanagan told him: "I think that's fair."