Drink driving remains a significant cause of death and serious injury on UK roads. Over the past decade, some 240 people have been killed each year where a driver was over the legal alcohol limit
The UK’s largest provider of road safety courses, TTC Group looks at how the Drink Drive Rehabilitation Scheme can help change all of that.
Drink driving is one of the biggest causes of road deaths (13%) in the UK, with an average of 240 people killed each year where a driver had exceeded the legal drink drive limit.
Sadly, nearly one in five (17%) drink drive offences is committed by a reoffender.
December 2020’s Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) report: Drink Driving – Taking Stock, Moving Forward identified a plateau of Drink Drive offences and Drink Drive related deaths in the UK.
TTC Group believes the solution could lie in something that is already acknowledged, readily available, currently in use and producing highly positive results – Drink Drive Rehabilitation Schemes (DDRS).
Education, not just punishment
Drink Drive Offender education is not a new concept, and can be dated back to the late-80s when Peter North (now Lord North) whilst addressing rises in road traffic offences, recommended the government should consider providing education, not just punishment for those breaking traffic laws. The first traffic offence to be considered for education was drink driving.
Following a national call by the Department of Transport (DfT) in 1991, TTC Group’s founder worked with a range of individuals including Police, Magistrates, and other probation colleagues to develop a programme, which was subsequently accepted by the DfT as one of 18 pilot projects covering England.
The Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) was commissioned to undertake long term evaluation of the pilot programmes, with the results demonstrating significant improvement in knowledge, attitude, and reoffender rates. TRL found that the course successfully reduced reoffending.
Those who did not attend the course were almost three times more likely to reoffend within three years than those who did attend.
Shaping the future of Drink Drive courses
Having delivered awareness training of the Drink Drive scheme to over 12,000 magistrates throughout the UK, TTC Group were later asked by the DfT to organise the equivalent of a trade body for providers to improve consistency and improve its dialogue with providers.
As a result of this request the Association of Drink Drive Approved Providers of Training (ADDAPT) was formed. From 2013 the DfT transferred responsibility for the running of the scheme to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) which is where it resides today – overseeing circa 35,000 courses per annum.
Today’s challenges
Today, TTC Group continues to be the largest provider of driver offender rehabilitation programmes and is the only provider approved to deliver Drink Drive courses across all nations within the UK. The Drink Drive Rehabilitation Scheme is one aspect of TTC Group’s offering and alongside offender rehabilitation courses such as the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS), Alcohol Education Course, and Victim Awareness Course.
Covid-19 has had major implications on driver offender rehabilitation. However, already a long-term vision and ‘accelerated’ by the pandemic TTC Group has helped change the face of driver offender rehabilitation with its educational programme successfully moving online, endorsed by the DVSA, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Department for Infrastructure. The results of the move have proved extremely positive for all stakeholders.
Head of TTC Group’s DDRS division, Tim Ribton, said: “The move to providing a digital classroom environment really serves to highlight the strength of partnership we have with the governing bodies from each of the nations within the UK.
“The move to virtual, online provision really has changed the face of the offender rehabilitation programmes and has served to highlight the benefits to all key stakeholders from individual offenders, drivers, police forces, other road users and employers alike.”
Tim continued: “There is still much work to be done behind the scenes and we are committed to improving community and road safety through education. Online rehabilitation courses are crucial in making a positive difference, not only to the individual offenders who complete the course, but also for families and the wider communities throughout the UK.”
Further information is available about TTC Group’s Drink Drive course by visiting our website, where you will find useful tools including a Drink Drive Ban Calculator and a Course Locator.
If you are in the unfortunate position of facing a Drink Drive related court appearance, please remember to discuss your options with a solicitor and where possible, enquire whether you will be eligible to participate in a Drink Drive course.
