Speeding drivers hauled before the school

A council has unveiled a new approach to tackling speeding motorists near to schools.

Knowsley Council is giving an option to drivers who break a 30mph limit near to schools; they can either accept a £60 fine and three points on their licence or face pupils at the school for an interrogation. Drivers caught in this way face up to questioning by pupils before watching a video about parents who have lost children in accidents caused by speeding drivers. In a trial of the project 20 drivers were pulled up and all of them chose to go before the panel of schoolchildren rather than pay the fine.

Merseyside Police say that people driving at excessive speeds will still get a ticket so the scheme only targets those who are just over the limit. Andy Wilson, road safety manager at Knowsley Council, said: “We were teaching the children about crossing the road and stopping distances, letting them use the speed guns and they asked me why people drive so fast past their school. I said the best people to ask were the drivers. We do a lot of work with the police and they had issues with speeding on this road so the two came together nicely.”

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