MOTORISTS who marginally broke the speed limit have been sent on a course in Leyland to be educated in road safety rather than be prosecuted as part of a new initiative.

The course, set up by the Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety, aims to slow down speeders in the Lancashire area -- and so far the course has proved to be a success.

Offenders have been retrained at Centurion House, Centurion Way, Leyland, as part of the pilot scheme. To date the feedback has been positive-- prompting the launch of an extended awareness campaign across the county next month.

By the end of the course, drivers should be able to identify what it is that causes them to speed.

It also identifies the consequences and disadvantages of speeding, looks at different speed limit areas and demonstrates the correct use of speed for a variety of hazards.

Neil Cunliffe, principle road safety advisor for Lancashire, said: "There used to be a similar driver improvement scheme four years ago in this authority.

"When it was researched, we found that the main effective area that it targeted was speed. So we devised our own course which concentrated on that."

According to Neil people are thankful for getting help with their driving.

He said: "We change their attitude towards driving and then send them out on the road with an advanced driving instructor."

He added: "Ninety per cent of accidents revolve around speed and accidents can be reduced significantly if speed is just reduced by five-miles per hour. We just have to turn round the general attitudes towards speed like we did with drink driving."

Road collisions bring death and misery to people and their families at a huge public cost -- estimated to be £370million every year.

Speed is seen as a crucial factor in road casualties. Last year 60 people were killed on the roads of Lancashire.

The course launch will collide with a new television advertising campaign by the Department of Transport, Local Government and regions aimed at reducing the number of crashes caused by speeding motorists.