THERE'S been considerable controversy recently about speed cameras. Should we have more or are they an infringement of our civil liberties?

It seems they are a necessary evil as speed is often to blame for injuries and deaths on Britain's roads.

Nationwide every year about 3,500 people are killed and 40,000 seriously injured in 240,000 crashes, costing society £3 billion. But the human cost is far greater to bereaved relatives and accident victims who spend weeks or months recuperating, often to be physically or mentally scarred for life.

Now the Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety, which includes Lancashire County Council and the police, is extending its innovative speed awareness campaign across the county.

The campaign, a course for motorists who have marginally broken the speed limit and been caught on camera, was piloted in the Lancashire Constabulary regions of Chorley and Preston.

It has been successful in that more than 130 drivers have opted to pay £95 for the six-hour course rather than a £60 fixed penalty and three points on their licence.

Neil Cunliffe, the county's principal Road Safety Officer, said that at 20mph, one in 20 people involved in a collision would be killed. That rose to nine out of 20 at 30mph, 14 out of 20 at 35mph and 17 out of 20 at 40mph. But the partnership feels that penalising their bank account won't necessarily make drivers change their attitudes towards speeding.

A much better idea, it believes, is to re-train motorists who have only marginally broken the limit and are mortified to be facing penalty points on an otherwise clean licence.

According to Ian Bell, project manager for the Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety, the speed awareness course mirrors the "driver improvement scheme" already operating in the county which offers an alternative to prosecution.

Some motorists who might otherwise be taken to court and charged with driving without due care and attention can opt instead for a course aimed at improving their driving.

"We are looking at dealing with between three and five thousand motorists in the first year of this pilot scheme," Mr Bell said. "We know the scheme in Lancashire is unique and hopefully other police forces and authorities will use it in the future."

Motorists who opt for the speed awareness course are given theory training by course co-ordinator Shelagh Bolton, an approved driving instructor. When asked why they speed, drivers offer various excuses and explanations: they were late, being tailgated, going with the flow of traffic in front.

But comments received after the course have made Shelagh realise her efforts have not been in vain. One driver whom she described as a "nightmare" when he arrived, told her afterwards: "You have really changed my attitudes." After the theory is the practical training and I was taken on the roads of Leyland by Adrian Whalley of Nelson, an approved driving instructor for 25 years.

I had never driven an automatic and this was part of my excuse when I cruised from a de-restricted area into a 30mph zone at 38mph. Normally I would have used the gears to slow me down, I said, but Adrian was not convinced.

In 20 years of driving I had never had an accident and never been caught speeding, I protested, but he ignored my pleas.

"'Caught' is the operative word," he said. Well and truly chastised, I waited for the results of my assessment. I was of a reasonable standard on concentration, observation and anticipation, but needed to look even further ahead, he said.

My attitude and knowledge of speed limits was good, but I got a poor mark for failing to abide by them.

I wondered why the course was only available for people who commited minor transgressions and not lunatics who drove like bats out of hell. According to Mr Cunliffe, there's a difference between the "total violator" who is not interested in obeying speed limits and those who care and don't want to commit another offence.

"If we can get the majority to drive within the speed limit, the violators are going to stand out even more," he said.