Organisation: ACPO
Date uploaded: 27th July 2011
Date published/launched: January 2011
This report looks into ACPO’s position concerning the use of the offender driver retraining scheme, for minor road offences, which is preferred over criminal prosecution.
ACPO favours education over punishment for suitable offences, with the need for a mixture of statutory and non statutory retraining schemes.
The Police have been operating the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS) as a Criminal Justice disposal option for minor moving Road Traffic Offences since 1991. This was developed from the recommendations in the Road Traffic Law Review of 1988. They are run entirely by the Police to a corporate arrangement and the course provision is usually procured from a mixture of private and public sector contractors from the road safety/driver training professions.
Evidence would support they are very popular with the public. The offenders pay for the cost of the course in lieu of the penalty that is in place for the offence and an incentive is that no penalty is recorded against them on completing the course. It is enforced by a sanction of reverting to the original offence process in default of an offender not completing the course.
An offender can only access the course once in a three-year period; further offences of a similar nature by the offender within the three-year period will be dealt with via the Criminal Justice system.
For more information contact:
ACPO press office
T: 020 7084 8946