A STAGGERING 16,000 speeding motorists have paid to go on a driver awareness course in Dorset in the last year instead of having points on their licence.

The Driver Awareness Scheme, a Dorset Police initiative, educates drivers about hazards on the roads and the dangers of driving at both excessive and inappropriate speeds.

Certain drivers are offered the chance to attend the three-hour course if they have committed low-end speeding offences, as an alternative to the fixed penalty process.

It means that instead of a fine and points on their licence, drivers can choose to pay the £60 fee for the course.

Since its launch in April 2005, around 34,500 drivers detected speeding in the county have accepted the offer to attend the course. And between July 2007 and July 2008, 16,000 have taken part.

The course is held in Winfrith and is also being held at the RNLI base in Poole on a trial basis.

Dorset Police's head of driver education, Nisha Devani, said speed cameras in Dorset made 60,000 detentions during the same time period.

"The unfortunate fact is that people will always speed. What we are trying to do is get the message across.

"It's a slow process trying to get into people's hearts and minds."

She added: "We know why they come to do the course - they don't want the points. But we want to get to them and educate them - the reason why they come is irrelevant. The point is that they do come.

"If we can save one life out of the 16,000 who have gone through it, it's absolutely worth it."

Chief Insp Wes Trickey, head of Dorset Police's traffic unit, said: "Speeding is habitual. Not many people can stand up and say they don't speed - most people do every day.

"I think education is the only way we can change people's attitudes."

A study of road deaths in Dorset has found that 28 per cent were linked to speed.