HAD a motoring accident? Facing points on your driving licence? A Bury-based scheme is giving some motorists the chance to take a driver improvement course instead. But Bolton Evening News sub-editor Mike Whalley discovered that it is not a soft option.

THE policeman gave me two options after my car crash. Either I went to court and faced a possible fine and points on my licence, or I paid to go on a driver improvement course.

There's nothing wrong with my driving, I thought -- but then most people believe their motoring skills are good.

And I realised that successfully completing the National Driver Improvement Scheme (NDIS) course would guarantee keeping my licence clean.

It is likely that many of the drivers who pay around £145 for a place on the one-and-a-half day course, which runs in Bury once a fortnight, are also thinking of keeping a clean licence.

That is a shame, because it really can improve your driving -- and may just save a life.

For the course is not just about improving your own driving. It also teaches you to look out for other drivers' mistakes in order to reduce your chances of being involved in an accident.

The first NDIS courses were run in Devon in 1991.

Under the scheme, police were given the power to refer certain people involved in a car accidents who would otherwise face prosecution to such a course. The courses soon spread nationwide.

Every week, Greater Manchester chief trainer assessor Bill Ward leads a team of driving instructors running the course, which alternates between Bury and Stockport.

I joined 13 other nervous-looking drivers in a waiting room before our course began. Only three were women. I was told afterwards that there tends to be more men on the course. One compared the waiting to being in an execution chamber.

Yet the reality was less frightening. Senior trainer Mark Brennan began by telling us that every driver makes mistakes -- and that we are not robots. The key was to make as few mistakes as possible.

And Mr Ward added: "The course was designed by a psychologist. So every element of it, from the first cup of coffee when you walk into the room, is designed to erase people's negative thoughts. It's not about embarrassing people -- it's about getting them to improve their driving."

But the course was not a soft option. My first morning was made up of a series of lectures and group tasks designed to drill in the basics of being a good driver -- and to show how accidents happen. There was a lot of information to take in.

The key was to recognise our own culpability in a car accident -- even if, in insurance terms, it was not our fault.

The morning lectures were followed by two half-day driving sessions -- one on ordinary roads, one on the motorway -- in which each motorist went onto the road with an instructor.

My driving was not too bad, according to my instructor, but I needed to use my mirrors more.

I was also warned of the importance of sticking to the speed limit every time I looked as though I was in danger of going too fast. This may not seem like a major issue, were it not for research which has found that reducing the average speed of the British motorist by one mile per hour would cut the number of fatal road accidents annually by around five per cent. That's 175 lives saved every year.

The course is intensive, but it is not a "boot camp".

Mr Ward said: "There are a lot of people who start the course saying: 'I don't know why I'm here'. In their own minds, they are driving experts. But by the end of the morning session, they begin to see that there is something in it for them."

And by the end of our course, everyone -- even those who were initially cynical -- said they had learned something.

This is what makes the course so useful, according to Bolton Council senior road safety officer Trevor Higson.

He said: "In this country, once you've passed your driving test, you are then left to carry on without any further support. And people do develop bad habits.

"This course is an opportunity to overcome those bad habits."

And we were left in no doubt about this as our course comes to a close.

Instructor Shaun Hunt told us that a motorist who has just been involved in an accident is four times more likely than the average driver to be involved in a crash within the next 12 months.

As I walked away from the course, I resolved to improve my driving.

So the next time you find yourself wondering who that motorist is driving within the speed limit, give me a wave.

Scheme's road to success

The National Driver Improvement Scheme was launched in Devon in 1991 following the recommendations of the North report.

Dr Peter North believed that, for some offences, a short driving course would benefit motorists more than a fine and penalty points.

Forty police forces have adopted the scheme, which they run in partnership with local authorities.

The course has been running in Greater Manchester since 1999. It alternates weekly between the Seedfield Centre in Walmersley Road, Bury, and Houldsworth Mill in Reddish, Stockport.

Research carried out by the University of Exeter suggested that Driver Improvement Courses had a more positive effect on motorist behaviour than a court appearance.