Swansea pensioner charged £45 to change date of speed awareness course

A MOTORIST who said he could not attend a speed awareness course because he had Covid has described paying £45 to change the date of the course as “scandalous”.
Norman Taylor was caught speeding on Fabian Way on July 16 while heading out of the city towards the M4.
He said he was clocked driving at 46mph on a 40mph stretch of the dual carriageway near the Bay Studios, just before a 50mph stretch started.
TTC Group, which runs the speed awareness courses, said it did not comment on individual cases.
Mr Taylor said that after being caught he had been given the option of attending a speed awareness course costing £88, or paying a fine and having three points added to his licence.
He chose the former and booked a face-to-face course at the Towers Hotel, Jersey Marine, on September 22. Some courses are held remotely.
In the meantime, Mr Taylor said he contracted Covid, despite having had two vaccination jabs, and that his health markedly declined.
“I’ve got severe asthma anyway,” said the 73-year-old. “I am booked in for a six-week intensive course at Morriston Hospital. I’ll have to go in twice a day.”
Mr Taylor, of Sketty, said he was not well enough to attend the course and felt that he shouldn’t in any case because of his Covid diagnosis, so he said he phoned up TTC Group the day before and explained the situation.
He said he was offered another date for a course by the woman he spoke to – October 29 – but that he would have to pay £45 to change it.
“She said I could appeal it, but it’s just scandalous,” he said. “When I feel better, I will appeal.”
Mr Taylor, a former HGV driver, said he’d never received a fixed penalty notice since he learned to drive aged 17.
The Local Democracy Reporter Service contacted TTC Group, which said it didn’t comment on individual cases. It did forward details of a website which had information about speed awareness courses.