People who have been involved in a crash who might have found themselves being fined or prosecuted are now being offered an alternative.

A fitness to drive scheme was launched today by Kent Police and South East DriveAbility (SED), a clinical service led by a consultant occupational therapist practitioner based in Aylesford.

The initiative took five years to reach fruition and aims to help motorists stay safe behind the wheel.

Working with drivers referred by Kent Police, the scheme will support people who have been involved in a collision or careless driving and who fit the criteria, as an alternative to being prosecuted or fined.

After a driving assessment, South East DriveAbility submits a report to Kent Police which determines whether the driver is safe to be on the road, requires training or must stop indefinitely.

If the recommendation is to stop, the findings are compiled with the police’s initial incident report and sent to the DVLA, which then makes a final licensing decision.

Head of SED, Dr Anu Varshney, said: “This has taken five years for us to finally implement this scheme for people living in Kent.

"Along with improving road safety, this scheme has the potential to support drivers who may not be aware of medical conditions that may have been a contributing factor in a road traffic incident.

"With our intervention, medical help can support the driver, helping them to remain safely on the roads.”

Margaret Davies took the training in 2020 after a collision and described it as an opportunity to improve her driving skills.

She said: "I had never heard of the scheme before so did lots of research. I had to complete my first assessment and was incredibly nervous and failed.

"I found an instructor to complete some refresher driving lessons and he quickly found a number of bad habits I had gained in my 40-plus years driving history and, of course, was able to highlight important changes in the Highway Code.

"It really gave me an opportunity to improve my driving and confidence to pass my driver plus. I was sceptical at first but only because I had never heard of the scheme. I now recommend it to anyone who has the opportunity.”

Edward Trewhella, chief executive of Driving Mobility, one of the scheme's partners, said: "As a national charity supported by the Department for Transport, we are 100% focused on safely enabling individuals whether that’s as a driver, passenger or user of public transport.

"This new joint initiative delivers just that through a positive approach that assesses and educates rather than simply prosecutes. We believe the partnership between SED and Kent Police will build on the success of other forces already working with Driving Mobility centres and we encourage more to join the scheme."