HAMPSHIRE drivers could be avoiding points on their licences due to incomplete sharing of speed awareness course attendance data, according to an insurance organisation.

Attendance data for three police authorities – including Hampshire – outside the national course scheme are not entered into overall police records, the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) said.

It added that there was no data-sharing between the local authorities running independent courses and the database.

Drivers can avoid a first speeding conviction by attending a national speed awareness course.

But they can only do this once every three years and have to accept a speeding conviction if caught speeding again during this time.

The CII said the attendance data problem was leading to some offenders avoiding conviction for this second offence.

It added that police authorities in Hampshire, Dorset and the City of London run their own courses.

David Williams, chairman of the CII underwriting faculty board, said: ''Due to incomplete sharing of speed awareness course attendance data, it is possible for an individual to be caught speeding more than once within a three-year period and slip through the net without having points added to their licence.

''This begs the question of how many drivers considered 'unsafe' by the majority of the public are still on the road, barely admonished and potentially putting lives in danger?

''Are police forces in the City of London, Hampshire and Dorset in danger of undermining efforts to improve road safety by not sharing data and offering speed awareness courses not in the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme?''