A seed of an idea that germinated in the mind of Graham Symes in the late 1980s after much work bore fruit on 5th March 1992.
Graham, concerned with the ever increasing road accident toll, decided that the problem required an aggressive approach in an endeavour to actively reduce the carnage occurring on our roads.
He believed that people had to be educated, in particular first offenders, to recognise the senselessness of reckless driving. He believed that the majority of people charged for traffic offences were mainly law abiding citizens who simply needed someone to point out the error of their ways.
After consultation with Magistrates and Senior Police Officers on the Central Coast and in the Sydney Metropolitan area and having examined other programs over eighteen months Graham developed the Traffic Offenders Program that commenced in Blacktown on 5th March 1992.
The Program is an educational pre-sentencing program that focuses on those offenders referred by the Judges or Magistrates of the Courts, who they believe are redeemable.
An offender’s solicitor or the offender may request they attend the Program but the final decision rests with Judge or Magistrate. The Program consists of eight presentations spread over seven weeks.
The main thrust of the educational Program is to make offenders aware of the costs to themselves and/or others in terms of the possibility of loss of life, mobility and employment.
‘Prevention is better than cure’