---

Colorado Courts Adopt AIPS 'Aware Driver' Home Study Course

20 January 1999

Colorado Courts Adopt AIPS 'Aware Driver' Home Study Course

    MIAMI, Jan. 19 -- American Institute for Public Safety (AIPS)
reports that its "Aware Driver" defensive driving course -- well-known to
hundreds of thousands of traffic violators around the country -- now is being
used by Colorado courts in video "home study" format.  On an individual court
basis, the violator can receive an offer or an order from the judge and/or the
prosecutor to take the video course at home, in return for a reduction in
points, dismissal of the case, etc.  Also -- and significant to the driving
public -- the violator may ask the court for the defensive driving course
option.
    "Responding to the nation's epidemic of unsafe driving and its effect upon
already congested courtrooms, judges increasingly are using our home study
video courses to 'divert' violators from their courts into effective attitude
and behavior modification programs," said Gary Alexander, AIPS president.
"Courts benefit from the program," he noted, "by virtue of reduced courtroom
congestion and -- more important -- the expectation that repeat offenders may
break their patterns of recidivism, as a result of the 'Aware Driver' course."
    Colorado's traffic violators also benefit from the program, according to
Alexander.  They gain the flexibility and convenience of home study, the
chance to have penalties reduced or charges dismissed, and the knowledge to
help keep them alive and out of trouble on roads, he added.
    Recently, AIPS' home study program has been adopted in the following
Colorado courts:  Burlington, Stratton, Flagler, Wray, Trinidad, Las Animas,
Broomfield, Arvada, Aurora, Wheat Ridge, Colorado Springs, Westminster and
Walsenburg, noted Mr. Alexander. "While a number of these courts are in large
municipal areas, such as Denver and Colorado Springs, many are farther from
major urban centers where the availability of and access to classroom courses
are problematic; the home study option provides the flexibility and
convenience needed by courts and violators alike," said Alexander.
    American Institute for Public Safety, Inc. is a Florida corporation, with
operating headquarters in Los Angeles and corporate headquarters in Miami.
    For more information: http://www.aipsnews.com or contact Henry Fiur at
305-895-2617.