TWO EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF TRAFFIC LAW-VOLUME II: THE EFFECT OF COURT APPEARANCE ON TRAFFIC LAW VIOLATERS

THIS STUDY COMPARED THE EFFECTS ON SUBSEQUENT DRIVING RECORDS OF 5434 MOVING TRAFFIC VIOLATORS NOT ORDINARILY REQUIRED TO APPEAR IN COURT, OF A REQUIRED COURT APPEARANCE VS. SIMPLER AND LESS COSTLY ALTERNATIVES. THERE WERE NO DIFFERENCES IN SUBSEQUENT CRASHES, MOVING VIOLATIONS OR MOVING VIOLATION POINTS BETWEEN REQUIRED COURT AND THE STANDARD CLERK, MAIL-IN OR WARNING CITATION GROUPS. HOWEVER, THE REQUIRED COURT APPEARANCE GROUP, ON THE AVERAGE, RECORDED A SUBSEQUENT MOVING VIOLATION OR CRASH SOONER THAN THE OTHER CITATION GROUPS. WHEN INITIAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS WERE CONTROLLED STATISTICALLY, A BETTER RECORD FOLLOWING COURT APPEARANCE WAS OCCASIONALLY FOUND AMONG CERTAIN SUBSAMPLES, BUT THE SUBSAMPLES SHOWING SUCH BENEFITS VARIED FROM ONE COMPARISON TO ANOTHER AND DID NOT CLEARLY SUPPORT THE EXPERIMENTAL HYPOTHESIS OF A BENEFICIAL EFFECT OF A REQUIRED COURT APPEARANCE ON SUBSEQUENT DRIVING RECORDS.

• Corporate Authors:

  Geomet Incorporated

  50 Monroe Street
  Rockville, MD  United States  20850
• Authors:
  • BLUMENTHAL, M
  • Ross, H L
• Publication Date: 1973-2

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 154 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Courts; Crash rates; Driver performance; Drivers; Personnel performance; Police
• Uncontrolled Terms: Violations
• Subject Areas: Highways; Law; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222225
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Highway Safety Research Institute
• Report/Paper Numbers: Final Rep
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 17 1973 12:00AM