THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A UNIFORM TRAFFIC SCHOOL CURRICULUM FOR NEGLIGENT DRIVERS

THE STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A UNIFORM TRAFFIC SCHOOL CURRICULUM DEVELOPED FOR THE MULTIPLE TRAFFIC VIOLATOR. SUBJECTS APPEARING BEFORE THE TRAFFIC COURT FOR A RECENT TRAFFIC VIOLATION WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED BY THE JUDGE TO EITHER THE NEW TRAFFIC SCHOOL OR TO A CONTROL GROUP IN FOUR CALIFORNIA CITIES. A SAMPLE OF SUBJECTS ATTENDING THE REGULAR OR STANDARD TRAFFIC SCHOOL IN LOS ANGELES WAS ALSO RANDOMLY SELECTED FOR ADDITIONAL COMPARISONS. QUESTIONNAIRE CONTACTS WERE MADE TO OBTAIN ADDITIONAL INFORMATION NOT AVAILABLE ON THE SUBJECT'S DRIVER RECORD. COMPARISONS BETWEEN THE TREATMENT GROUPS ON VARIOUS BIOGRAPHICAL AND PRIOR DRIVER RECORD VARIABLES INDICATED THAT THE JUDGES EXERCISED SOME SELECTIVITY IN THE TREATMENT ASSIGNMENT. THEREFORE, MULTIPLE CONVARIANCE ANALYSIS AND MULTIPLE REGRESSION WERE USED TO CONTROL THESE BIASES. FOR MALE DRIVERS, THE UNIFORM DRIVER IMPROVEMENT SCHOOL RESULTED IN AN 11.8 PERCENT REDUCTION IN ACCIDENTS AND A 6.2 PERCENT REDUCTION IN CONVICTIONS. HOWEVER, THE OVERALL RESULTS SHOULD BE QUALIFIED SINCE SIGNIFICANT TREATMENT INTERACTIONS WERE DISCOVERED. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE NEW TRAFFIC SCHOOL VARIED WITH THE TYPE OF DRIVER TREATED, WITH THE SUBJECT'S PRIOR DRIVING RECORD HAVING A MAJOR INFLUENCE. FOR FEMALES, THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE OF A POSITIVE TREATMENT EFFECT. THE NEW TRAFFIC SCHOOL COMPARED FAVORABLY WITH THE REGULAR TRAFFIC SCHOOL FOR MALES, ALTHOUGH THE RESULTS WERE MORE SUGGESTIVE THAN CONCLUSIVE. IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT FUTURE PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT SHOULD BE IN THE DIRECTION OF SHORTENING AND MODIFYING COURSE CONTENT, AND EXPERIMENTING WITH DIFFERENT MODIFICATION TECHNIQUES. /AUTHOR/

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00014575
• Supplemental Notes:
  • 1 APP
• Authors:
  • Harano, R M
  • Peck, R C
• Publication Date: 1972-3

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 13-45
• Serial:
  • Accident Analysis & Prevention
  • Volume: 4
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0001-4575
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00014575

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Curricula; Driver improvement programs; Gender; Traffic violators
• Uncontrolled Terms: Driver improvement; Traffic schools
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00221670
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 16 1972 12:00AM