SYSTEMATIC BIASES IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS COMMITTED AND RECORDED CONVICTIONS

North Carolina crash data for 1972, with a follow-up for 1981, were examined to identify driver violations as reported by the investigating officer. This information was linked to the driver history file to determine whether there was a conviction, and, if so, for how serious a violation. Categorical analyses of the data showed systematic biases in who is convicted once a violation occurs. Nonwhites, drivers aged 55 and over, and drivers of older vehicles had a higher likelihood of being convicted of a same or higher level violation. Because all these variables may be considered as guides to socioeconomic status, it appears that those persons least able to defend themselves are most likely to experience convictions and hence fines, increased insurance costs, and increased probability of loss of license. Whether for research or administrative purposes, to the extent that driver records are used as an indicator of driver performance, it is important to be aware of such biases in the system. (Author/TRRL)

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Proceedings of the 27th Annual Conference, San Antonio, Texas, October 3-6, 1983.
• Corporate Authors:

  American Association for Automotive Medicine

  P.O. Box 222
  Morton Grove, IL  United States  60053
• Authors:
  • Waller, P F
  • Savornin Lohman, L de
  • Freeman, J
  • Stewart, J R
  • Reinfurt, D W
• Conference:
  • 27TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR AUTOMOTIVE MEDICINE
  • Location: San Antonio Texas, United States
  • Date: 1983-10-3 to 1983-10-6
• Publication Date: 1983

Media Info

• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 283-300
• Monograph Title: PROCEEDINGS OF THE TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, USA, OCTOBER 3-6, 1983. AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR AUTOMOTIVE MEDICINE

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Age; Conferences; Confiscation; Costs; Crashes; Driver licenses; Driver performance; Driver records; Drivers; High risk drivers; Insurance; Offenders; Penalties; Personnel performance; Socioeconomic factors; Sociology; Statistical bias; Traffic conviction; Traffic violations
• Uncontrolled Terms: Convictions
• Geographic Terms: United States
• ITRD Terms: 1643: Accident; 2279: Accident proneness; 1757: Age; 8525: Conference; 1500: Confiscation (driving licence); 224: Cost; 1568: Insurance; 1508: Offender; 1502: Penalty; 2253: Sociology; 8122: USA
• Subject Areas: Economics; Finance; Highways; Law; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies; Society; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00389446
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Institute for Road Safety Research, SWOV
• Files: HSL, ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 30 1984 12:00AM