AN EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TELEVISED, LOCALLY ORIENTED DRIVER REEDUCATION

TELEVISION, WITH ITS ABILITY TO REACH LARGE AUDIENCES, HAS BEEN USED EXTENSIVELY IN DRIVER-EDUCATION EFFORTS BUT ITS EFFECTIVENESS HAS NEVER BEEN MEASURED. THE PURPOSE OF THIS RESEARCH WAS TO MEASURE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A TELEVISED, LOCALLY ORIENTED, "CANDID CAMERA" TYPE OF DRIVER RE-EDUCATION PROGRAM. THE MEASURES OF EFFECTIVENESS INCLUDED A STUDY OF CHANGES IN DRIVER ERRORS AT 8 LOCAL INTERSECTIONS AND AN ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN ACCIDENT-INVOLVEMENT RATE FOR 48 LOCAL INTERSECTIONS. THE TELEVISED PROGRAM ENTITLED "TRAFFIC MADNESS" CONSISTED OF AN 18-MONTH SERIES OF 2- TO 3-MINUTE LOCALLY ORIENTED TRAFFIC SAFETY FILMS, PRODUCED BY RESEARCH PROJECT STAFF. THESE SHOWED LOCAL DRIVERS IN THE PROCESS OF MAKING ERRORS AT BOTH RURAL AND URBAN LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT LEXINGTON-FAYETTE COUNTY, KENTUCKY. IN SEQUENCE WITH EACH TYPE OF DRIVER ERROR SHOWN, THE CORRESPONDING CORRECT DRIVING PROCEDURE WAS ILLUSTRATED. BOTH DRIVER ERRORS AND TOTAL ACCIDENTS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED 17.4 PERCENT (P LESS THAN 0.01) AND 12.5 PERCENT (P LESS THAN 0.01) RESPECTIVELY. DRIVER ERRORS WERE COUNTED ONLY DURING HOME-FROM-WORK RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC ON TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS FROM 4:00 TO 5:30 P.M., WHEREAS THE ACCIDENT STUDY ENCOMPASSED ALL HOURS OF THE WEEK WHEN OUT-OF-COUNTY DRIVERS NOT EXPOSED TO THE PROGRAM MADE UP A PROPORTIONATELY LARGER PERCENTAGE OF DRIVERS IN THE SAMPLE. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1969/292/292-004.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Paper sponsored by Committee on Road User Characteristics. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Hutchinson, John W
  • Cox, Charles S
  • Maffet, Bennie R
• Publication Date: 1969

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 51-63
• Monograph Title: Drivers and driving
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 292
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash analysis; Crash rates; Driver training; Drivers; Errors; Peak hour traffic; Television; Traffic crashes
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00223086
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: Paper No 1
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Mar 9 1970 12:00AM