The driver and vehicle licensing centre maintains a computer file holding details of all driving licences that have been issued to drivers in great britain. These details include information about convictions for motoring offences and the sentences imposed. Samples from the file have been analysed to investigate how offence rates vary among different groups of drivers, concentrating on those types of offence that are particularly relevant to road safety. The report describes briefly the driving licence file, and the preparation of samples from the file for analysis. Various analyses are then reported, and these show a strong age effect on offence rates: for example, most offence rates for drivers aged 17-19 are about three times the average over all age groups. rates for male drivers are about five times the rate for female drivers of a similar age. The number of 'careless driving' offences and 'accident offences' committed by drivers who have committed drink/drive offences are higher than would be expected from a matched group of the general driving population. These drivers also account for about one quarter of all disqualifications for motoring offences not involving alcohol. (Author/publisher)
Abstract