THE PRESENT STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE WHETHER GRADUATES OF THE MOTORCYCLE TRAINING PROGRAM (MTP) WERE LESS LIKELY TO HAVE HAD AN ACCIDENT OR COMMITTED A TRAFFIC VIOLATION WHILE RIDING A MOTORCYCLE COMPARED TO INFORMALLY TRAINED (IT) MOTORCYCLISTS. SINCE MOTORCYCLISTS COULD NOT BE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO THE TRAINING PROGRAM, MULTIVARIATE ANALYSES WERE USED TO IMPOSE STATISTICAL CONTROL ON THE DATA. SAMPLES OF MTP GRADUATES (N=811) AND IT MOTORCYCLISTS (N=1080) WERE INTERVIEWED ABOUT THEIR RIDING EXPERIENCES DURING THE PAST FOUR YEARS INCLUDING ACCIDENTS AND VIOLATIONS. UNIVARIATE ANALYSES INDICATED THAT THE MTP GRADUATES WERE LESS LIKELY THAN IT RIDERS TO HAVE HAD ACCIDENTS AND VIOLATIONS DURING THE CRITERION PERIOD. HOWEVER, THE GRADUATES AND IT RIDERS DIFFERED IN SEX, AGE, TIME LICENSED, DISTANCE TRAVELLED, EDUCATION AND RIDING AFTER DRINKING, ALL CHARACTERISTICS SIGNIFICANTLY RELATED TO ACCIDENT AND VIOLATION LIKELIHOOD. MULTIVARIATE ANALYSES, CONTROLLING FOR THE DIFFERENCES IN THESE CHARACTERISTICS, REVEALED THAT THE MTP GRADUATES AND IT RIDERS DID NOT DIFFER IN ACCIDENT LIKELIHOOD BUT THE MTP GRADUATES WERE SIGNIFICANTLY LESS LIKELY TO HAVE COMMITTED A TRAFFIC VIOLATION THAT THE IT RIDERS. ALTHOUGH THE LOWER INCIDENCE OF TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS AMONG GRADUATES COULD BE ATTRIBUTED TO THE TRAINING PROGRAM, IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE GRADUATES SOUGHT FORMAL TRAINING BECAUSE THEY WERE SAFETY CONSCIOUS AND THIS ATTITUDE ALSO INFLUENCED THEIR RIDING BEHAVIOUR. (Author/publisher).
Abstract