The effects of short individual driver improvement sessions on the subsequent driving records of negligent operators were evaluated. Also investigated was the influence of age on the effectiveness of these sessions. The following are the conclusions drawn in this report: /1/ those requested to attend a hearing had significantly fewer convictions during the first 12-month period following such a scheduled hearing than did a control group, /2/ these effects appeared to shrink during the second 12-month period to a point where differences between experimental and control groups were not statistically significant, /3/ accident frequency did not appear to be reduced as a consequence of the driver improvement hearing, /4/ the hearings did not reduce the point count of the negligent operator during a one-year follow-up to that of the average driver, /5/ the effects of the hearing were constant at all age levels. Among other topics discussed are the effects of attending a hearing versus merely receiving a hearing notice and certain limitations in the findings and research design. /author/.
Abstract