The thesis has basis in the question some have to the usefulness of education in traffic safety prevention. The eighties were dominated by optimism concerning safety education, which was followed by pessimism in the nineties.The two studies in the thesis include young drivers and motor cyclists. Theoretical aspects are more in focus in the first study, while practical education is emphasized in the second.Both theory and the two studies illustrate the possibility to utilize education in traffic safety work. Discussion subjects in the thesis are - how education can be designed in order to achieve desired results, whether man is rational, and whether education can influence road user’s overestimation of their own skills and performance.Recommendations for future studies are e.g. the safety research would benefit from extending the traditional cognitive focus to include theory on emotion and individual differences; one should emphasize safety, mastery and how things work; theory can bring important ideas on how road users can develop realistically expectations of management and control.Together, the results indicate a relation between education and safety. The relation is influenced of the person’s thoughts, feelings, behaviour, and earlier experiences, in addition to the social context. Variables studied are education, personal variables (attitudes, personality, self concept, and social norm), risk behaviour, near accidents and accidents.It is a difference between men’s and women’s explanatory models for both groups (motor cyclists and drivers).The study of young drivers indicates that education has a varying effect on attitudes, social norms and self concept, and where the largest effect is on self concept. The significance of education on risk is mainly through driver’s risk perception.The study of motor cyclists emphasizes technical training. The results indicate that technical training may have more importance than theoretical education. The technical training seems to have significant influence on the motor cyclist’s interests, perception of challenges and experiences of flow. Similarly to the drivers, the education of motor cyclists has an indirect effect on accidents via the person’s behaviour and near accidents. Near accidents and accidents are influenced of both feelings and thoughts, in addition to the individual differences among the motor cyclists. (Author/publisher)
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