Traffic violator courses : what and whether.

Approximately 48,000 multiple traffic offenders were randomly assigned to a Traffic Survival School (TSS) teaching defensive driving procedures and a Traffic Violator School (TVS) attempting to alter conditions leading to traffic offfences. Over the year following assignment to course, offenders participating in the TVS experienced 8% fewer violations and 20% fewer accidents than those participating in the TSS. However, offenders who did not participate in either course, and had licenses suspended, experienced 26% fewer violations and 51% fewer accidents than course participants, an outcome attributed both to suspension itself and the possibility that offenders electing suspension were less dependent upon their cars and tended to drive less. (A)