Effects of Defensive Vehicle Handling on Novice Driver Safety : Phase 3. Data Analysis and Results

Technical report; July 2005\uc2\ubfApr. 2010.PDFTech ReportFHWA/MT-10-004/8183-0038183-003Driver trainingDriver improvement programsTransportation safetyRecently qualified driversMontanaMontana. Dept. of Transportation. Research ProgramsStanley, LauraMueller, JessicaWestern Transportation InstituteMontana. Dept. of Transportation. Research ProgramsUnited States. Federal Highway AdministrationNTL-PLANNING AND POLICY-EducationNTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Highway SafetyUS Transportation CollectionThis project evaluates the effectiveness of a multistage driver education program for Montana\ue2\u20ac\u2122s youngdrivers. A total of 347 teenaged drivers who had completed high school driver education agreed to participate.These drivers were randomly split into two groups of approximately equal size, one of which receivedadditional instruction in a defensive driving workshop (case group) and another that did not (control group).Self-reported and DMV data was collected over a four-year period (from 2006 to 2009) to determine thedrivers\ue2\u20ac\u2122 involvement in near-misses, single- and multiple-vehicle collisions and any citations received. In 2006and 2007, there was a significantly lower number of self-reported citations in the case group compared to thecontrol group. However, when adjusted for driving exposure the differences were found to be insignificant.When adjusting for driving exposure, near-miss and collision experience between the two groups was notsignificantly different during any of the survey years. It should be noted that other possible positive outcomesof the training, such as increased knowledge, increased skills, and increased driving adaptability, cannot bemeasured by analyzing the dependent variables collected in this study