Psychology 409, October 30, 2006
Change for the better
by your Lida Atkinson
Instructions
for this activity are found at:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy25/g25-oral1.htm
Instructor: Dr. Leon
James
Traffic
fatalities are one of the leading causes of death in North
America. In Ontario, Canada
it is the second leading cause of death for people under 45. Many attempts have
been made to explain driver behavior but this article sifts through a number of
published research works to try to identify what works and what does not. The article categorizes tools used to change
driver behavior into four areas, legislative, enforcement, reinforcement, and
education.
1)
Identifying what
behaviors need to be changed
a)
Cognitive models - beliefs,
attitudes, emotions, intentions and expectations
b)
Behavioral models - observable
behavior
c)
Risk, Utility,
Decision, and Game models - observable behavior and external influences, but
they also address theoretical internal functions such as subjective risk and
expected utility
2)
Legislation
a)
Seat belt legislation
i)
Legislation significantly
increases seat belt use at first, but the effect falls off over time
ii)
Public agencies have
learned to augment the effects of their laws with coordinated education and
enforcement efforts
b)
Child restraint
legislation
i)
A study of five U.S. states
found that legislation doubled the average use rate, but the effect varied
widely among the states
ii)
Use rates would
probably need to be in the 60% - 90% range to protect the majority of high risk
individuals.
iii)
Correct use of child
restraints remains a problem. Most children are not properly fitted and many
child seats not properly installed
c)
Motorcycle helmet
legislation
i)
A review concluded
that helmet use reduces serious and fatal injuries by from 28% to 73%
d)
Speed limit changes
i)
In 1987, a
legislative change in the U.S.
allowed states to raise the speed limits on rural interstate freeway sections.
Crashes became more sever but not more frequent
e)
DWI legislation
i)
DWI legislation,
coupled with enforcement programs, has an effect in the short term
ii)
Research suggests greater
enforcement puts a strain on the court system without and real reduction in
traffic crashes
iii)
DWI rates may be
masked by other societal trends such as overall increased drinking
iv)
Some studies suggest
that a higher minimum drinking age, reduced consumption and changes in
consumption location do decrease alcohol-related crashes, and that these
effects may continue beyond the legal drinking age
v)
There is a lot of
evidence to suggest that losing one's driving license is more effective than
fines or jail sentences
f)
Enforcement
i)
The theory of games
(1)
Perceptions of the
chances of being ticketed are based on the level of enforcement and the level
of enforcement set by authorities depends on the speed level of drivers
ii)
The STEP model
(1)
The Selective Traffic
Enforcement Program - a special enforcement approach that recognizes the value
of specific targets, planning, community support, training for enforcement
officers and evaluation
(2)
Step programs are
inherently temporary, but programs can be
repeated periodically and used strategically to boost compliance
iii)
Effects of different
types of enforcement
(1)
Diminished police
presence affects speed and speed variance but has little short-term effect on
the number of collisions
(2)
When enforcement was
visible, average speeds were sharply reduced
(3)
Feedback signs
substantially decreased the number of drivers who drove at more than 10 km over
the limit. The effectiveness of feedback signs were further increased when
police stopped speeders and gave them informational materials and warning
tickets, and when police stopped drivers who were traveling close to the limit,
thanked them, and gave them token rewards
(4)
Automatic policing
systems such as photo radar cameras seem to be effective in reducing both
speeds and collisions
iv)
Targeting specific
behaviors
(1)
Enforcement can raise
belt use rates substantially, especially when implemented with publicity and
other measures
(2)
Many legislative and
enforcement programs targeting DWI had strong initial effects that have
dissipated over time
g)
Reinforcement
i)
Reinforcement through
incentives and rewards
(1)
Drivers who had
caused crashes or committed violations in the previous year were informed that
their licenses would be extended free for 12 months if they maintained a clean
record in the forthcoming year. Significantly fewer drivers in the incentive
group had collisions in the first follow-up year
(2)
Studies show
substantial increases in seat belt use when a positive reward is attached to
their use
ii)
Effects of different
reward types
(1)
The strongest and
longest lasting effect came from the no-reward program, which included a
participative education component
iii)
Commitment, prompts,
cues and feedback
(1)
Variations of this
type of approach show positive results
h)
Education
i)
Evaluating road
safety education
(1)
The most traditional
approach, which was to place information in front of a passive audience, has
proven to be ineffective
(2)
What a program is
trying to teach must relate directly to those tasks a road user needs to learn
ii)
School-based programs
(1)
A number of studies
have been done on programs that use play and simulation techniques to teach
children an adult concept of speed, safe pedestrian habits and how to use
crosswalks. All showed positive, lasting effects
iii)
Public education and
information
(1)
Training and
education may not be able to produce safer road users on their own because
training and education have difficulty changing attitudes and behavior, but
social marketing concepts may offer a solution
iv)
Community education
programs
(1)
There is a need to
pin down questions about whom to educate, how to educate and to what end
v)
Formal driver
education programs
(1)
Showed better on-road
skills and lower collision rates per licensed driver during their first 6
months of driving
vi)
Advanced driver
training
(1)
Training for drivers
whose licenses are suspended, or training for experienced drivers in a
graduated licensing system, may provide a better structure for effective
training than training for novices
(2)
Evaluations of
advanced driving programs show no reductions in collision rates and a study of
such programs in Germany
revealed that drivers who participated in more than one advanced course were
involved in more collisions than those who only participated in one
vii)
Motorcycle rider
training
(1)
Various studies have indicated that untrained
riders have more crashes than trained riders, and all riders have fewer crashes
with each passing year
viii)Anti-DWI education
(1)
A review of the
effect of treatments on DWI offenders concluded that education and the threat
of legal repercussion may work on first-time offenders, but are too weak for serious
alcohol abusers
Conclusion:
What is clear from this article is
that driver behavior is very complex. Measures taken to decrease to fatalities
by changing driver behavior has had mixed results, some have had good results
at first but then the effects drop off after time. Others have had only minimal
results. The problem appears to be that enforcement in one geographical are may
result in a decrease in violations but the effect is lost as the enforcement is
moved to another location. According to this article, automatic policing seems
to be the most effective and cost efficient enforcement of behaviors. It
suppresses intentions in the cognitive model, restricts observable behavior in
the behavioral model, and adds risk of punishment for aggressive drivers.
Links:
http://www.citizen.org/autosafety/driver_behav/
Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization founded
in 1971 to represent consumer interests in Congress, the executive branch and
the courts
My Homepage: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409af2006/atkinson/atkinson-home.htm
Class Homepage: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy25/classhome-g25.htm