An Evaluation of the Impact of the Virginia Driver Improvement Program on Negligent Driving: 24 Month Report; Final Report

About the report:

This study evaluated the impact of the four basic treatment combinations of the rehabilitation component of the Virginia driver improvement program. This was accomplished through a comparison of the driving records of experimental group subjects who received the treatments with the records of control group subjects who did not. It was hypothesized that if the treatments were successful, drivers in the experimental groups would have significantly better post treatment driving records during the full 24 months of observation than drivers in the corresponding control groups; i.e., they would have fewer convictions and accidents. Statistical techniques were used to test this hypothesis with regard to (a) the advisory letter a warning letter issued after a driver accumulates 6 points in one year; (b) the group interview a one-time classroom meeting held when a driver accumulates 8 points in 1 year; (c) a combination of the group interview and an advisory letter; and (d) the personal interview-driver improvement clinic- a one-on-one interview, usually followed by a classroom course in defensive driving, administered when a driver accumulates 12 points in 1 year.* Theoretically, should negligent drivers continue to receive points following the personal interview their licenses are suspended. In actuality, because of the heavy work load among driver improvement analysts, there are very few formal suspensions. attempt was made to evaluate the suspension alternative. * Drivers receive rehabilitation based upon the number of traffic conviction points they accumulate over time. The validity of the point system was not directly evaluated in the study.

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