Details:

Creators:
Stuster, Jack, 1947-
Corporate Creators:
Anacapa Sciences, inc.
Corporate Contributors:
United States. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Subject/TRT Terms:
[+]
Aggression Drivers Impact Studies Public Information Programs Safety Education Traffic Accidents Traffic Law Enforcement
Publication/ Report Number:
DOT-HS-809-707 ; NTIS-PB2007107488
DOT-HS-809-707 ; NTIS-PB2007107488 Less -
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21949/1525506
Resource Type:
Research Paper
Geographical Coverage:
Indianapolis (Indiana) ; Tucson (Arizona)
Indianapolis (Indiana) ; Tucson (Arizona) Less -
Edition:
Final report
Contracting Officer:
Ellison-Potter, Patricia
Corporate Publisher:
United States. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Abstract:
This report presents the results of a study conducted to assess the effects of two programs that were implemented to reduce the incidence of aggressive driving. The programs were conducted by the Marion County Traffic Safety Partnership (a consortium of agencies in the vicinity of Indianapolis, Indiana) and the Tucson, Arizona, Police Department. The programs each received grants of $200,000 from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to support the special enforcement and public information and education (PI&E) components. Program managers were required, as conditions of the grant, to 1) focus their enforcement efforts on key aggressive driving infractions in carefully-selected zones within their communities; 2) develop and implement PI&E campaigns to publicize the special enforcement efforts; and 3) provide the data and other information necessary to prepare this evaluation. The programs shared additional features, but program managers were encouraged to consider innovative approaches to both special enforcement and publicity. Samples of vehicle speed, collected unobtrusively in the special enforcement zones, and crash incidence served as the primary measures of program effect. Average speeds declined slightly in Marion County and at a greater rate in Tucson. The total number of crashes in the Marion County special enforcement zones increased by 32%, compared to the same six-month period one year earlier; the number of those crashes with primary collision factors (PCFs) associated with aggressive driving increased by 41%. That is, the total number of crashes increased, but the crashes with aggressive driving PCFs increased at a greater rate. The change in proportion of crashes with the target PCFs provides a better measure than crash frequency because it eliminates the effects of changes in traffic volume and other factors that might have contributed to the overall increase in crash incidence. In this regard, the Marion County zones experienced a 6% increase in the proportion of all crashes with aggressive driving PCFs, despite the extensive publicity and special enforcement efforts. The number of crashes in Tucson's special enforcement zones increased by 10%, but the number of crashes with aggressive driving PCFs increased by less than 1%. More important, the proportion of all crashes with target PCFs decreased by 8%. That is, crash incidence increased overall in Tucson's zones, but the proportion of those crashes with aggressive driving PCFs declined. Study results suggest that limited resources might be better spent on officer labor than on publicity, and that focusing enforcement responsibility on a small team assigned full-time to the special enforcement patrols might be more effective than sharing the responsibility among a large number of officers as occasional overtime duty. /Abstract from report summary page/
Format:
PDF
Funding:
DTNH-22-98-D-05079
Collection(s):
NHTSA - Behavioral Safety Research
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:b0ac1dbc2322dad09c31fe46e251548974d912a8bef517194939bda7850abcc9
Download URL:
https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/1718/dot_1718_DS1.pdf
File Type:

Supporting Files

• No Additional Files

More +