AbstractIntroductionThis study evaluated California's traffic violator school (TVS) citation dismissal policy.MethodThis study identified and compared two large samples of drivers either completing a TVS (N=210,015) or convicted of a traffic citation (N=168,563).ResultsPrior to adjudication, the TVS group had characteristics (e.g., lower prior conviction rate and smaller proportion of males) that were predictive of a lower subsequent crash risk. However, the TVS group exhibited significantly more crashes than did the convicted group in the subsequent one-year period. The difference (4.83%) increased to 10% after adjusting for the more favorable characteristics of the TVS group. The TVS group also had a higher adjusted subsequent crash rate at each prior driver record entry level, reflecting a loss in the general and specific deterrence of the non-conviction masked status of TVS dismissed citations. It was reported that the TVS dismissal policy results in approximately 12,300 additional crashes annually with economic costs of approximately $398,000,000.ConclusionsThe avoidance of licensing actions resulting from the dismissal policy assists in explaining why the driving public is exposed to an increased crash risk. A number of recommendations are offered to reduce the negative traffic safety impact of the TVS citation dismissal policy.


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    Title :

    A traffic safety evaluation of California's traffic violator school citation dismissal policy


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Journal of Safety Research ; 41 , 4 ; 323-330


    Publication date :

    2010-01-01


    Size :

    8 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English







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