Evaluation of the effectiveness of a road safety training based on attitude changes for driving schools

Abstract

This study evaluates the effectiveness of a road safety training based on attitude modification for the reduction of risk factors involved in traffic accidents. These training courses were aimed at students from Catalan driving schools. A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design with a control group was used, and a survey to evaluate the risk of an accident according to the main risk factors: alcohol consumption, speed, risk tendency, drug use, distraction and roads and rules, was applied. Besides this traditional training, the pilot group followed an extraroad safety course focused on attitude changes. Comparing the test averages, it was concluded that, even though both groups improved their marks in reducing the accident risk after the training, the pilot group obtained a considerably higher improvement than the control in all the risk factors, especially in those with a greater impact on youth, such as alcohol, speed and risk tendency