An Evaluation of the Driver Education Program in the United States Virgin Islands (Safety)
Tye, Suzanna Kugler
This item is only available for download by members of the University of Illinois community. Students, faculty, and staff at the U of I may log in with your NetID and password to view the item. If you are trying to access an Illinois-restricted dissertation or thesis, you can request a copy through your library's Inter-Library Loan office or purchase a copy directly from ProQuest.
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/69077
Description
Title
An Evaluation of the Driver Education Program in the United States Virgin Islands (Safety)
Author(s)
Tye, Suzanna Kugler
Issue Date
1986
Department of Study
Education
Discipline
Education
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Education, Health
Abstract
How do the driving records of Virgin Islands driver education students compare with the driving records of schoolmates who did not participate in a high school driver education course? This question was studied over a period from January 1981 through June 1985 with both traffic violations and traffic accidents analyzed in the study. Do the driver education students practice the safety habits they were taught in class? Do these students have a better understanding of the rules of the road, resulting in less traffic citations? Are these students more aware of the effects that drugs and alcohol have on the driving process?
The driving records of a group of 107 former driver education students were compared with the records of a control group of 82 classmates who did not participate in the training. The sample groups were selected randomly from a larger population of 819 former students who graduated in either 1980 or 1981 from any of the senior high schools in the territory and who currently held a valid V.I. driver's license. A questionnaire was sent to 300 subjects randomly selected to be in the study, and there were 189 returned and usable. These responses were used along with the driving records obtained from the Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD).
The findings from the VIPD indicated that there were insufficient police-reported accidents to test for a difference between the trained and untrained groups. There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of police-reported violations.
The questionnaire revealed that on the self-reported data, the driver education students had a significantly lower mean accident rate per million miles traveled, had a lower mean violation rate per million miles, received their citations at an early stage of their driving careers and then leveled off in contrast to the untrained students who did not drop so sharply, and they were more likely to use safety restraints for themselves and for children riding with them. The driver education students' opinion on the effect of marijuana on driving was significantly different in the direction of being more aware of the hazards of driving under the influence of the drug. The trained drivers' opinion was also significantly different in the direction of those trained being more aware of the influence of alcohol on driving.
Use this login method if you
don't
have an
@illinois.edu
email address.
(Oops, I do have one)
IDEALS migrated to a new platform on June 23, 2022. If you created
your account prior to this date, you will have to reset your password
using the forgot-password link below.
