Search

The first section of this paper briefly describes the Austrian licence-on-probation and driver improvement system. A special measure targeted at notice drivers was introduced in 1992; novice drivers convicted of serious driving offences during a probation period of two years have to attend a group course led by a psychologist. We then go on to present the results of a large-scale evaluation study (involving more than 2,500 participants in about 260 groups) on group courses for novice drivers in Austria. The finding outlined here relate to several types of data compiled by the participants and the psychologists concerning the participants and the group course, and recidivism data have been collected for a sample of the participants. We systematically tested the links between the characteristics of participants and the course according to whether participants were repeat offenders or not. Results for young traffic offenders (not involving alcohol) show that, as far as the characteristics of the participants are concerned, there are only few criteria that distinguish recidivists from non-recidivists. The findings regarding course characteristics support a psychological approach that puts the focus mainly on life-style, habits and attitudes in general.