Study Shows Incentives Help Slow Down Speeding Drivers
Spare the rod, spoil the child? The same may be said for drivers who are guilty of consistently disobeying the speed limit. A study found that the best way to discourage speeding was not only to offer financial incentives as a way to reward good driving, but to also impose penalties when a driver is caught speeding.
Speeding kills – there are over 10,000 people killed every year in this country in car crashes that are caused by a speeding driver. Almost 80 percent of 15 to 24 year old male drivers who are involved in a fatal car crash were speeding. Fewer than 15 percent of fatal crashes caused by speeding occur on highways. The state of Texas has one of the highest rates of speeding-related fatalities each year, with approximately 3,000 people killed annually.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) backed the study, which included researchers from Old Dominion University, in Norfolk, Virginia and Western Michigan University, in Kalamazoo.
Researchers took eight vehicles and installed them with GPS devices which linked speed limits and vehicle speed. When a driver went over the posted speed limit, an alert would go off to let them know. There were a total of 50 people who participated in the study.
One group was given a monetary incentive. They were told that if they went the whole week without going over the speed limit, they would receive $25.00. Each time they went over the speed limit, money would be deducted from the prize money. Five to eight mph above the speed limit resulted in losing $.03 from the amount. If they went nine mph or more about the speed limit, they would lose $.06 from the $25.00. The other group had no incentive and were just being monitored.
The result was that the group with the prize money incentive obeyed speed limits more often than the other group. There was not one person who was penalized for driving 9 mph over the speed limit. Participants said the cash incentive played a major role in their driving for the week. Researchers point out that this may be a safe driving incentive insurance companies could offer to encourage customers not to speed.
If you have been injured in an accident caused by a speeding driver, contact an experienced New Braunfels personal injury attorney to find out what compensation you may be entitled to for pain and loss you have suffered.
