THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPEEDING BEHAVIOR (AS MEASURED BY VIOLATION CONVICTIONS) AND CRASH INVOLVEMENT

While it seems rational to assume that crash involvement risk and outc ome are influenced by the way one drives, nevertheless there is contin uing controversy over the validity of certain categories of traffic la w infractions as true measures of such behavior. Specifically does the accumulation of tickets for speeding identify drivers as high risk fo r becoming culpably involved in speed-related crashes? Further, does a proclivity for exhibiting speeding behavior in the presence of police translate into a greater risk for involvement in high-severity collis ions? The research reported in this paper attempted to address these i ssues. Several years of crash and conviction data were utilized to exa mine (a) the risk of culpable crash involvement by severity of outcome during a 2-year period following 3 years of conviction record, and Cb ) the degree to which an increasing level of speeding convictions per driver relates to an increasing propensity for speed to be a factor in drivers' crash involvements. The results of the research identified a clear distinction between the conviction categories of ''exceeding th e speed limit'' and ''excessive speed'' in terms of these accident-vio lation relationships. (C) 1997 National Safety Council and Elsevier Sc ience Ltd.