WHAT SURVIVING DRIVERS LEARN FROM A FATAL ROAD ACCIDENT

The effects of involvement in a fatal accident on surviving drivers' s ubsequent driving behavior were studied. The quantity (mileage) and qu ality of driving (offences in driver records) of 245 surviving drivers were compared in three-year periods before and after the accident. A random sample of 253 drivers from the driver register were additionall y used as controls. The data showed that about half of the car drivers decreased their driving, with greater reductions being associated wit h more serious injuries. However, the total number of convictions did not reduce but even showed a tendency to increase in proportion to the amount of driving. The proportion of car drivers with post-crash offe nces was approximately constant (27-32%) independent of any change in mileage. The data suggest that professional heavy-vehicle drivers incu rred fewer convictions during the post-crash period in comparison to c ar drivers. Thirty-seven surviving drivers were further interviewed on the duration and specificity of the effects. With the exception of th ree drivers, all said that the fatal accident had affected their drivi ng behavior, but only for a relatively short time. Most commonly, the drivers reported that the effect was limited to those circumstances an d situations which led to the accident and did not generalize to safer driving practices. This study suggests that car drivers, if not serio usly injured, typically return to their 'normal' driving within a few months, while heavy-vehicle drivers show a tendency towards more cauti ous behavior after a fatal crash in terms of violations, presumably du e to the continuous reinforcement which the latter receive in their wo rk community. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.