Criminology Research Council grant ; (13/01-02)
A longitudinal cohort study of a sample of 17-year-old Western Australian drivers has shown that the incidence of novice driver speeding offences increases significantly after the first year of driving with a peak at 24-months and a decline thereafter. The data suggests that the vast majority of offences are for speeding between 10 and 19km/hour above the speed limit, with 'excessive' speeding offences being highest in frequency in the first year and then declining in frequency thereafter. The unadjusted rates of the incidence of speeding drivers showed that males are more likely than females to incur one or more speeding infringements.
The combination of a longitudinal design and the application of multivariate analytical techniques to objective speeding offence data has addressed many of the shortcomings of previous investigations of the psychosocial risk factors for speeding by young drivers. In particular, the reported findings have clarified the causal role of previously identified risk factors while adjusting for their co-variation with other known driver factors. This point is exemplified by the non-significant association of normative beliefs for speeding and attitudes toward speeding, which have been previously identified as significant independent contributors to speeding behaviour.