Evaluation of the effectiveness of the National Driver Improvement Scheme

The Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, is carrying out a research project on behalf of the Department for Transport aiming to find out how effectively does the NDIS rectify unsafe driving behaviour and reduce accident involvement of the course attendees.

This study probes not only the magnitude of changes in drivers’ attitude and behaviour as a result of the NDIS intervention, but also, more importantly, the duration of the changes. Three approaches have been developed to investigate a number of driving safety indices over a 12-month period after course intervention: questionnaire surveys, field driving assessments, and re-offence analysis.

Data collection is currently being carried out, although preliminary analysis results indicate positive movements in terms of driver attitude and driving behaviour after course attendance, and some of the changes have lasted over 12 months. The project is scheduled to be finished by mid-2005.