Evaluation of Deterrent Impact of Ontario's Street Racing and Stunt Driving Law on Extreme Speeding Convictions

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to conduct a process and outcome evaluation of the deterrent impact of Ontario's street racing and stunt driving legislation, introduced in September 2007, on extreme speeding convictions. It was hypothesized that because males are much more likely to engage in speeding, street racing, and stunt driving, the new law would have more impact in reducing extreme speeding in males compared to females.Methods: Descriptive statistics and time series plots were used for the suspensions data. Interrupted time series analysis with autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) modeling was applied to the monthly extreme speeding convictions in Ontario for the period of January 1, 2003, to December 31, 2011, to assess the impact of the new legislation, separately for male drivers (intervention group) and female drivers (comparison group).Results: The results indicated that per licensed driver, 1.21 percent of 16- to 24-year-old male drivers and 0.37 percent of 25- to 64-year-old male drivers had their licenses suspended between September 2007 and December 2011. This is in contrast to female drivers: 0.21 percent of 16- to 24-year-old female drivers and 0.07 percent of 25- to 64-year-old female drivers had their licenses suspended during the same time period. A significant intervention effect of reduced extreme speeding convictions was found in the male driver group, though no corresponding effect was observed in the female driver group. The findings of this study are consistent with previous research on demographics of street racers and stunt drivers.Conclusions: These findings are congruent with deterrence theory that certain, swift, and severe sanctions can deter risky driving behavior and support the hypothesis that legal sanctions can have an impact on the extreme speeding convictions of the intervention group.