Reasons French Drivers Gave for Committing or Refusing to Commit to Complying with Speed Limits at Rehabilitation Training Courses for Traffic-Regulation Offenders

Abstract

A mixed foot-in-the-door procedure was set up to lead offenders participating in French driver-rehabilitation training courses to commit to complying with speed limits. To improve this procedure, the reasons that led participants in such courses to commit or not were investigated in this preliminary study of the road safety research programs. The study participants were 89 men (M=34 yr., range = 18-64 yr., SD=13) attending driver-rehabilitation courses. Among them, 55% committed. The commitment was mainly explained by the drivers' will to change their speeding behaviour and their refusal by the perceived positive consequences of speeding. Moreover, some participants stated that they would be unable to follow through with the commitment to comply strictly with speed limits. After talking to the participants, it became clear that complying with speed limits was understood in a more or less strict way. In subsequent studies, some of the reasons given were used to prompt group discussion before asking participants to commit, and the meaning of "compliance with speed limits" was better defined.