One important part of driver education is to convince the candidates to use
the safety equipment in the car such as safety belts and airbags in a correct
manner. If there is an accident, the injuries will be less severe if the
safety equipment are not only used but also used in a correct way. There are,
however, findings showing that there are gaps in the current driver education
when it comes to convincing candidates to use safety equipment. At some of
the skid tracks in Sweden, an additional educational concept has been
developed that is focusing on convincing drivers to use the safety equipment
in the car. The concept is named "Safety halls" where the main aim is to
provide knowledge about the different safety equipment of the car and how it
should be used in order to create highest possible safety. Candidates doing
the mandatory skid training at these skid tracks will also attend this new
training. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible effects of
safety halls on the candidates' knowledge, attitudes and self reported
behaviour regarding the areas safety belts, tyres, sitting posture, load,
airbag, and speed. The study was carried out at the eight skid tracks in
Sweden that had a safety hall at the time of the evaluation. At all skid
tracks, candidates were randomly distributed into an experiment group (skid
training and safety hall) and a control group (only skid training). At the
arrival to the skid track all candidates filled out a questionnaire (before
measurement). The same candidates also filled out the same questionnaire
directly after finishing the education programme (after measurement 1). Four
and a half months later a similar questionnaire was sent by post to the same
candidates (after measurement 2). A total of 1,326 candidates (658 in the
experiment group and 668 in the control group) filled out all three
questionnaires and thus formed the sample for the overall analyses. In the
questionnaires, questions were asked about background factors such as age,
gender, highest education in the family etc. There were also knowledge
questions, attitude questions and questions about self reported behaviour. In
general, the findings show that the extra education in safety halls increases
the knowledge, improves the attitudes about traffic safety and strengthen the
intentions to behave safe. The improvements are largest when measured
directly after the education, but effects still remain after 4½ months. Some
of the areas covered shows better results (in the experiment group compared
to the control group) than others. Above all, the two areas safety belts and
load showed the best results on knowledge, attitudes and intentions, both in
a short and long term. The evaluation has also shown that there is a need for
improvement of the current education in the safety halls if the expected
effects should be improved.
Linköping: Statens väg- och transportforskningsinstitut., VTI rapport 502 , 2004.