Posted in Car Accident,In the News on May 25, 2013
A new study finds that a combination of cash incentives and a speed alert device that warns a driver when he’s driving at excessive speeds can help reduce speeding-related behaviors, thereby limiting the risk of such accidents.
Nationwide and in Colorado, speeding continues to remain the number one cause of accident fatalities. More people are killed every year in accidents caused by speeding than any other crash factor, including drunk driving. It’s easy to lose sight of those terrible statistics with all the focus on distracted driving.
Researchers with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Western Michigan University and Old Dominion University fitted special vehicles with speed alert devices called intelligent speed adaptation. These devices warn a driver with a visual and audible alert when he’s going above the posted speed limit. Some of the devices can also prevent the motorist from pressing down on the accelerator pedal further.
The motorists in the study were offered a cash incentive of $25 if they stayed within 4 mph of the speed limit, and were told that they would lose the money if they went 4 mph above the speed limit. Another control group of drivers were given neither the alert devices, nor the cash incentives.
The researchers found that the motorists who were given the cash incentive of $25, were able to reduce the number of times they went 9 mph above the speed limit to less than 1% of the time. The members of the control group that had no alerts and no cash incentives were only able to reduce the number of times they went 9 mph above the speed limit to 9%.
The study seems to find a correlation between the installation of speed limiting devices like intelligent speed adaptation in vehicles, and reduced insurance premiums which could work as a financial incentive for motorists.
