Evaluation of the Crash Course March 2009 - De Montfort University

The questionnaires were piloted with two groups of young people in Leicestershire,
one at a College of Further Education and one with secondary school pupils. The
questions were generally well understood and considered relevant. The pilot
informed some minor rewording of the questions and amendments to clarify some of
the guidance to teachers.
Knowledge questions were scored in relation to being correct or not and for the ‘most
important causes of deaths or serious injuries’ in relation to known causes. Factors
which are under the agency of the driver or passenger and which are serious causes
of accidents scored more highly than a less frequent cause which is not in the control
of the driver. For example, ‘not wearing a seat belt’ or ‘using a mobile while driving’
or ‘driving too fast’ are under the control of the driver and are serious causes of
accidents. On the other hand, some factors such as ice, wet conditions, or sharp
bends can be a factor in accidents but usually because of inappropriate speed or
inattention. The scoring system on causes of crashes was as follows:
Possible reasons for deaths and injuries in road accidents (respondents
asked to tick the three considered most important)
20
Score (if the
reason was
chosen).
Ice on the road 0
Using mobiles while driving 2
Pedestrians not looking 0
Driver on drugs 1
People driving too fast 2
Going through red lights 1
People in the car distracting driver 1
Wet and rainy conditions 0
People driving too slow 0
Not wearing a seatbelt 2
Road works 0
Driver has been drinking 2
Elderly shaky drivers 0
People driving who have no licence 2
Burst tyres 1
Sharp bends in the road 0
The questions exploring attitudes towards risk incorporated a version of semantic
differential scales so that gains and change could be demonstrated. The questions
on self-reported behaviour, sought to investigate as far as possible whether there is
any early evidence of attitudes and intentions carrying over into future behaviour
(e.g. through a question that asks both before and after ‘how often have you been in
a car and not worn a seat belt in the last month?’). In addition there was a free text
question about what the young people would like to do differently in the future and
how the course affected them. The answers to this were qualitatively analysed.
2.5 The focus groups with young people
The research team set out to capture the views of young people directly as well as
through the written questionnaires. Focus groups were carried out at three schools
and one training provider, involving 68 young people. In one school, Year 12 pupils
took part who had received the Crash Course in the previous year in order to explore
the extent to which the lessons of the Crash Course were memorable and durable.