Evaluation of competency-based driver training and assessment in South Australia

Abstract

The study aimed to determine whether there is a meaningful difference between the two procedures by which a driver may obtain a Provisional Driver's Licence in South Australia: the Competency-Based Driver Training and Assessment (CBTA) scheme and the Vehicle on Road Test (VORT), in terms of the rate at which recently licensed drivers are involved in crashes and moving traffic offences. Data concerning the accident history of the drivers was drawn from the South Australian Traffic Accident Reporting System (TARS) database. Competency based Training and Assessment (CBTA) became increasingly popular as a method of obtaining a Provisional Driver's Licence in South Australia from 1995 to 1998. Females were more likely to choose CBTA than males, but they were less likely to obtain a Provisional Licence when they were 16 years of age. Overall there was no meaningful difference in crash involvement in the first year of driving between drivers who obtained a Provisional Licence by CBTA and those who took the VORT. There was no apparent difference between the casualty crash rates of CBTA and VORT drivers as a whole and no differences appeared when examining males and females separately. Overall, drivers who qualified for a Provisional Licence by CBTA had fewer first offences than those who did so by the VORT. After accounting for both sex and age effects, it appears that, at least fof males, CBTA may play a role in reducing traffic offences.