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home / centre for automotive safety research / Publications / List / Details Publication Details| Title | Update to 2013 report: Driver incentive and reward schemes | | Authors | Bailey TJ | | Year | 2023 | | Type | Report | | Abstract | There is some evidence in Bailey (2013) that rewards can be effective in encouraging safer driving if they are specifically tailored to groups such as young drivers, some work road safety settings, and/or specific driving behaviours such as speeding. However, very few schemes are evaluated for effectiveness. Experimental studies of schemes since 2013, particularly those that reward specific driving behaviours and/or of specific categories of driver types generally afford favourable results, along with a more advanced understanding of when, where, how, and why reward schemes work well (or not). This research has been substantially assisted by sophisticated driver monitoring and feedback technologies such as telematics. However, reward schemes must be seen to use clear evaluation processes of drivers’ performances, as unfair systems may well lead to complaints and repudiation of the schemes. Moreover, not all drivers respond in the same way or to the same extent to reward schemes, thus making wide-scale reward schemes of questionable cost-benefit effectiveness. Some drivers, particularly some young drivers, are motivated more by a sense of thrill when engaging in risky behaviours, than in any tangible reward for driving safely; penalties are likely to be more effective for habitually risky drivers. Effective reward schemes in fleet settings are best embedded in a company’s safety culture. Fleet reward schemes can improve both eco-friendly behaviours and safe driving. Small financial rewards consistently given are likely to be more effective in improving safe behaviours than large rewards given occasionally. Reward schemes considered likely to bring most benefit include: (i) rewarding offence-free driving periods by provisional licence drivers; (ii) telematics-based monitoring of driver performance by insurance companies; and (iii) reward schemes for drivers in fleet settings. Importantly though, any establishment of new reward schemes or support for existing ones, should be accompanied by evaluations of those schemes’ effectiveness in improving driver behaviour, along with commitment to modify or abandon the schemes as needs be. | | Report Number | CASR206 | | Publisher | Centre for Automotive Safety Research | | Publisher City | Adelaide | | Sponsor | This research was funded via a deed with the South Australian Government | | ISBN | 978-1-925971-41-5 | | ISSN | 1449-2237 | | Page Count | 32 |
| Reference | | Bailey TJ (2023). Update to 2013 report: Driver incentive and reward schemes (CASR206). Adelaide: Centre for Automotive Safety Research. |
| Files Available for Download | | CASR206.pdf | Web published report |
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