5. Conclusions

People do not take driving licence points recovery courses by chance, they differ from typical drivers. The women course-takers did not differ from the men as regards the personality criteria.

They are major reoffenders (for all types of violation), and some have used all the machinery of the system to avoid taking the course. It is only when their driving licence is under extreme threat that they decide to do so. Only 32% of them have 4 or more points left on their licence.

Our research confirms the need to distinguish between determinants of risk (such as social identity and gender) and exposure factors (mileage and violations).

Road traffic accident prevention necessarily requires objective introspection of the social role associated with masculinity – among both male and female course-takers – as part of a systemic approach. The affective and social aspects relating to the subject (in particular, with regard to the relationship to their car) is a major way of influencing this population. Thus, the road traffic accident prevention message which is accessible to ordinary individuals is not so to the course-takers, whose behaviour is mainly influenced by affective considerations and who deny reality in order to survive in the system. Those who commit violations appear to have more subjective gains than losses, which leads them to minimize the act and its long term consequences. Without a consideration of these data, the effect of current prevention policies is very likely to plateau out.

Finally, for prevention it is necessary to know who course-takers are (who are more often crash injured than the others). This knowledge allows the good words and tone of the prevention courses to be found, between mothering and frustration. In a word this study contributes to challenge some accepted ideas.