Summary
One hundred persons who were found guilty of serious traffic offences were compared with 99 controls matched for age, sex, residential district and type of driver's licence held. It was demonstrated that more offenders than controls had experienced recent adversity in their lives. On questionnaire measures of mental health and personality, more offenders had evidence of non-psychotic psychiatric disorder, were more impulsive and lower in social conscience. This study represents an attempt to identify high risk individuals in the driving population and the implications of these findings for prevention are discussed.
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Williams, C.L., Henderson, A.S. & Mills, J.M. An epidemiological study of serious traffic offenders. Soc Psychiatry 9, 99–109 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00589175
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00589175