Who takes driving licence point recovery courses in France? Comparison between course-takers and ordinary drivers

Abstract A self-administered questionnaire was answered by 2014 drivers, 853 of whom were taking a course. The data were analyzed aiming to identify the factors that are linked to taking the course, i.e. to recurrent reoffending. The course-takers, of whom 89% were male, admitted committing more violations than the control group. They had more accidents. More male course-takers than controls reported not being happy, and they more frequently had high extroversion scores. The multivariate analysis showed that, among men, taking the course was associated with the mileage, the feeling of being almost certain to be charged for an offence and having a high risk of losing one’s licence, in addition to being young, having a large number of brothers and sisters, higher socio-occupational category and smoking. Among women, in spite of the small number of them on the course, the mileage, the feeling of having a high risk of losing one’s licence, driving alone, the mental representation of their own vehicle as an extension of their office, and defining themselves as liking to take risks during leisure activities were significantly linked to taking a points recovery course. Those taking the course were not therefore doing so by chance; they differed from the general population of drivers, which was also precisely described with regard to driving habits and representations. Recommendations are then made in order to redirect the content of courses more towards introspection than technical matters.