THE PRACTICAL USE OF PROJECTIVE PERSONALITY TESTS AS ACCIDENT PREDICTORS

A TEN-YEAR PROJECT ON THE SELECTION OF AFRICAN BUS DRIVERS FOR A SOUTH AFRICAN TRANSPORT COMPANY HAS SHOWN THE VALUE OF USING PERSONALITY TEST FOR PREDICTING ACCIDENT LIABILITY. IT WAS FOUND THAT USING A SELECTION BATTERY OF INTELLIGENCE AND ABILITY TESTS IMPROVED DRIVER EFFICIENCY AND REDUCED TRAINING COSTS BUT AGGRAVATED THE ACCIDENT SITUATION. THE PROBLEM OF COMBINING COMPETENCE WITH SAFETY APPEARED TO BE OVERCOME BY ADDING TWO SPECIALLY DESIGNED PROJECTIVE TESTS OF THE T AT TYPE. DETAILED FOLLOW-UP STUDIES SHOW HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE SUCCESS RATES OF 212 T AT-SELECTED AND 299 NON-T AT-SELECTED DRIVERS. IN ADDITION, A LARGE GROUP OF CASE STUDIES DEMONSTRATES HOW THE PERSONALITY PATTERN REVEALED BY THESE TESTS IS REFLECTED IN THE GENERAL BEHAVIOR/DRIVING BEHAVIOR AND ACCIDENT HISTORY OF EACH INDIVIDUAL. /AUTHOR/