Cash reward makes drivers adhere to speed limit

Melbourne, June 22 (ANI): Paying drivers not to speed may help in the war against the road toll, a US study has concluded.

The study found that speeding was virtually eliminated among a group of drivers who were offered 25 dollars a week not to exceed the speed limit.

The report concluded that there were "dramatic reductions in speeding" when the drivers were offered even modest financial incentives.

Ian Reagan, a traffic researcher for NHTSA, said that drivers appeared to slow down because of the carrot-and-stick approach, with a prize for good driving combined with mild financial penalties for violating the traffic rules.

"We found that the incentive system was incredibly effective in getting drivers to reduce their speeding," the Age quoted him as telling news website npr.org.

"Egregious speed limit violations were almost eliminated - that's driving nine or more [miles per hour] over the speed limit," he said.

The study placed a GPS tracker in eight cars and loaned to 50 different drivers for a week. A control group of 10 drove the cars as they did every day and their speed was monitored.

Another 20 were warned every time they exceeded the speed limit.

The final 20 drivers were also warned when they exceeded the speed limit but additionally told that they would be rewarded with 25 dollars at the end of the week if they didn't exceed the speed limit.

They lost three cents for travelling between 3-8 miles per hour (5-13km/h) over the limit and six cents for infringements above that level, the npr.org website reported. Any speeding tickets they accrued stood as an additional penalty.

Each time the driver completed a trip, they were given a report showing any penalties they had accrued.

Reagan said that despite the small reward on offer and miniscule penalties , there was a mindset among some drivers in the study to "beat the game".

"At least one driver said they made a game out of it," Regan said.

"They wanted to see if they could keep that incentive amount of 25 dollars," he added. (ANI)