Traffic court does not reduce crashes later on

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http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/07/15/health-us-traffic-court-idUKTRE76E62D20110715

(Reuters Health) - Drivers who choose to fight a speeding ticket in court, rather than pay a fine by mail, are more likely to be involved in a car crash later on, a new study of Maryland drivers shows.

The researchers don't think appearing in traffic court actually causes people to crash their cars. Instead, they say drivers who chose this approach tended to have high-risk characteristics in the first place. And in general, those who fought their speeding tickets in court had longer histories of violations and crashes.

But in seeming contrast, the researchers also noticed that the traffic court group was less likely to be cited for speeding after their initial violation.

That finding struck Ray Peck, founder of the consulting firm R.C. Peck & Associates and an expert in crash risk, as very unusual.