James C. McDavid

Does motorcycle training reduce accidents? evidence from a longitudinal quasi-experimental study

This article describes a study conducted in British Columbia to ascertain whether the British Columbia Safety Councils 37-hour motorcycle safety training program has a measurable impact on accidents. Two matched groups of motorcycle riders are compared from 1979 through 1984. Members of one group passed the Safety Councils training course during 1979 and received their Class 6 (motorcycle) license after completing the course. Members of the other group also obtained their Class 6 license in 1979, but did not receive any formal motorcycle training. Comparisons of the driving records of formally trained and informally trained (henceforth untrained) riders reveal that there are observable differences in the frequency and severity of accidents between the two groups. Trained riders tend to have fewer accidents of all kinds (all motor vehicle accidents combined), fewer motorcycle accidents, and less severe motorcycle accidents. Although these differences are not large in a statistical sense, they suggest that when care is taken to carefully match trained and untrained riders, training is associated with a reduction in accidents. Given that motorcycle accidents tend to be much more severe than automobile accidents, the evidence from the study supports the use of training as a means of reducing the human and material costs of motorcycle accidents.

Effects of Scale and Market Structure on the Costs of Residential Solid Waste Collection in Canadian Cities

The effects of scale of operation and market structure upon the unit costs of residential solid waste collection are simultaneously estimated for a sample of 100 Canadian cities. The findings point to substantial unit cost differences between public and private (contract) producers of solid waste collection. Private producers are 28% less expensive than their public counterparts. Scale economies were found for the producers in the sample. This finding is generally consistent with research published on American cities, but contradicts earlier research in Canada reported by Kitchen (1976). Important differences in costs attributable to service levels were also discovered. Frequency of collection was a key predictor of costs. Changing the frequency of collection from once per week to once every two weeks reduced unit costs by 34%.

Legislator Uses of Public Performance Reports: Findings from a Five-Year Study.

A key assumption in efforts to implement and improve cross-government public reporting systems is that legislators will make use of the performance information to enhance accountability and improve program and policy effectiveness. This five-year study is an assessment of expectations and actual uses of annual performance reports by elected decision-makers in British Columbia, Canada. Our findings from three anonymous surveys indicate that while the legislators had high initial expectations, actual usage—measured in two follow-up surveys—showed substantial drops from expectations. Our findings are consistent with a growing body of evidence that there may be a paradox at the core of the public performance reporting movement: public reporting of targeted performance measures, although it may improve symbolic accountability, undermines the usefulness of the reported performance information for performance management. These findings have implications for jurisdictions using whole of government performance measurement and reporting systems for these dual purposes.

SIMULTANEOUS SCALING OF OFFENSE SERIOUSNESS AND SENTENCE SEVERITY THROUGH CANONICAL CORRELATION ANALYSIS

This article describes and illustrates a new, easily applied method of scaling the severity of different types of criminal sentences and the seriousness of different types of crimes. In contrast to past approaches, this method is based on actual judicial performance, not on opinions or subjective scaling procedures. Using this approach, the effects on sentencing of variables other than type of crime can be examined.

Statistical Procedures for Analyzing Factors Affecting Judicial Sentences Using Simultaneously Derived Crime Seriousness and Sentence Severity Scales

A variety of characteristics of the defendant, the case, and the court potentially could affect judicial sentences. Building on a recently published method for scaling the seriousness of the crimes and the severity of sentences, this paper describes procedures for investigating factors affecting sentence severity. An empirical example illustrates the procedures, as well as the problems of interpretation and analysis that arise in statistical studies of sentencing.

Urban police performance attitudes

Abstract Research on police performance has focused upon citizens attitudes and evaluations of police or analysis of police documents and records; however, there has been little emphasis on police attitudes toward their own performance. The purpose of this study is to examine what factors, especially perceived citizen input, influence urban police performance attitudes. One related objective is to supplement ongoing research and attempt to contribute an empirical perspective to the expanding literature on police performance assessment. In addition to specific findings relating productivity and perceived citizen ratings to performance, the study also examines the moderating effect of perceived citizen ratings on police self ratings. The results of the study support many traditional assumptions about the police role. However, they also show the influence of internal factors such as training and external influences such as perceived citizen evaluations of police performance. The findings illustrate that police performance has to be assessed from a multi-variate perspective by management to include citizen ratings and internal factors.