Evaluation of a program to reduce motor-vehicle collisions among young adults in the county of Landes, France

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a prevention program called “Atout-Route”, based on the concept of commitment. The program was implemented in March 2000, to reduce the number of drivers under the age of 25 years involved in motor-vehicle collisions in the county of Landes (southwestern France). Using data from the regional observatory of road safety, we defined a target and three control groups similar on age or location. We used Poisson and quasi-Poisson regression to estimate whether the observed evolution of motor-vehicle collisions, after the program was implemented, was different in the targeted group than in the three control groups. The number of motor-vehicle collisions decreased everywhere and in every age group. The effect of the prevention program was not statistically significant (relative risk = 0.89; 95% confidence interval 0.74–1.07). Our results are compatible with a positive effect of the program. The possible dilution of its effect by national road safety actions implemented since 2000, and our early assessment are possible reasons for the non-significant observation.