An exploratory study of parent acceptance of sanctions for driving offenses committed by their children

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive statistics for the parents participating in the study (N = 149).

Variable	Mean (SE)	Mode	Median	Min–Max
Age (years)	48.88 (4.76)	46	49	40–65
Number of children	2.67 (0.96)	2	2.67	1–7
Number of children licensed	1.87 (0.71)	2	2.0	1–4
Driving experience (years)	31.54 (5.01)	30	31	21–48
Driving exposure (km)	290.96 (183.18)	200	262	12–796

Table 2. Means, SDs, and other descriptive statistics.

Variable	Mean (SD)	Mode	Median	Min–Max
Confidence in knowledge of GDL rules	3.91 (0.71)	4	4	2–5
Confidence that child follows rules	4.49 (0.55)	5	4	2–5
Confidence in managing their child’s driving	4.36 (0.64)	5	4	2–5
Attitude toward GDL	4.34 (0.85)	5	5	1–5
Payment of fines	1.52 (1.04)	1	1	1–5
Acceptance of demerit points	1.24 (0.67)	1	1	1–5

Table 3. Breakdown of continuous variables by parent acceptance or nonacceptance of a sanction.

	Do not accept sanction (n = 105)			Accept sanction (n = 44)
Variable	Mean (SD)	Median	Min–Max	Mean (SD)	Median	Min–Max	Test statistics
Age	49.89 (5.61)	49.5	40–65	48.47 (4.31)	48	40–59	t (147) = −1.67, P = .10
Number of children	2.83 (1.0)	3	1–7	2.3 (0.73)	2	1–5	U (N1 = 105, N = 44) = 1,573.50, z = −3.31, P < .001, d = 0.5
Number of children licensed	1.96 (0.76)	2	1–4	1.64 (0.53)	2	1–3	t (147) = 2.59, P = .01, d = 0.5
Driving experience	31.25 (4.58)	31	21–41	32.23 (5.90)	30.50	22–48	t (147) = −1.09, P = .28
Driving exposure	297.96 (188.15)	272.00	12–796	273.91 (171.60)	250.00	44–778	t (147) = 0.73, P = .47
Knowledge of GDL	3.97 (0.71)	4	2–5	3.75 (0.71)	4	2–5	t (147) = 1.74, P = .08
Child follows GDL	4.52 (0.49)	5	2–5	4.40 (0.69)	4	2–5	t (61.68) = 1.05, P = .30
Manages child driving	4.37 (0.68)	4	2–5	4.32 (0.53)	4	3–5	t (147) = 0.41, P = .68
Parent attitude	4.39 (0.84)	5	2–5	4.22 (0.89)	5	1–5	t (147) = 1.12, P = .27

Table 4. Breakdown of dichotomized demographic variables by parent acceptance or non-acceptance of a sanction.

Variable	Would not accept sanction (n = 105) (%)	Would accept sanction (n = 44) (%)	Test statistics
Gender			χ^2 (1) = 0.17, P = .68
Female	87	84
Male	13	16
Relationship type			χ^2 (1) = 0.50, P = .48
Married	79	84
Other relationship	21	16
Household income			Fisher’s exact test, P = .02
≤$50,000	5	18
≥$50,001	95	19
Education			χ^2 (1) = 1.25, P = .26
Secondary	9	16
Tertiary	91	84
Employment			χ^2 (1) = 0.29, P = .59
Full-time
Other Location			χ^2 (1) = 0.58, P = .45
Major city	74	68
Other location	26	32
Parenting style			Fisher’s exact test, P = .70
Authoritative	62	57
Permissive	8	11
Uninvolved	30	32
Authoritarian	0	0

Table 5. Breakdown of dichotomized driving-related variables by parent acceptance or nonacceptance of a sanction.

Variable	Would not accept sanction (n = 105) (%)	Would accept sanction (n = 44) (%)	Test statistics
Crash experience			χ^2 (1) = 0.06, P = .81
Yes	72	70
No	28	30
Demerit point accrual			χ^2 (1) = 2.17, P = .14
Yes	60	73
No	40	27
Child license type			χ^2 (1) = 1.01, P = .31
P1	67	75
P2	33	25
Child crash experience			χ^2 (1) = 1.58, P = .21
Yes	16	25
No	84	75
Child demerit point accrual			χ^2 (1) = 0.14, P = .71
Yes	11	14
No	89	16

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.