The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has called for resources to be directed to speed management measures rather than driver awareness courses, in a bid to tackle speeding.

The call comes after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) requested comments on a proposed study of the effects of a driver education course for motorists with at least one speeding citation or conviction over the previous three years.

“A large body of evidence shows that education has not been effective in addressing traffic safety issues such as alcohol-impaired driving or seat belt use,” said Jessica Cicchino, IIHS Vice President for Research.

“Moreover, drivers already know the risks of speeding, and that knowledge has not influenced their behavior.”

According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety’s 2018 Traffic Safety Culture Index, the majority of U.S. drivers believe that driving 15 mph over the speed limit on freeways and 10 mph over the speed limit on residential streets is very or extremely dangerous. Yet nearly as many drivers admit to having driven that fast over the past month.

IIHS says that incentivizing car manufacturers to install intelligent speed adaptation — technology that alerts speeding drivers or automatically slows the vehicle to ensure compliance with speed limits — offers greater potential benefits than education.

It suggests that promoting effective law enforcement strategies, safe speed limits and traffic-calming techniques would also be beneficial.