'Close To' – Peer Training of Learner Drivers by Offenders in Austria

Costs and Savings

The overhead costs of the project have been financed by the Austrian Department for Traffic, Innovation and Technology. These costs included public relations and the recruitment and training of offenders. The costs of the training sessions are covered by the agencies commissioning the peer trainers.Typically, the costs for one session by a peer trainer, including the tailoring of the presentation to the target group concerned, are €250-300. So far commissioners have included the state government of the Steiermark, the Federal Defence Department, Austrian Railways and many driving schools.

There has been no economic analysis as yet of the savings resulting from Close To. However, apart from the human suffering as a result of road accidents, economic analysis suggests that  there are significant economic costs amounting to over €1.76m from the loss of performance due to the death of even one person between 15-19 years old in a road accident.   This shows the value for money of prevention of road accidents.