Document Type
Article
Language
eng
Publication Date
Winter 1995
Publisher
Eno Center for Transportation
Source Publication
Transportation Quarterly
Source ISSN
0278-9434
Abstract
In 1984, researchers determined that the readability of state drivers' manuals exceeded the average literacy levels in the United States. Because text complexity threatened the ability of license applicants and practicing drivers to understand the information presented in the manuals, a potential safety risk was indicated. This study analyzes recent editions of the manuals using readability formulas and formal text presentation ratings. It was found that the average difficulty of the drivers' manuals was reduced by more than one grade level and that the 1994 manuals are clearly superior to their earlier versions, but that, in the interest of highway safety, improvements should still be sought.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Stahl, Norman A.; Henk, Bill; and Eilers, Ulinda, "Are Drivers' Manuals Understandable?" (1995). College of Education Faculty Research and Publications. 484.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/edu_fac/484
Comments
Published version. Transportation Quarterly, Vol. 49, No. 1 (Winter 1995): 105-115. Permalink.
William Henk was affiliated with Penn State Harrisburg at the time of publication.