The driving records of a sample of drivers ordered to complete - the Defensive Driving Course (New Zealand) by the Courts were compared with those of a sample of offending drivers, matched on age, sex and prior driving record, who did not attend the course. Twelve months before and after completion of the course, or for the comparison group, before and after the equivalent date, was the study period. Attendance at the course appeared to make, at best, no difference to the accident rate, whereas the post-treatment conviction rate was comparatively lower following the course than following the standard treatment. This finding lends support to other research in the field which shows that driver education, while having no effect on accidents, does decrease the number of post-course convictions.