Abstract
Applying psycholog y to drivers selection. One hundred years saving lifes. It is entirely appropriate to talk about a Spanish tradition in the application of psychology to driving, dating back to the 1920s. It was the first professional area of psychological intervention to be legally regulated in Spain, even before the formal existence of an epistemic practice in psychology. From the 1930s on there has been a prevailing preventive model, in spite of the different political reg imes that have governed in Spain. First the psycho technicians in public centres, and later the psychologists in private centres, have been the protagonists in the story, the connecting thread being what has been called the "Spanish Model" of drivers assessment. We can establish various different steps in the development of the Spanish Model, to a large extent coincident with the evolution of the Spanish Psychological Science. The current "Reglamento General de Conductores", that regulate driving licence, require from all of candidates to ob tain/renewal driving licence to be submitted to physical and psychological examination in private centers. We offer an empirical and documental history of internal and external evolution of the model. The selection of drivers has played a key role in the building of Modern professional Spanish psychology, and is today the oldest living representative role in the field of applied psychology.
