Taxi drivers' views on risky driving behavior in Tehran: a qualitative study using a social marketing approach

The use of the social marketing approach for public health issues is increasing. This approach uses marketing concepts borrowed from the principles of commercial marketing to promote beneficial health behaviors. In this qualitative study, four focus groups involving 42 participants were used in consumer research to explore taxi drivers’ views on the driving situation and the determinants of risky driving behaviors in Tehran, as well as to gather their ideas for developing a social marketing program to reduce risky driving behaviors among taxi drivers in Tehran, Iran.Participants were asked to respond to questions that would guide the development of a marketing mix, or four Ps (product, price, place and promotion). The discussions determined that the program product should involve avoiding risky driving behaviors through increased attention to driving. They pointed out that developing and communicating with a well-designed persuasive message meant to draw their attention to driving could affect their driving behaviors. In addition, participants identified price, place and promotion strategies. They offered suggestions for marketing nonrisky driving to the target audience.The focus group discussions generated important insights into the values and the motivations that affect consumers’ decisions to adopt the product. The focus group guided the development of a social marketing program to reduce risky driving behaviors in taxi drivers in Tehran, Iran.     

Car driver attitudes,perceptions of social norms and aggressive driving behaviour towards cyclists

The interaction of car drivers and cyclists is one of the main causes of cycle incidents. The role of attitudes and social norms in shaping car drivers’ aggressive behaviour towards cyclists, is not well understood and merits investigation. A sample of 276 drivers completed an online questionnaire concerning their attitudes towards cyclists, attitudes towards risky driving, perception of social norms concerning aggressive driving towards cyclists, and the frequency with which they engage in such aggressive driving behaviours. The results showed that attitudes towards cyclists, as well as social norm perceptions concerning aggressive driving towards cyclists, were associated with aggressive driving towards cyclists. Negative attitudes towards cyclists were more pronounced in non-cyclists than cyclists and their association with aggressive driving behaviour was stronger in cyclists than non-cyclists. The perception of social norms concerning aggressive driving towards cyclists had a stronger association with aggressive driving in non-cyclists than cyclists. Attitudes towards risk taking did not affect aggressive driving towards cyclists. These findings can inform campaigns that aim to improve cyclist and car driver interaction on the roads, making them safer to use for cyclists.     

The contribution of parents’ driving behavior,family climate for road safety,and parent-targeted intervention to young male driving behavior

One of the prominent issues in contemporary research on young drivers deals with the mechanisms underlying parents’ influences on their offspring's driving behavior. The present study combines two sets of data: the first gathered from in-vehicle data recorders tracking the driving of parents and their teenage sons, and the second derived from self-report questionnaires completed by the young drivers. The aim was to evaluate the contribution of parents’ driving behavior, participation in a parent-targeted intervention, and the teen drivers’ perception of the family climate for road safety, to the driving behavior of young drivers during solo driving. The data was collected over the course of 12 months, beginning with the licensure of the teen driver, and examined a sample of 166 families who were randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups (receiving different forms of feedback) or a control group (with no feedback). Findings indicate that young male drivers’ risky driving events rate was positively associated with that of their parents. In addition, any type of intervention led to a lower rate of risky driving events among young drivers compared to the control group. Finally, a higher perception of parents as not committed to safety and lower perceived parental monitoring were related to a higher risky driving events rate among young drivers. The results highlight the need to consider a complex set of antecedents in parents’ attitudes and behavior, as well as the family's safety atmosphere, in order to better understand young drivers’ risky driving. The practical implications refer to the effective use of the family as a lever in the attempt to promote safety awareness among young drivers.     

The contribution of family climate for road safety and social environment to the reported driving behavior of young drivers

Two studies examined the contribution of the new concept of “family climate for road safety” and several aspects of the social environment to the driving behavior of young drivers. Study 1 (n = 120) investigated the effect of the seven dimensions of the family climate for road safety – Modeling, Feedback, Communication, Monitoring, Noncommitment, Messages, and Limits – as well as a general tendency to conform to authority, and peer pressure. Study 2 (n = 154) examined the dimensions of family climate for road safety and perceived popularity of reckless driving among peers. The findings indicate associations both between the familial and the social aspects, and between these variables and driving styles, willingness to take risks while driving, reckless driving habits, and personal commitment to safe driving. Positive aspects of the parent–child relationship and high levels of conformity to authority were related to greater endorsement of the careful driving style, whereas family's noncommitment to safety, higher peer pressure, and lower conformity to authority were associated with greater endorsement of the reckless driving style. In addition, positive aspects of the family climate for road safety and lower perceived popularity of reckless driving among friends were associated with more personal commitment to safe driving and a lower tendency for risky driving. The discussion stresses the need to look at the complex set of antecedents of reckless driving among young drivers and addresses the practical implications of the findings for road safety.     

Hurried driving: Relationship to distress tolerance,driver anger,aggressive and risky driving in college students

Being a hurried driver is associated with a variety of risky driving behaviors, yet the mechanisms underlying this behavior remain unknown. Distress tolerance, defined as an individual's capability to experience and endure negative emotional states, was examined as a predictor of hurried driving among 769 college students. Results indicate that after controlling for age, gender, race, ethnicity, the student's year in school, their grade point average, driving frequency, angry driving, aggressive driving as well as other forms of self-reported risky driving; hurried driving was significantly associated with lower levels of distress tolerance. Hurried drivers also reported greater levels of frustration and impatience with other drivers, suggesting that they have difficulty in withstanding or coping with negative psychological states when driving. Traditional traffic safety campaigns that emphasize enforcement may be less successful with these drivers. The need to develop campaigns that address the affective coping abilities that contribute to this behavioral pattern is discussed.     

Nothing good ever happens after midnight: Observed exposure and alcohol use during weekend nights among young male drivers carrying passengers in a late licensing country

Similar to other countries, also in the Netherlands young male drivers (ages between 18 and 24 years) are overrepresented in crashes during weekend nights, thereby fatally injuring one or more of their passengers. This overrepresentation may be due to two contributing factors: (a) a higher exposure-to-risk because of dangerous trip condition, and (b) a higher tendency to take risks. Studies on these factors, mostly carried out in jurisdictions where youngsters are licensed at an earlier age than in Europe, suggest a strong –often negative– influence from peer-aged passengers. Given that in adolescence susceptibility to peer pressure reduces with age, these findings may not be applicable to late licensing countries, such as in Europe. In the Netherlands –a late licensing country– youngsters are licensed after the age of 18 years, followed by a 5 year probation period with a legal alcohol limit of 0.2 g/L. Further, designated driver schemes are in place since 2001, alcohol limits are enforced by random breath testing schemes, and no passenger and night time restrictions are in force. Against this background, we examined the incidence of dangerous trip conditions and risk taking among young male drivers and compared those with a reference group with a low passenger fatality rate. To that end, data on trip conditions and risk behavior were obtained from a data base on 18,608 randomly selected drivers during weekend nights in 2010, between 22:00 and 06:00. This data base held information for each randomly selected on breath alcohol concentration (BAC), license status, driver characteristics (age and gender), number of passengers, time of night, and level of urbanization. Binary logistic regression analysis confirmed the overrepresentation of young male drivers in traffic, carrying more frequently passengers than the reference group, especially after midnight. Urbanization level was not a modifying factor, but ‘time of night’ was, with riskier conditions after midnight in terms of: (a) a higher young male driver presence, (b) young male drivers carrying more frequently multiple passengers and (c) a higher prevalence of illegal BACs. After midnight, no evidence was found for a protective effect of the presence of one passenger on alcohol use. Of the young male drivers, 5% were over the legal limit and 3 in 5 young males who were over the limit carried passengers. However, the indicative result that young male drivers with multiple passengers were less likely to have been drinking than solo drivers or drivers with just one passenger, is suggestive of a protective effect of multiple passengers. These results may guide preventive strategies, including police enforcement and designated driver programmes.     

Gap acceptance and risk-taking by young and mature drivers, both sober and alcohol-intoxicated, in a simulated driving task

A single-blind randomized study was conducted on young (18–21 years, n = 16) and mature (25–35 years, n = 16) drivers to assess how age, combined with a modest dose of alcohol (0.7 g/kg for males and 0.6 g/kg for females), influenced performance on a driving simulator. The driving tasks included detecting the presence of a vehicle on the horizon as quickly as possible, estimating the point on the road that an approaching vehicle would have passed by the participants’ vehicle (time-to-collision) and overtaking another vehicle against a steady stream of oncoming traffic. The results of the vehicle detection task showed that detection times were significantly slower with maturity, alcohol consumption and lower approaching vehicle speeds (50 kph), particularly on curved sections of road. Approaching vehicle speed was also found to significantly influence time-to-collision (TTC) judgments, such that faster approach speeds led to less underestimated (and therefore riskier) judgments of TTC than slower speeds. In the overtaking task, mature participants demonstrated impaired discrimination skills with varying approaching vehicle speeds, while young participants recorded significantly slower speeds while overtaking a vehicle, thus increasing the time that they spent in the opposing lane. In conclusion, young and mature drivers demonstrated pivotal differences in behavior in this study. Young drivers showed a greater tendency to engage in risky driving, while experienced drivers appeared to be more susceptible to perceptual influences. Overall, alcohol consumption impaired a driver's ability to divide attention, but had little effect on decision-making processes.     

Decreasing number of young licence holders and reduced number of accidents. A description of trends in Sweden

The following study compares rates of licence holders and rates of car accidents in two age cohorts born in Sweden in 1972 and 1977, respectively. The research material consists of all accidents with injury which these young people have been involved in as car drivers at age 16–21. The periods concerned are 1988–1993 and 1993–1998, respectively. In the respective periods altogether 2082 and 1453 car accidents leading to injury were recorded. The results show a lower rate of licence holders and a lower rate of car accidents in the later age cohort. Particularly the rate of fatal accidents and accidents leading to serious injury was lower. Comparing the earlier with the later age cohort, the reduction of accidents was greatest in the most densely built-up counties of Sweden and in the groups with the highest risk, namely those age and socio-economic groups who had the highest rate of fatalities and accidents leading to serious injury. Factors behind the decrease in the rates of licence holders and the rates of car accidents are discussed. Recession in the economy and less interest in car driving among young people are factors which are suggested as explanations.     

Fatal crash involvement of unlicensed young drivers: County level differences according to material deprivation and urbanicity in the United States

Objectives

This study assessed the association between county level material deprivation and urbanization with fatal road traffic crashes involving young unlicensed drivers in the United States (US).

Background

Road traffic crashes have been positively associated with area deprivation and low population density but thus far few studies have been concerned specifically with young drivers, especially those that are unlicensed.

Methods

A county material deprivation index was derived from the Townsend Material Deprivation Index, with variables extracted from the US Census (2000). An urbanicity scale was adapted from the US Department of Agriculture's Rural–Urban Continuum Codes (2003). Data on fatal crashes involving a young unlicensed driver during a seven-year period (2000–2006; n = 3059) were extracted from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System. The effect of deprivation and urbanicity on the odds of the occurrence of at least one fatal crash at the county level was modeled by conditional and unconditional logistic regression.

Results

The conditional model found a positive association between material deprivation and a fatal crash involving a young unlicensed driver (OR = 1.19, 95% CI 1.17, 1.21). The interaction between urbanicity and material deprivation was negatively associated in suburban counties for fatal crashes (OR = 0.92, 95% CI 0.90, 0.95).

Conclusions

An association with material deprivation and the likelihood of a fatal crash involving a young unlicensed driver is a new finding. It can be used to inform specific county-level interventions and promote state licensing policies to provide equity in young people's mobility regardless of where they live.     

Effects of an adult passenger on young adult drivers’ driving speed: Roles of an adult passenger's presence and driving tips from the passenger

An adult passenger has been known to facilitate young drivers’ safe driving. This study examined whether the adult passenger's effect is produced by the simple presence of an adult passenger or by the driving tips offered by the passenger. Further, we examined whether the effect would be transferred to when a young driver drives alone without the adult passenger in the following session. Three groups of participants drove on expressway in a driving simulator, either alone, with a silent adult passenger, or with an adult passenger who gave advice on driving safety. After a break, participants in all three conditions drove on the same expressway alone. Results showed that participants who drove with an adult passenger providing driving tips drove more safely than the other groups, and the effect was transferred to even when they drove alone afterwards.     

Unlicensed driving and other related health risk behaviors: A study of Montana high school students

Purpose

Health risk behaviors tend to cluster in young people, not least among young drivers. Less is known about the health risk profile of young unlicensed drivers. This study investigates health risk behaviors among young unlicensed drivers compared to both their licensed and driving peers, and their non-driving peers.

Methods

High school students participating in the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System in Montana (US) and age-eligible to have a driver's license were studied (n = 5985), categorized according to their self-reported car driving and license practice (licensed driving, unlicensed driving, and non-driving). Ten health risk behaviors, of which four were related to car riding/driving, were considered. Multinomial logistic regression was used to compile sex-specific odds ratios (with 95% confidence intervals) of adopting those behaviors using licensed drivers as a reference and adjusting for age and race/ethnicity.

Results

Health risk behaviors tended to be more common among unlicensed drivers than other groups, although some behaviors were prevalent in all groups (i.e., alcohol use and lack of seat belt use). As a consequence, for both male and female students, there was a significant association between unlicensed driving and most health risk behaviors, except for being involved in a physical fight and riding with a drinking driver among female students.

Conclusions

Young unlicensed drivers are more likely than licensed drivers to adopt several health risk behaviors both in car driving/riding or otherwise, in particular alcohol use and cigarette smoking. This challenges any simplistic approach as unlicensed driving in youth is not an isolated act suggesting public health and traffic safety initiatives.     

Factors affecting stability and change in risky driving from late adolescence to the late twenties

The risky driving tendencies of young drivers has been extensively researched, but much less is known about across-time patterns of risky driving behavior and the factors which influence these. This study identified factors associated with stable, increasing and decreasing risky driving trajectories among 751 Australian drivers participating in an ongoing longitudinal study. Five groups were formed on the basis of participants’ patterns of risky driving from 19–20 to 27–28 years (i.e., stable low-risk, stable speeding, stable high-risk, increasing and decreasing). Very few participants exhibited a stable high-risk pattern. Characteristics that differentiated the different across-time groups were identified using Multinomial Logistic Regression. The most consistent correlates of risky driving patterns were antisocial behavior, binge drinking and relationship status. Sex, school completion, temperament, civic engagement, and antisocial peer friendships were also correlated with different across-time patterns. The implications of these findings for road safety are discussed.     

The beliefs which motivate young male and female drivers to speed: A comparison of low and high intenders

In Australia, young drivers aged 17–24 years, and particularly males, have the highest risk of being involved in a fatal crash. Investigation of young drivers’ beliefs allows for a greater understanding of their involvement in risky behaviours, such as speeding, as beliefs are associated with intentions, the antecedent to behaviour. The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) was used to conceptualise beliefs using a scenario based questionnaire distributed to licenced drivers (N = 398). The questionnaire measured individual's beliefs and intentions to speed in a particular situation. Consistent with a TPB-based approach, the beliefs of those with low intentions to speed (‘low intenders’) were compared with the beliefs of those with high intentions (‘high intenders’) with such comparisons conducted separately for males and females. Overall, significant differences in the beliefs held by low and high intenders and for both females and males were found. Specifically, for females, it was found that high intenders were significantly more likely to perceive advantages of speeding, less likely to perceive disadvantages, and more likely to be encouraged to speed on familiar and inappropriately signed roads than female low intenders. Females, however, did not differ in their perceptions of support from friends, with all females reporting some level of disapproval from most friends and all females (i.e., low and high intenders) reporting approval to speed from their male friends. The results for males revealed that high intenders were significantly more likely to speed on familiar and inappropriately signed roads as well as having greater perceptions of support from all friends, except from those friends with whom they worked. Low and high intending males did not differ in their perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of speeding, with the exception of feelings of excitement whereby high intenders reported speeding to be more exciting than low intenders. The findings are discussed in terms of how they may directly inform the content of mass media and public education campaigns aimed at encouraging young drivers to slow down.     

Cars and distraction: How to address the limits of Driver Monitoring Systems and improve safety benefits using evidence from German young drivers

We are facing an increase in the emergence of distracting activities while driving. This is especially the case for young people who, more than other age groups, employ their cars as a place of personal fulfilment. This study proposes an interdisciplinary safe-by-design (SbD) heuristic to address this emerging risk. It harnesses a German version of the Behaviour of Young Novice Driver Scale (BYNDS) to gather representative information about young people's distracting activities. This information is then used to address to limitations of Driver Monitoring Systems (DMS) and posit safety measures in the context of young driver distraction. Our novel approach reveals three recommendations that should guide the employment of DMS in future generations of cars. We argue that the sole use of DMS Type 1 (i.e. vehicle motion data) is not sufficient to cope with the complex range of distracting activities that occur inside the car. We suggest designers and technologists employ DMS Type 2 (i.e. cameras and acoustic sensors) as this makes it possible to capture rich information about humans, objects and their interaction. In light of concerns about data privacy, policymakers must act to regulate the ethical use of data from the inside of the car and to find the necessary trade-off between data privacy and the unnecessary attrition of young human lives. This research provides a reasonable foundation for this discussion.     

A simulator study on the impact of traffic calming measures in urban areas on driving behavior and workload

This study examined the impact of traffic calming measures (TCM) on major roads in rural and urban areas. More specifically we investigated the effect of gate constructions located at the entrance of the urban area and horizontal curves within the urban area on driving behavior and workload. Forty-six participants completed a 34 km test-drive on a driving simulator with eight thoroughfare configurations, i.e., 2 (curves: present, absent) × 2 (gates: present, absent) × 2 (peripheral detection task (PDT): present, absent) in a within-subject design.     

Pre-licensed driving experience and car crash involvement during the learner and restricted,licence stages of graduated driver licensing: Findings from the New Zealand Drivers Study

Objective

The aim of this study was to determine whether pre-licence driving experiences, that is driving before beginning the licensing process, increased or decreased crash risk as a car driver, during the learner or the restricted licence stages of the graduated driver licensing system (GDLS).

Method

Study participants were 15–24 year old members of the New Zealand Drivers Study (NZDS) – a prospective cohort study of newly licensed car drivers. The interview stages of the NZDS are linked to, the three licensing stages of the GDLS: learner, restricted and full. Baseline demographic (age, ethnicity, residential location, deprivation), personality (impulsivity, sensation seeking, aggression) and, behavioural data, (including pre-licensed driving behaviour), were obtained at the learner licence interview. Data on distance driven and crashes that occurred at the learner licence and restricted licence stages, were reported at the restricted and full licence interviews, respectively. Crash data were also obtained from police traffic crash report files and this was combined with the self-reported crash data. The analysis of the learner licence stage crashes, when only supervised driving is allowed, was based on the participants who had passed the restricted licence test and undertaken the NZDS, restricted licence interview (n = 2358). The analysis of the restricted licence stage crashes, when unsupervised driving is first allowed, was based on those who had passed the full licence test and completed the full licence interview (n = 1428).

Results

After controlling for a range of demographic, personality, behavioural variables and distance driven, Poisson regression showed that the only pre-licence driving behaviour that showed a consistent relationship with subsequent crashes was on-road car driving which was associated with an increased risk of being the driver in a car crash during the learner licence period.

Conclusion

This research showed that pre-licensed driving did not reduce crash risk among learner or restricted licensed drivers, and in some cases (such as on-road car driving) may have increased risk. Young people should be discouraged from the illegal behaviour of driving a car on-road before licensing.     

Crash avoidance in response to challenging driving events: The roles of age,serialization, and driving simulator platform

We examined the crash avoidance behaviors of older and middle-aged drivers in reaction to six simulated challenging road events using two different driving simulator platforms. Thirty-five healthy adults aged 21–36 years old (M = 28.9 ± 3.96) and 35 healthy adults aged 65–83 years old (M = 72.1 ± 4.34) were tested using a mid-level simulator, and 27 adults aged 21–38 years old (M = 28.6 ± 6.63) and 27 healthy adults aged 65–83 years old (M = 72.7 ± 5.39) were tested on a low-cost desktop simulator. Participants completed a set of six challenging events varying in terms of the maneuvers required, avoiding space given, directional avoidance cues, and time pressure. Results indicated that older drivers showed higher crash risk when events required multiple synchronized reactions. In situations that required simultaneous use of steering and braking, older adults tended to crash significantly more frequently. As for middle-aged drivers, their crashes were attributable to faster driving speed. The same age-related driving patterns were observed across simulator platforms. Our findings support the hypothesis that older adults tend to react serially while engaging in cognitively challenging road maneuvers.     

Persuasive appeals in road safety communication campaigns: Theoretical frameworks and practical implications from the analysis of a decade of road safety campaign materials

Communication campaigns are employed as an important tool to promote road safety practices. Researchers maintain road safety communication campaigns are more effective when their persuasive appeals, which are central to their communicative strategy, are based on explicit theoretical frameworks. This study's main objectives were to develop a detailed categorization of persuasive appeals used in road safety communication campaigns that differentiate between appeals that appear to be similar but differ conceptually, and to indicate the advantages, limitations and ethical issues associated with each type, drawing on behavior change theories. Materials from over 300 campaigns were obtained from 41 countries, mainly using road safety organizations’ websites. Drawing on the literature, five types of main approaches were identified, and the analysis yielded a more detailed categorizations of appeals within these general categories. The analysis points to advantages, limitations, ethical issues and challenges in using different types of appeals. The discussion summarizes challenges in designing persuasive-appeals for road safety communication campaigns.     

The effectiveness of audio-tactile lane-marking in reducing various types of crash: A review of evidence, template for evaluation, and preliminary findings from Australia

Audio-tactile lane-marking (ATLM) is designed to alert inattentive drivers when they deviate from their lane. Most commonly used previously to mark the edges of divided freeways, it is increasingly used to mark the edge and/or centre of two-lane undivided roads. We present a detailed review of ATLM evaluations to demonstrate that although both edge- and centreline ATLM appear to be effective, evaluations have been flawed insofar as they have (1) often not controlled adequately for variations due to extraneous factors known to affect crash incidence; (2) often focussed on total crashes, or on inattention-related crashes, and failed to address the possibility that ATLM increases some crash-types (particularly crashes involving two-wheeled vehicles, out-of-control crashes, or crashes on the opposite side of the lane to which the ATLM is installed); (3) almost always related to the milled-in “rumble strips” employed in the US rather than the raised profile lane-marking (PLM) that is employed in Australia. The present Empirical Bayes analysis aimed to evaluate PLM by comparing treated and untreated sections of the same roads both before and after the date of treatment in terms a range of crash types (some separately for roads with only edgeline-PLM, with only centreline-PLM, and with both edgeline- and centreline-PLM). Although some of the above issues could not be addressed due to insufficient data, the analysis provides a useful template for future researchers. The results provide evidence that both edgeline and centreline (alone or in combination) reduce targeted (same-side) crashes. Although there is no evidence that edgeline and centreline alone increase opposite side crashes, only edgeline and centreline together produced a net reduction in total crashes. Thus, the present results suggest that installing PLM on both edgeline and centreline is preferable to installing either alone.     

Five road safety education programmes for young adolescent pedestrians and cyclists: A multi-programme evaluation in a field setting

A practical approach was developed to assess and compare the effects of five short road safety education (RSE) programmes for young adolescents that does not rely on injury or crash data but uses self reported behaviour. Questionnaires were administered just before and about one month after participation in the RSE programmes, both to youngsters who had participated in a RSE programme, the intervention group, and to a comparable reference group of youngsters who had not, the reference group. For each RSE programme, the answers to the questionnaires in the pre- and post-test were checked for internal consistency and then condensed into a single safety score using categorical principal components analysis. Next, an analysis of covariance was performed on the obtained safety scores in order to compare the post-test scores of the intervention and reference groups, corrected for their corresponding pre-test scores. It was found that three out of five RSE programmes resulted in significantly improved self-reported safety behaviour. However, the proportions of participants that changed their behaviour relative to the reference group were small, ranging from 3% to 20%. Comparisons among programme types showed cognitive approaches not to differ in effect from programmes that used fear-appeal approaches. The method used provides a useful tool to assess and compare the effects of different education programmes on self-reported behaviour.