Validation of the F-DBQ: A short (and accurate) risky driving behavior questionnaire for long-haul professional drivers

Although the Driving Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) remains the most known tool for assessing risky road behaviors among motor vehicle drivers, recent studies have raised several concerns on the specificity of both driving task conditions and behavioral repertory of certain segments of the driving population. Among them, long-haul (cargo) professional drivers constitute one of the “intensive driving” groups for which the existing adapted behavioral research tools are still very scarce.PurposeThe aim of the present study was to test and validate the F-DBQ (or “Freight Driving Behavior Questionnaire”), a short version of the DBQ adapted to the occupational driving conditions and typical road risk behaviors of freight drivers.MethodFor this cross-sectional study, a sample of n = 982 Spanish long-haul drivers with a mean age of 48.5 years was used, responding to a questionnaire composed of measures on road risk behaviors (DBQ), fatigue (Checklist Individual Strength – CIS and Need for Recovery Scale – NFR) and job stress (Effort–Reward Imbalance questionnaire – ERI).ResultsThrough competitive Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) with structural equation models, it was found that the F-DBQ has a clear dimensional structure, a fair goodness-of-fit, high factorial weights, internal consistency, convergent and discriminant validity and an improved fit to long haul drivers’ working conditions. Also, both (general and work-related) fatigue and job stress have shown to have a significant role in explaining risky road behaviors of long-haul drivers.ConclusionThe findings of this study support that an abbreviated version of the Driving Behavior Questionnaire (the F-DBQ) can be used to assess traffic violations and errors among long-haul drivers, in consideration of their specific task-related conditions (that qualitatively differ from other groups of drivers), with potential implications on the enforcement of occupational and road safety research.     

Personality, risky driving and accident involvement among Norwegian drivers

Despite the large body of studies, the role of personality in risk research still remains debatable and unclear. The objective of this study was to identify determinants of road user behaviour and accident involvement with the aim of developing effective accident countermeasures. Examining relationships between personality, risky driving and involvement in accidents can open up the possibility of early identification of those more likely to be involved in accidents. The aim is not to influence personality as such, but to develop measures constructed for specific groups. The results are based on a self-completion questionnaire survey carried out among a sample of Norwegian drivers in year 2000 and 2001 (n=2605). The Norwegian Directorate of Public Roads financed the study. The questionnaire included measures of risky driving, accident involvement, normlessness, sensation-seeking, locus of control and driver anger. Results showed that those who scored high on sensation seeking, normlessness and driver anger reported more frequent risky driving compared to those who scored low on these variables. They were more often involved in both speeding and ignorance of traffic rules. Respondents involved in risk taking-behaviour experienced near-accidents and crashes leading to both injuries and material damage more often than other drivers.     

Accident involvement among Iranian lorry drivers: Direct and indirect effects of background variables and aberrant driving behaviour

Road accident rates among Iranian lorry drivers are considerably high and, according to empirical evidence, aberrant driving behaviours, summed to certain demographic, psycho-social and work-related factors, may explain their accident involvement. Consequently, the main aim of the study was to examine the direct and indirect effects of background variables (i.e. annual mileage, lorry driving experience, demographic and socioeconomic factors) on accident involvement mediated through aberrant driving behaviour among Iranian lorry drivers. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted in 2012 among 914 lorry drivers in 10 selected provinces in Iran. The 27-item Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ) was used to measure aberrant driving behaviour. Results from valid observations (n = 785) confirmed a four-factor solution (including ordinary violations, aggressive violations, errors, and lapses) of the DBQ. Errors, ordinary violations and aggressive violations were positively associated with accident involvement. However, lapses were not significantly associated with accident involvement. The results of structural equation modeling (SEM) further showed that, in addition to direct effects of background variables on accident involvement, several variables had indirect effects mediated by three-DBQ factors; ordinary violations, aggressive violations, and errors. Higher age, having more lorry driving experience, having higher educational attainment, and married drivers were indirectly related to less accident involvement. Annual driving mileage and the resting rate of drivers was both directly and indirectly related to accident involvement. Higher income and car ownership were directly related to fewer accidents. Interventions could aim to decrease ordinary violations, aggressive violations and errors among younger, less educated and single lorry drivers. Initiatives targeted to increase the scheduled resting frequency of lorry drivers may also hold promise.     

Effects of Share the Keys (STK), a comprehensive,behavioral-based training program for parents and new teen drivers in New Jersey

The New Jersey Graduated Driver License (GDL) restrictions were updated in 2010 with changes that included a more active role of parents monitoring practice driving with their teens. In addition to extending the driving phases, there were new curfew and passenger limit restrictions. Teen drivers were also required to use red decals on license plates to identify themselves as inexperienced drivers. The Division of Highway Traffic Safety had partnered with the Motor Vehicle Commission in the past to produce practice driving guides for parents of teen drivers, but recognized the need to support this type of informational campaign with an educational program for helping parents to understand changes in the GDL and recognize the importance of their role in the GDL monitoring process. In 2010, the New Jersey Parent/Teen Driver Orientation program was developed to educate parents of teen drivers on the new GDL restrictions and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) findings concerning the importance of parenting roles in teen driver safety. Additional resources were incorporated into the orientation that included the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) community based information and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) parent-teen driver contracts.This community-based training, known as the New Jersey Parent/Teen Driver Orientation was later renamed Share the Keys, and had been developed for the state as a component of the New Jersey Highway Safety grant received by Kean University. The comprehensive program was designed to engage parents, teens, educators, and law enforcement in the teen driving process and help parents to understand how personal parenting styles and engagement may impact teen crash risk and compliance with the GDL restrictions. Local representatives from traffic safety and law enforcement teamed with school officials and driver education teachers to present programs in their communities. The evaluation process was built into the program as a pre-survey administered at the beginning of the session, a post-survey completed directly afterward, and a voluntary follow-up survey completed on line or mailed, beginning six months later.Evidence from the first year showed that parents maintained a significant level of engagement throughout the GDL process with their teen drivers. However, findings did establish the need to further examine why Authoritative parenting styles had declined, especially since this parenting approach was considered in the literature as most effective in reducing teen crash risks. Therefore, the scope of this study was broadened to a three year effort that reached over 2800 parents and investigated behavioral outcomes impacted by Share the Keys. While comparisons made between driving phases and parenting styles had yielded no significant results, changes within parenting style scores were shown to be effective over time. The reported levels of Permissive and Uninvolved parents remained consistent throughout all three driving phases, while Authoritarian parenting peaked during the Probationary phase, and Authoritative parenting was noted as highest once teens earned their license.     

Relations between a laboratory-based sustained attention task and traffic violations in an Iranian sample of drivers

The role of cognitive abilities regarding driver behavior is crucially important in the occurrence of traffic violations and preventing tragic motor vehicle collisions. Sustained attention is one cognitive ability that may contribute to safe driving behavior. The present study investigated the relation between sustained attention and traffic violations. One hundred and one Iranian male drivers (age: M = 37.17, SD = 8.37) with at least 2 years driving experience voluntarily participated in the study. Participants were categorized into two groups based on the number of driving rule violations they committed over the last 2 years (n = 48 clean record, n = 53 violators). Sustained attention was measured by performance on the Conjunctive Continuous Performance Task (CCPT). Four CCPT performance measures were computed: (1) Mean reaction time for correct responses (M-RT); (2) standard deviation of reaction times for correct responses (SD-RT); (3) percent of omission errors (failure to respond to target stimulus); (4) percent of commission errors (identification of a non-target stimulus as target). Results showed after controlling for age and education, there was a significant group difference on M-RT, indicating that individuals with no traffic violations had faster reaction times as compared to those who had 1 or more traffic violations. No effect of group on any of the other outcomes was present after correcting for alpha inflation. When assessing the effect of age and education, education was significantly related to average reaction time and percent of omission errors. No significant effect of age was apparent. Findings suggest cognitive function, specifically sustained attention measured with a laboratory-based measure, may be associated with safe driving behavior.