Traffic crash involvement: experiential driving knowledge and stressful contextual antecedents

Researchers have rarely examined stressful environments and psychological characteristics as predictors of driving behavior in the same study. The authors hypothesized that (a) safer drivers more accurately assess physical and emotional traffic hazards and (b) stress and emotional states elevate crash risk. The hypotheses were evaluated with procedural and declarative tacit driving knowledge tests requiring assessment of emotional and contextual hazards and with accident reports describing crash antecedents, including stressful events and environmental conditions. Analyses identified separate driving knowledge factors corresponding to emotional and contextual hazards that were significantly related to the crash criteria. Accident report analyses show that stress significantly elevates at-fault crash risk. The results demonstrate the importance of experiential knowledge acquired without instruction (procedural or tacit knowledge) and provide safety recommendations.     

Development and validation of the Drivers’ Emotional Intelligence Inventory (EMOVIAL)

Road fatalities involving young road users have become a global health issue. Although human factors are known to be involved in road fatalities, little research has examined the way in which emotional competencies may affect road accidents. With the aim of filling this gap we describe the development and validation of a scale for measuring emotional intelligence when driving. The EMOVIAL inventory consists of nine items distributed across three dimensions (attention to emotions while driving, clarity of emotions while driving, and emotional regulation while driving). Analysis of its psychometric properties showed it to be valid and reliable. The paper discusses how the scale may be used to improve road safety.     

The likelihood of becoming a pedestrian fatality and drivers’ knowledge of pedestrian rights and responsibilities in the Commonwealth of Virginia

Pedestrian–vehicle crashes represent a small percentage of all Virginia crashes (less than 2% over the past 10 years). However, approximately 10% of crash fatalities are pedestrians. We analyzed pedestrian crash trends from 1990–1999 and investigated variables believed to predict these crashes, such as location (urban versus rural setting), sex, age, pedestrian drinking, driver drinking, driver violation, and time of day. A logistic regression analysis, controlling for year, found all of these variables significantly predicted the odds of dying versus being injured in a pedestrian crash. The typical fatality victim was an older male who had been drinking and was walking in a rural area between 12:00 and 5:59 a.m. A driver who had been drinking but would not be cited for a violation more likely struck this pedestrian. Crash data do not tell us about the knowledge drivers and pedestrians have regarding pedestrian laws, and how such knowledge suggested typical self-reported behaviors. Thus, we conducted a telephone survey of licensed Virginia drivers to assess such self-reported knowledge and behaviors. Most respondents reported knowing and following state laws regarding driver yielding and walking across streets. However, we found one area of particular concern. Respondents tended to believe pedestrians had the right-of-way at all times even when not crossing at crosswalks or intersections when Virginia law does not yield right-of-way to pedestrians in all cases. Virginia does not assign right-of-way in all cases to any group; rather the context determines who may proceed while others yield. Additional analyses from the crash trends and survey are reported in the text. The authors also draw parallels between their US research and that of the international community.     

On emotional innumeracy: Predicted and actual affective responses to grand-scale tragedies

The present research demonstrates that people overestimate the intensity of their emotional responses to grand-scale tragedies. Participants predicted that they would feel significantly worse if thousands of people were killed in a disaster than if only a few people were killed, and yet they exhibited an “emotional flatline,” feeling equally sad regardless of the number of people killed. This unforeseeable emotional flatline was demonstrated in response to deaths stemming from human violence and natural disasters, both close to home and far away (including hurricanes in the United States, a forest fire in Spain, and the Iraq War). Participants’ actual emotional responses were calibrated with fatalities only when abstract death tolls were translated into concrete images. We argue that affective forecasts and emotional experiences may arise from separate systems, leading to reliable forecasting errors, as well as influencing subsequent judgments.     

Sexual activity while driving: A content analysis of media reports

Sexual activity while driving fits the definition of distracted driving because it involves the diversion of attention away from the driving task. However, this risky driving behaviour has received little attention compared to other distracted driving activities. To address the lack of research on sexual activity while driving, the internet was searched from April to June 2020 for media reports in which sexual activities occurred within the cabin of a moving vehicle, taking specific note of: gender, the presence of others, time of day, use of substances, the nature of the circumstances surrounding the incident, and whether crashes had occurred. A total of 106 unique and verified cases were identified from 2004 to 2020. The reports involved 76 male (71.7%) and 30 female drivers (28.3%), and there were 43 (40.5%) serious incidents that involved a crash and 23 fatalities (21.7%). In 17 (16.0%) incidents their vehicle hit another car, and a pedestrian or cyclist was hit in 3 (2.8%) incidents. The risk of a serious incident was higher during oral sex or intercourse than solitary activities (i.e. masturbation). A total of 63 (59.5%) mild incidents (without crashes or fatalities) were identified, in which reports included accounts by witnesses or police regarding sexual activity while driving. Given the potential seriousness of incidents, this topic deserves further research to better understand the prevalence and safety implications of sexual activity while driving.     

Children as Earwitnesses: Memory for Emotional Auditory Events

We examined the influence of age and emotionality of auditory stimuli on long‐term memory for environmental sound events. Sixty children aged 7–11 years were presented with two environmental sound events: an emotional car crash and a neutral event, someone brushing their teeth. The sound events comprised six individual environmental sounds, and the participants passively listened to the sound events through a headset. After a two‐week delay, participants performed a cued recall task and a recognition task. Independent of age, children were notably poor at recalling the sound events. Children recalled and recognized significantly more sounds from the emotional sound event than the neutral sound event. Additionally, the older children performed the recall task better than the younger children. The present findings confirm and expand the previously reported superiority of emotional material in memory.Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Situational Facilitation of Interpersonal Attraction: A Three-factor Hypothesis1

A theoretical analysis of observations of natural and man-made disasters, festive social events, and task-oriented crash programs led to a three-factor hypothesis of attraction facilitation. It was proposed that interpersonal attraction toward strangers is facilitated when there is emotional arousal, sharing, and out-of-role behavior. In a laboratory investigation (N= 120), postexperimental attraction toward a dissimilar stranger increased when all three factors were present but not when only two of the three factors were present (p < .01). Consistent with the reinforcement-affect model of attraction, increased attraction toward the stranger in the three-factor conditions was paralleled by more positive feelings about the experiment in the three-factor than in the two-factor conditions. Knowledge of the variables underlying facilitation effects could be utilized on a societal basis to create attraction-enhancing occurrences.     

Spatio-temporal pattern of vulnerable road user’s collisions hot spots and related risk factors for injury severity in Tunisia

High risk of vulnerable road users (VRUs) injuries and fatalities have received higher interest nowadays in Tunisia. By using VRUs crash record (from January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2013), we describe the spatial pattern of VRUs collisions according to different temporal scales such as (a.m. vs p.m. rush hours VRUs collisions, working days vs non-working days VRUs collisions, daytime vs nighttime VRUs collisions) and investigate the influence of personal and environmental factors for VRUs injuries severity within the Center-East region in Tunisia. The empirical results are of great variety: spatial clustering pattern of each subtype of VRUs collisions according to temporal scale were clearly observed with the exception of daytime VRUs collisions, which shows a random tendency. All time-based subtypes of VRUs collisions also were found to be clustered along the national highways and regional highways especially in the regions of Sousse and Sfax. Results from VRUs severity model suggest that the degree of injury severity is higher for male than for female victim. The Tunisian VRUs are more likely to be involved in severe collision than non-Tunisian VRUs. Among driver contributory factors, the change of direction and hazardous overtaking increase the probability of sustaining fatal accidents compared to other driver contributory factors. The season factor shows that accident severity during the summer season is higher. From a policy view point, this kind of analysis can certainly help Tunisian public authorities to develop appropriate safety measures that can possibly reduce the number of VRUs injuries and fatalities.     

Can sleep habits predict driver behaviour?

IntroductionThe role of sleep hygiene (those factors that promote or disrupt effective sleep) on human performance was examined.ObjectiveThe study investigated the relationship between sleep hygiene and crash involvement.MethodMeasures of sleep hygiene and crash involvement were considered for a sample of over 6000 drivers.ResultsIt was found that poorer sleep hygiene was associated with younger age and greater crash involvement. The association between sleep hygiene and crash involvement remained when age and risk taking had been taken into account.ConclusionPoor sleep hygiene is associated with poorer performance as measured by crash involvement.     

BRIEF REPORT Forgetting “murder” is not harder than forgetting “circle”: Listwise-directed forgetting of emotional words

The list-method directed forgetting (DF) paradigm has attracted the attention of clinical psychologists because it is widely believed that a retrieval inhibition mechanism underlies its effects. Thus, the idea is that people are capable of intentionally forgetting negative emotional material. On the other hand, there are reasons to believe that negative stimuli are relatively resistant to forgetting. The present experiment compared listwise DF of emotional and neutral words in healthy college students. A modified procedure (i.e., a simulated computer crash) showed a reliable DF-effect in that list 1 recall was larger under remember than forget instructions whereas the reverse was true for list 2 recall. Emotionality did not modulate the magnitude of this effect. Thus, negative emotional material is not resistant to forgetting. Although overall, the present findings are in line with a retrieval inhibition interpretation (i.e., decreased access to list 1 material), attentional focusing during list 2 learning may provide a sufficient explanation.     

Proposal of a driver profile classification in relation to risk level in overtaking maneuvers

Traffic crashes are a worldwide problem, and records have indicated frontal collisions have resulted in the most significant number of fatalities. Such a type of crash is frequently caused by improper overtaking of vehicles, which highlights the interference of human factors. Therefore, investigations on driver's risk perception are necessary. This study proposes a classification of driver's risk level through a decision tree using the Classification and Regression Tree (CART) algorithm from data collected from the overtaking maneuvers in a driving simulator. The model obtained by CART algorithm indicated young male drivers are more likely to take risks in overtaking maneuvers. The results were correlated with governmental records and similar studies. In addition, the results showed the potential of the tool for used as a risk level classifier, as well as the validation of the driving simulator in studies associated with human factor behaviours, accident analysis and investigation.     

Exploration of older drivers’ speeding behaviour

Speeding increases crash risk and resulting injury severity. Older drivers are at increased risk of injury due to frailty, at increased risk of crashing due to slower reaction times, and have less agility judging time and distance compared to younger drivers. However, there is little objective evidence about older drivers’ speeding behaviour. Cross-sectional data from older drivers living in the suburban outskirts of Sydney, Australia, were used to determine the proportion of drivers involved in speed events, and examine factors that may influence this behaviour. Driving speed was estimated in approximately one-second intervals using Global Positioning System (GPS) location. Speed events were defined as driving 1 km/h or more, with 3% tolerance, above a single speed limit, averaged over 30-s of travel. Driving data from one-week were recorded for 344 participants aged 75–94 years (median 80). The majority of participants (78%) were involved in a speed event. Speed events per participant ranged from zero to 186 (median 8). Younger participants, those living in rural areas, and those driving on familiar roads closer to home were more likely to be involved in speed events adjusted for distance driven. In addition, rural residents were more likely to be involved in speed events when they had not been a driver involved in a crash during the previous year compared to those involved in a crash. Measures of visual and cognitive function did not predict involvement with speed events per distance (p > 0.2). These findings are important for policy-makers and researchers addressing older drivers’ speeding to reduce the incidence of crashes and resulting fatalities and injuries. As no evidence was found for speeding being associated with functional decline, countermeasures to address speeding for other drivers seem likely to be relevant to older drivers.     

Personality and accident liability: are extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism related to traffic and occupational fatalities?

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism, and road traffic fatalities in a data set of 34 nations. In addition to traffic fatalities per 100,000 vehicles, work-related fatalities were included in the study. Results showed that extraversion had a positive relation to the number of traffic fatalities whereas neuroticism correlated negatively with road fatalities. Occupational fatalities were strongly related to deaths on the roads but not to personality dimensions. Countries with high extraversion scores had more traffic fatalities than countries with moderate or low extraversion scores. The need for well-designed studies investigating the link between personality factors and traffic accident liability via driver behaviour was expressed.     

Prevalence and factors associated with turn signal neglect-related crashes among motorcyclists and car drivers in Vietnam

Road traffic crashes and injuries are a major societal challenge around the world. However, the majority of injuries and fatalities occur disproportionately in low-income and medium-income countries. Previous studies have concluded that risky behaviours were the main contributing factor of traffic crashes. Turn signal neglect (TSN) when making a turn is one of those risky behaviours. Unfortunately, research on TSN has been very limited. This study investigates the prevalence of TSN-related crashes and factors affecting TSN among motorcyclists and car drivers. Data was obtained from self-administered questionnaires conducted in Vietnam. The findings showed that 17.54% of motorcyclists and 14.76% of car drivers have experienced at least one crash caused by their failure to turn signals in the last three years. Additionally, fewer years having a riding/driving license, longer daily travelling time, lower frequency of turn signal use, and having received a fine due to TSN were found to be positively associated with TSN-related crashes for both motorcyclists and car drivers. The findings highlight the importance of TSN for road safety and the need for authorities to develop more effective educational strategies and to increase traffic law enforcement.     

A data-matching study of the role of fatigue in work-related crashes

This study investigated fatigue involvement in work and nonwork-related road traffic casualty crashes using a dataset formed by linking the New South Wales workers compensation dataset with the New South Wales road traffic crash database. In many crash databases work-relatedness cannot be identified. Other databases, such as workers compensation data provide information on work-related road traffic injury but little on the circumstances of the crash. Probabilistic linkage overcame these problems by matching cases from the workers compensation data to the crash data to produce a new dataset of work-related road traffic casualties. The patterns of fatigue-involvement in these casualty crashes showed similarities between work-related crashes and nonwork-related crashes. Fatigue-involved crashes were more likely to result in fatality, involved higher costs, were more likely to involve heavy and light trucks and to involve illegal alcohol or speeding no matter whether they were work-related or not. Time of crash was the only characteristic that differed between work and nonwork-related crashes. Work-related fatigue-involved crashes tended to occur around dawn whereas work-related non-fatigue crashes occurred in peak hour traffic. Timing of work-related crashes involving fatigue varied little across the 24-h period whereas those not involving fatigue showed an afternoon peak only. While fatigue-related crashes occur in similar ways regardless of work status, strategies for work-related driver fatigue should not be left to be addressed only by general road safety strategies. As there is more control in the workplace over some of the fundamental causes of driver fatigue work-related fatigue management strategies are much more likely to be successful.     

Rise in landing-related skydiving fatalities

The purpose was to assess whether adoption of potentially dangerous skydiving gear and skydiving practices has led to an increase in fatalities. Beginning in the early 1990s, civilian skydivers began to utilize high performance parachutes that fly much faster and are much more responsive than older style parachutes. Also, skydivers began to fly these parachutes in a more aggressive manner. An analysis of data from the 507 skydiving fatalities in the USA between 1986 and 2001 indicated that this shift toward high performance parachutes and aggressive flying techniques was temporally associated with an increase in parachute-landing deaths. During the same time period, the total number of fatalities remained fairly stable.     

A mixed effects negative binomial analysis of road mortality determinants in Sub-Saharan African countries

This paper uses aggregate data for a panel of 23 Sub-Saharan African countries to explore the potential predictors of road traffic fatalities between 2001 and 2010. In addition to the Gross Domestic Product per capita, the set of covariates includes some demographic, safe driving behavior, health and infrastructure-related variables. Estimations from a mixed effects negative binomial regression suggest that the fraction of populations aged between 15 and 64 years, the size of the road network and seat belt laws significantly increase fatalities. However, populations of age 65 and above, hospital beds and physicians’ densities, and road audits significantly decrease these fatalities. Moreover, traffic fatalities are found to increase with the Gross Domestic Product per capita. The economic implications of this finding is not to lower the economic growth but to design policies and technologies that could prevent African countries from experiencing the same road tragedy observed in industrialized countries during their development process.     

How does emotional intelligence predict driving behaviors among non-commercial drivers?

Dangerous driving behaviors have been found to be a leading contributor to vehicle crashes and fatalities, with more than 2.7 million people injured and 36,560 people killed in the United States in 2018 (NHTSA, 2020). Drivers’ emotions have been found to be among the leading contributors to dangerous driving behaviors. Emotions can be measured and understood through one’s emotional intelligence (EI). Previous research has confirmed the relationship between EI and dangerous driving behaviors among general driving populations in limited scope. This study analyzed dangerous driving behaviors (e.g., aggressive driving) among non-commercial US drivers. 615 US drivers ages 18 to 65 (M = 31.14, SD = 11.15) with valid US driver’s licenses (non-commercial) participated in this study. Participants completed an online survey through Qualtrics that included the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue-SF) to measure different dimensions of EI and the Dula Dangerous Driving Index (DDDI) and the Driving Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) to measure dangerous driving behaviors. Furthermore, participants reported their demographic information, including age, sex, and location. Correlation analysis revealed that significant associations exist between dangerous driving behaviors and EI. The emotionality component of EI was found to be the strongest predictor of dangerous driving behaviors. The findings concluded that participants with higher EI scores engaged in less dangerous driving behavior, resulting in fewer crashes and fatalities. Thus, promoting and improving EI may be useful in preventing risky driving among non-commercial drivers. Incorporating emotional intelligence education in driver’s education, workplace training, and licensing procedures can be helpful to develop safer drivers. Further research is needed to investigate commercial drivers’ behaviors in relation to EI.     

An analysis of U.S. parachuting fatalities: 2000-2004

Between 2000 and 2004, 125 recreational parachuting fatalities were reported in the USA. Each was categorized using a previously reported taxonomy. While patterns of skydiving fatality were largely unchanged since the last such analysis of fatalities from 1993-1999, some variations were noted. As in previous analyses, most of the recent skydiving fatalities were the direct result of human error. Some examples of commonplace human error fatalities were turning low to the ground resulting in a hard landing, accidentally colliding with other skydivers resulting in entangled parachutes, and failure to deploy the reserve parachute correctly in the event of malfunctioning main parachute.     

Effectiveness of a Media Campaign to Reduce

This article describes the evaluation of a 4-1/2-month multimedia traffic-safety campaign that targeted young drivers in northeastern Tennessee. Discussion groups with teenagers provided the basis for public-service announcements (TV, radio, and billboard), which were developed specifically for this intervention. To determine the impact on crash frequencies among drivers 16–19 years old, baseline, intervention, and follow-up crash data were obtained from statistics maintained by the state. A time-series analysis of these data indicated that during the intervention period, there was a 21.6% decrease in crashes for which 16–19-year-old drivers were at fault, whereas a control location in southeastern Tennessee exhibited no significant change.