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.     

Investigating sex,masculinity and femininity in relation to impulsive driving and driving anger expression

Human factors constitute a class of prominent road safety related factors. In the present study, human factors of driving were studied by investigating sex differences and gender roles in relation to impulsive driving and driving anger expression. A total of 425 drivers between the ages of 18 and 56 (M = 25.46, SD = 7.58) participated to the study and completed a series of questionnaires including a demographic information form, the Bem Sex Roles Inventory, the Impulsive Driver Behaviour Scale and the Driving Anger Expression Inventory. According to the ANCOVA results, male drivers showed higher functional impulsivity, lack of premeditation and use of the vehicle to express anger than female drivers. Additionally, hierarchical regression analyses showed that masculinity was positively associated with functional impulsivity, urgency and the dimensions of aggressive anger expression. However, femininity was positively associated with functional impulsivity and adaptive/constructive anger expression, but negatively associated with the dimensions of dysfunctional impulsivity and aggressive anger expression. Overall, the results showed the significant solo effects of masculinity and femininity on impulsive driver behaviours and driving anger expression, over and above the effects of sex, and the interaction between sex and gender roles. In the present study, previously reported findings indicating the relationships between sex and gender roles and driving anger expression were supported and extended by providing the literature with the contribution of answering the question how sex and gender roles are related to impulsive driver behaviours. The findings of the two related concepts of impulsive driving and driving anger expression were discussed in light of the current literature. Contributions, implications and future research directions concerning road safety practices were presented.     

Evaluating driver comprehension of the roadway environment to retain accountability of safety during driving automation

Driver comprehension is a substantial component of situation awareness that involves the ability of an individual to understand the significance of an object, traffic sign, or hazard while driving. An increase in crashes related to autonomous driving systems has raised a concern regarding the safety of other roadway users due to the diminishing accountability resulting from a general lack of understanding of the limitations or disregard of the safety protocols by users. To keep drivers vigilant when engaged in partial automated systems, a methodology to monitor real-time driver comprehension was proposed. A driving simulator study consisting of 90 participants, equally split between males and females, was executed to establish driver comprehension in six different variations of driving difficulty. Joint probability density functions were created by considering percent time spent gazing, answers to probe questions, and driving performance. Based on these density functions, five levels of comprehension were devised and assigned thresholds. Overall, as task difficulty increased, a non-linear deterioration in driving speed along with an increase in total gaze duration was observed before comprehension was attained. A two-step validation protocol was also proposed to ensure similar levels of comprehension to non-automated driving from the human driver, when engaged in early forms of automation. The proposed real-time driver comprehension monitoring constitutes a first step toward developing a methodology to reinstate the accountability of safety of other roadway users when engaged in driver-in-the-loop automation systems.     

Student driver propensity to engage with distractions – a self-report survey

This paper reports a survey of engagement with, and ratings of, driver distraction, for undergraduate student drivers. Survey data was collected using an anonymous online questionnaire. 530 respondents contributed to the survey during a seven-year data collection period.Results indicate that the three internal-to-vehicle behaviours rated as most distracting when driving were ‘writing text messages’, ‘internet use’, and ‘reading text messages’. The three most frequently undertaken distractions were, ‘(interactions with) adults’, ‘daydreaming’, and ‘eating, drinking or smoking’. Considering external-to-vehicle distractions, the top three rated were ‘environmental conditions’, ‘unexpected objects or events’, and ‘animals behaving unexpectedly’; while the most frequently experienced external distractions were ‘people (behaving normally), ‘busy roads’ and ‘official signage’. Some evidence was found that internal-to-vehicle distractions were relatively more distracting than external-to-vehicle ones, along with limited findings showing significant variation in the amount of engagement with distractions over time. Significant predictive models for engagement with distraction were calculated (for both work-related and non-work-related driving) and found to be broadly in agreement with previous research, although accounting for less variance in the models. Significantly greater engagement with distractions was found during non-work-related driving, when compared to work-related.The data present a picture of ongoing and substantial engagement with distracting behaviours for this population over the data collection period. For example, on a daily or weekly basis, more than three-fifths of respondents reported willingness to read text messages with the vehicle in motion; while just under half indicated that they typically write text messages in the same circumstances. However, the findings do offer some promise that interventions targeted towards non-work-related driving behaviours may be effective to reduce volitional engagement with distractions.     

From sport to eco: A case study of driver inputs on electric vehicle efficiency

This study focuses on driver-induced changes to vehicle energy and emissions performance by altering drivetrain configurations. It defines and examines the motivations for the use of drive modes in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Drive modes are defined as user-selectable drivetrain configurations that allow drivers to change vehicle performance aspects such as altering its propulsion status from electric to gas, changing the steering responsiveness, suspension stiffness, and regenerative braking strength. Despite the direct impact they have on the vehicle’s energy usage, greenhouse gas emissions, and local air emissions, the impact of drive modes are not traditionally measured as part of the vehicle’s performance and certification tests. The impact of drive mode choice can explain a portion of the discrepancy between PHEVs expected and on road performance as a recent study by the authors found that the use of certain modes can result in a 15–30% increase in total energy usage in a vehicle traveling at freeway speeds.This is the first study to examine the motivations for the use of these drive modes and provides an overview of PHEV drive modes, classifying them into two main mode categories (propulsion adjustment and driver experience) and eight different mode types based on their intended purpose. This is followed by a logistic regression of 11 indicators for mode usage taken from a survey of over 4,500 PHEV owning households, showing that gender and the number of long-distance trips were the most commonly associated with usage across mode types.     

État des lieux des comportements proactifs en contexte professionnel

Our aim was to identify in the scientific field of social psychology and management, the different academic approaches and models of the proactivity concept. In the first instance, the proactivity concept is mentioned as a dispositional variable and an interindividual difference involving personality traits and associated behaviors. In the second, we more specifically explore proactive behaviors and their features. In a complementary manner, we expose some environmental elements understood to promote the initiation and continuation of proactive behavior (decision latitude, autonomy, transformational leadership). Finally, we introduce a few proactivity concept limitations and benefits of using such behaviours in organizational environment. We then conclude this work with a few research proposals such as the variability of the proactivity level and the possibility of acquiring proactive behaviours.     

The safety and conspicuity of pedestrian crossing at roundabouts: The effect of median refuge island and zebra markings

Roundabouts are one of the most used road intersections because, compared to signalized ones, they reduce conflict points between traffic flows and moderate driving speed. Great attention should also be paid to vulnerable road users at roundabouts. According to accident statistics, in fact, accessibility of pedestrians and cyclists is not always ensured.This paper has evaluated the effects on the visibility of pedestrian crossing before and after the displacement of zebra markings, moved before intersections, and the introduction of media refuge islands and “Yield here to pedestrians” vertical signs. The above effects have been assessed by before-after analysis of speed and visual behaviour of drivers approaching the crosswalk.Moreover, the analysis of the drivers’ eye movements has highlighted the most salient elements of the pedestrian crossing. The relation between the drivers’ visual behaviour and the vehicle speed have also been calculated. Results have confirmed that the intervention carried out has increased both visibility and safety of the studied pedestrian crosswalks.Zebra markings and the median refuge island have turned out to be the most glanced elements, respectively seen by 93.75% and 56.25% of the drivers, followed by the “Yield here to pedestrians” vertical sign. The mean distance of first fixation of the crosswalk increased from 21.98 m before the intervention, to 40.69 m after it. The drivers perceived the pedestrian crossings from a longer distance after the intervention, and they continued to glance at the crosswalk while approaching it, enhancing their visual attention.     

Contributory factors to sleepiness amongst London bus drivers

Driver sleepiness contributes to a substantial proportion of all road crashes. Despite all that is known about driver sleepiness, bus drivers are often overlooked. What is certain is that bus drivers have the potential to suffer from sleepiness as they are shift workers. The current research used a large online survey to investigate sleepiness amongst London bus drivers. There were two aims; to quantify the prevalence of sleepiness amongst London bus drivers, and to determine the factors which contributed to sleepiness. Overall, 20.8% of respondents indicated that they had to fight sleepiness at least 2–3 times a week, and 36.6% of respondents stated that they had experienced a close call due to sleepiness in the past year. There were several potential causes of sleepiness including work, sleep, and personal factors such as obtaining less than 11 h rest between shifts, working 6 or more days without a rest day, and poor self-reported health. These findings show that sleepiness is common amongst London bus drivers and is caused by a combination of factors. The combination of contributory factors suggests that a multifaceted approach should be taken to reduce bus driver sleepiness.     

The effect of sleep-need and time-on-task on driver fatigue

Both sleep- and task-related factors are thought to contribute to driver fatigue, with each factor individually associated with deteriorated driving performance. However, the relative and combined effects of these factors in the context of monotonous driving have not been well studied. This study (N = 60) investigated lateral and longitudinal vehicle control, subjective fatigue and physiological response (EEG) during three 10-minute periods of time-on-task spread across a monotonous, 2-hour simulator drive. Level of physiological sleep-need was manipulated between participants by varying the instructed time spent in bed on the night before testing (≤5h or ≥ 8 h). In addition, half of the participants in each sleep group read the applicable speed limit from periodic roadside signs whereas the others performed an arithmetic calculation, displayed on the signs, to determine the speed limit. This task manipulation has been demonstrated to reduce performance decrements over time. Results demonstrated effects of time-on-task and sleep need on self-report ratings, an effect of time-on-task on EEG indices, and an interaction of sleep-need and time-on-task on an EEG index of mental workload and on the lateral control measure of driving performance. There were no significant effects on the measure of speed variability. These results confirm that both sleep-need and time-on-task negatively affect driver state, and that time-on-task decrements in driver performance can occur in the absence of heightened sleep-need. Results also suggest that drivers with heightened sleep-need could protect their performance for a short time, perhaps by exerting effort to compensate for reduced capacity. The secondary task did not counteract declining performance.