A qualitative study of young drivers and deterrence based road policing

Deterrence theory is the predominant theory used to underpin road policing initiatives. However, survey research indicates that this approach may not be as effective for young drivers. This study uses focus groups, conducted in both metropolitan and regional locations in two Australian states (Queensland and Victoria), to explore three components of classical deterrence theory: certainty, severity & swiftness. The results suggest that geographical context affected perceptions of certainty with individuals from regional locations less likely to indicate that they would be caught by police for committing a traffic offence. Additionally, the use of cameras to detect road offences increased perceptions of certainty for young drivers. The results of this study suggest that police agencies should focus on undertaking actions to increase the perceptions of certainty swiftness and severity of punishment, particularly in regional areas, for young drivers who engage in illegal behaviour on the road. Where appropriate, these actions should take into account the geographical context. There may also be value in considering augmenting deterrence theory with other theoretical perspectives for this group.     

This is not me! Technology-identity concerns in consumers’ acceptance of autonomous vehicle technology

The relationship between drivers and their cars is increasingly personal, where the cars become an extension of the drivers’ self-identity. However, the penetration of autonomous vehicle (AV) technology threatens consumers’ self-identity as expressed by the act of driving. This study thus aims to examine the impacts of technology-identity concerns on consumers’ acceptance of AV technology. Theories of identity threat, identity control and innovation diffusion are synthesised to build the conceptual framework. Face-to-face interview data were collected from 353 consumers (all with a driving license) in Singapore. The results show that consumers’ technology anxiety and self-identity expressiveness act as two sources of resistance that cause consumers’ intentional avoidance of the AV technology. The avoidance is further characterised by consumers’ disengagement from the ‘observe’ and ‘try’ stages of technology penetration, which ultimately dissuades consumers’ acceptance of AV technology. The impacts of socio-demographics are also explored. Our findings contribute to multiple streams of literature and create practical implications to AV manufacturers and retailers.     

To share or not to share: A theoretically guided investigation of factors predicting intentions to use fully automated shared passenger shuttles

This study applied the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to assess individuals’ intentions to use fully automated shared passenger shuttles when they become publicly available. In addition, perceived trust was assessed to examine the extent to which this variable could account for additional variance in intentions above the TPB constructs of attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control (PBC). Further, and also guided by the TPB, the study explored the differences in behavioural, normative, and control beliefs between individuals who reported high intentions to use automated passenger shuttles in the future (high intenders) and individuals who reported low intentions to use fully automated shared passenger shuttles in the future (low intenders). Participants (N = 438; 64% female) aged between 17 and 84 years (Mage = 35.42 years) were asked to complete an online questionnaire which took approximately 15 min. The findings revealed that attitudes, subjective norms, and PBC were significant positive predictors of intentions to use fully automated shared passenger shuttles when they become publicly available. When perceived trust was added to the hierarchical regression, this variable was shown to account for additional significant variance in intentions above the TPB constructs and was shown to be a significant positive predictor of intentions. Further, the results revealed significant differences in beliefs held by high and low intenders. Specifically, high intenders held significantly more positive beliefs towards fully automated shared passenger shuttles than low intenders. In turn, low intenders held significantly more negative beliefs towards these vehicles than high intenders. Overall, these findings provide support for the utility of the TPB in examining individuals’ intentions to use fully automated shared passenger shuttles when they become publicly available.     

Surrendering personal control to automation: Appalling or appealing?

There has been a growing interest in Autonomous Vehicle (AV) technology worldwide over the last decade. Nevertheless, various studies have noted some potential socio-psychological challenges to AV use and ownership. These challenges can be mitigated by designing AV that accounts for users’ personalities, such as their perceived control and power. The complex relationship between personal control and automation, two concepts that intuitively sound contradictory to each other, is less explored. In this study, two dimensions of personal control, the desire for control and the driver locus of control, were hypothesized to influence the attitude toward AV. The relationships were moderated by power distance, a cultural factor related to one’s sense of control. The hypotheses were tested using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach via the Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) software. As many as 457 respondents from two sample groups, Hungarian and Indonesian drivers were gathered via an online questionnaire and compared. The results reveal that 1) the higher the desire for control, the more negative the attitude toward AV 2) the higher the external driver locus of control, the more positive the attitude toward AV 3) the more positive the attitude toward AV, the higher the intention to use AV and 4) power distance moderates the relationship between the desire for control and the attitude toward AV, such that the negative effect of the desire for control is strengthened in high power distance orientation. This study also provides theoretical contributions and managerial implications, especially to AV designers.     

Effects of Self‐Affirmation,Narratives, and Informational Messages in Reducing Unrealistic Optimism About Alcohol‐Related Problems Among College Students

This study examines intervention approaches to improve the accuracy of risk judgments among college students with unrealistic optimism about alcohol‐related problems. We conducted a randomized experiment with 2 self‐affirmation (affirmed, nonaffirmed) and 3 message conditions (narrative, informational, no treatment control). Results indicate that providing risk information to unrealistic optimists, while concomitantly protecting their self‐concept via either self‐affirmation or narratives, may reduce defensive reactions and align their perceived risk more closely with their actual risk. Self‐affirmation reduced unrealistic optimism only among those exposed to an informational message, not those exposed to a narrative. The narrative message appeared to increase perceived risk among unrealistic optimists via transportation and identification with the character. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of this work.     

Peer passenger identity and passenger pressure on young drivers’ speeding intentions

Young drivers, aged 17-24 years, have the highest fatality rate in Australia. It is believed that part of this risk is due to pressure from peer passengers to engage in speeding; which may be active (i.e., verbal encouragement) or passive (i.e., perceived pressure on the part of the driver). The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was used to investigate this impact of peer passengers on young drivers, particularly the influence of the type of peer pressure and a driver’s level of identification with their passengers. A scenario-based questionnaire was constructed, informed by focus groups and pilot studies, and distributed to university students (N = 398). The questionnaire measured participants’ intentions and the TPB constructs, including two components of perceived behaviour control, within a baseline scenario as well as an experimental scenario in which the variables of type of pressure and identification were manipulated. Consistent with the hypotheses, the study found that attitudes and self-efficacy significantly predicted intentions over and above the variance explained by the sociodemographic variables of age, gender, self-esteem, sensation seeking, as well as past behaviour and exposure. Across the scenarios, attitudes explained between 4.3% and 14.5%, while self-efficacy to refrain from speeding explained between 4.9% and 17.1%, of the unique variance in intentions to speed. However, contrary to expectations, intentions to speed were found to be higher in the “no passenger” than “passenger present” conditions, although this finding is not completely inconsistent with recent literature. A high level of identification with passengers led to higher intentions to speed than low identification as expected, but, inconsistent with expectations, different types of pressure (i.e., active versus passive) did not influence intentions to speed.     

Behavioural Change Techniques used in road safety interventions for young people

IntroductionDeath and injury from road traffic is a public health problem worldwide and accordingly there is substantial interest and investment in developing interventions to change road user behaviour. Alongside this, there is growing awareness of the need to evaluate interventions and to identify the most effective mechanisms by which behaviour can be changed. Progress has been hindered due to lack of a common taxonomy with which to define specific techniques used in attempts to change behaviour.ObjectiveBehavioural Change Techniques (BCTs) have been successfully deployed to change a range of different health behaviours. This paper defines a series of BCTs that can be applied in the road safety setting and asks which ones are found in road safety interventions for young road users?MethodAbraham and Michie (2008) identified twenty-six techniques used in behavioural change interventions. These BCTs, plus one other adapted from forensic psychology, are classified into nine groupings. Six educational road safety interventions commonly used in the UK with pre-drivers and young, novice drivers are characterised in terms of the BCTs they employ.ResultsOnly a small subset of BCTs are employed in most of the interventions. They concentrate primarily on increasing awareness of the risks associated with a particular behaviour, and the severity of the potential adverse consequences.ConclusionRecommendations are given for improving the effectiveness of road safety interventions for young people including young, novice drivers by increasing the range of BCTs deployed.     

Implementation of automatic speed enforcement: Covariation with young drivers’ reported speeding behaviour and motivations

IntroductionSpeeding represents one of the main causes of road crashes worldwide, particularly among young drivers who are over-represented in road-crash statistics. For promoting road safety in France, an automatic speed enforcement (ASE) system was introduced late 2002.ObjectiveIn order to examine its efficiency on speeding and its motivations, we compared young drivers’ intentions and beliefs about speeding between the introduction of ASE (T1) and its completion in 2005 (T2) via a large survey based on the extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). We assumed the introduction of the ASE would covariate with a reduction in intention to speeding between T1 and T2 and a change in the extended TPB factors according to gender and driving experience.MethodOne thousand one hundred and ninety-two young participants (49.7% men) divided into novice, beginner, and more-experienced drivers filled in a questionnaire based on the extended TPB about their driving behaviour and history at T1 and 24 months later (T2).ResultsMen, beginner and more-experienced drivers expressed more intention to speeding within the next 12 months at T1 and showed a higher decrease in intention between T1 and T2 as compared to women and novice drivers. The extended TPB accounted for 59% of the variance in the decrease of the intention to speeding. Its main predictors were: lower perceived behavioural control over speeding, less social pressure, lower perceived similarity with the prototypical deviant driver, and higher comparative optimism. Secondly, slightly more positive behavioural beliefs and more negative outcome evaluations predicted this decrease.ConclusionPractical implications of the findings for road safety are discussed.     

People with more misconceptions about automated vehicles might be more positive toward them

Automated vehicle (AV) technology is likely to influence transportation, mobility, and society dramatically. The year 2020 was a horizon year for the AV, as manufacturers expected commercial AVs to be available to the general market. However, we experienced one cycle of hyperbole for these “self-driving” cars, which are still unavailable to consumers. Meanwhile, many persistent beliefs about this technology are factual or arguable misconceptions. However, the public attitude literature rarely examines public misconceptions of AVs. Thus, we explored the prevalence of three misconceptions: “AVs are already available in the market,” “AVs do not need to be driven manually at all,” and “Mature business models for AVs have been established.” We investigated these misconceptions’ correlations with several cognitive (i.e., benefit and risk perceptions), affective (i.e., positive and negative affect), and behavioral components (i.e., behavioral intention and willingness to pay) of attitudes and trust in AVs. Our online survey in China (N = 1,026) indicated that more than 70% of participants hold one or more of the three misconceptions, with one-third believing that AVs are already available in the market. Furthermore, participants believing one or more of the three misconceptions were more positive regarding specific attitudinal factors (e.g., those who believed that AVs are already available reported greater behavioral intention to use and willingness to pay for AVs than those who rejected this misbelief). This finding indicates that people who are more wrong about AVs might be more positive toward AVs. We need effective and accurate public communication to dispel public misconceptions about AVs and build rational expectations.     

Young drivers’ perception of hazards: Variation with experience and day versus night

Young novice drivers have a relatively high crash risk for several years following initial licensing, and while all drivers are at greater risk at night, the night-time increase is greater for inexperienced drivers. Poor hazard perception has been identified as an important contributor to inexperienced drivers’ risk, but research on day-night differences in hazard perception for drivers varying in experience is lacking. This exploratory study investigated the nature of hazards reported by young inexperienced drivers versus more experienced and slightly older drivers. Hazards were not pre-identified by researchers; participants were simply provided with a general definition of ‘hazard’. Analysis focused on how experience level affected qualitative differences in the kinds of hazards reported, with particular focus on day-night differences.The 53 participants ranged in driving experience from learners through to 5+years post licensing, and in age from 16 to 30 years. They viewed 14 day- and night-time video clips of a diverse range of driving situations, pausing the video whenever they identified a hazard and then explaining why they had paused it at that point. Their responses were recorded. Content analysis of responses showed that more experienced drivers reported visibility-related hazards significantly more often than inexperienced ones, and significantly more so at night. They also commented significantly more on hazards related to tight bends in the road and significantly less on hazards concerning compliance with rules. Comments tended to be fewer with higher vehicle speeds, particularly for the least experienced drivers.Results are discussed in terms of how experience-related differences in drivers’ cognitive schemata and mental models are likely to affect hazard perception and crash risk, particularly at night. Some implications for driver training and license testing are suggested.