Developing traffic safety interventions from conceptions of risks and accidents

By means of investigating the mental background to young male drivers’ risky traffic behaviour, this explorative qualitative study outlines a framework for the construction of interventions that could mitigate risk-taking among young male drivers. Seven males, 20–23 years of age, demonstrating excessive speeding behaviour when driving, were interviewed in-depth. Five themes, “Self-image as a good driver brings self-esteem”, “Commanding high speed – a pleasurable sensation”, “High awareness of risks, but notions of serious outcomes are not salient”, “Imagined accident scenarios evoke outcome conceptions” and “Perceived cause of accident influences anticipated affective reactions”, had central positions in their conceptions about risk-taking and accidents. The results were analysed in relation to previous literature on the concepts of Anticipated Regret and Imagining as antecedents to attitude and behaviour change, and it was concluded that interventions based on imagining the emotional aftermath of being the perpetrator of a serious accident should be developed and tested.