Safety attitudes, behaviour, anxiety and perceived control among professional and non-professional drivers

The current study aimed to investigate differences in psychological safety factors such as attitudes and behaviour among professional and non-professional drivers. Differences in accident involvement and the number of speeding tickets were also investigated. An additional aim was to study factors associated with risky driver behaviour and speeding tickets in these groups. A questionnaire survey was distributed by mail to a randomly selected sample from the Norwegian population registry (N = 6203). The response rate was 30% and the final sample consisted of 1864 individuals. Adjusted for demographic characteristics and road traffic exposure the results showed that professional drivers (n = 113) reported significantly less seat belt use and watchful driving than non-professional drivers (n = 1594). Professional drivers reported significantly less fun riding and safer attitudes regarding addressing the unsafe driving of others. The professional drivers also reported significantly safer behaviour related to drink driving, but lower priorities of road traffic safety. Professional drivers perceived significantly more control and had been involved in more accidents than the non-professional drivers. The results suggest that professional drivers may constitute a risk group in road traffic. Further research could focus on barriers of seat belt use and mechanisms, which could promote safety priorities in this driver group. The knowledge gained by such studies could be utilised by company managers in order to promote safer behaviour among professional drivers.

[1]  S G Stradling,et al.  Determinants of intention to commit driving violations. , 1992, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[2]  D. Yagil.  Gender and age-related differences in attitudes toward traffic laws and traffic violations , 1998 .

[3]  James T. Reason,et al.  A systems approach to organizational error , 1995 .

[4]  J K Caird,et al.  The Relationships between Organizational and Individual Variables to On-the-Job Driver Accidents and Accident-Free Kilometers , 2000 .

[5]  B. Moen.  Explaining risk perception. An evaluation of the psychometric paradigm in risk perception research , 2004 .

[6]  D. French,et al.  Behavioral correlates of individual differences in road-traffic crash risk: an examination method and findings. , 1993, Psychological bulletin.

[7]  A. Smiley,et al.  Time vs. distance as measures of exposure in driving surveys. , 1992, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[8]  Lisa Dorn,et al.  Stress, fatigue, health, and risk of road traffic accidents among professional drivers: the contribution of physical inactivity. , 2006, Annual review of public health.

[9]  Lisa Dorn,et al.  Development and validation of a self-report measure of bus driver behaviour , 2010, Ergonomics.

[10]  T. Rundmo,et al.  A cross‐cultural comparison of road traffic risk perceptions, attitudes towards traffic safety and driver behaviour , 2011 .

[11]  John A. Groeger,et al.  Traffic psychology and behaviour , 1998 .

[12]  Xianggui Qu,et al.  Multivariate Data Analysis , 2007, Technometrics.

[13]  Frank P. McKenna,et al.  It won't happen to me: Unrealistic optimism or illusion of control? , 1993 .

[14]  Torbjørn Rundmo,et al.  Cross-cultural comparisons of traffic safety, risk perception, attitudes and behaviour , 2009 .

[15]  Christopher K. Hsee,et al.  Risk as Feelings , 2001, Psychological bulletin.

[16]  Torbjørn Rundmo,et al.  Traffic risk perception, road safety attitudes, and behaviors among road users: a comparison of Turkey and Norway , 2012 .

[17]  M Sivak,et al.  Cross-cultural differences in driver risk-perception. , 1989, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[18]  P S Carroll,et al.  THE MEANING OF DRIVING EXPOSURE , 1971 .

[19]  Tyler H. Shaw,et al.  Predicting vigilance: A fresh look at an old problem , 2009, Ergonomics.

[20]  F. McKenna,et al.  The Effect of Perceived Control on Risk Taking1 , 1999 .

[21]  R. Zajonc.  Feeling and thinking : Preferences need no inferences , 1980 .

[22]  Wei Zhang,et al.  Driver's views and behaviors about safety in China--what do they NOT know about driving? , 2006, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[23]  François Bellavance,et al.  Wireless telephones and the risk of road crashes. , 2003, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[24]  Torbjørn Rundmo,et al.  An investigation of driver attitudes and behaviour in rural and urban areas in Norway. , 2010 .

[25]  C. Wortman,et al.  Attributions of blame and coping in the "real world": severe accident victims react to their lot. , 1977, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[26]  Loran F. Nordgren,et al.  Unpacking perceived control in risk perception: The mediating role of anticipated regret , 2007 .

[27]  Lennart Sjöberg,et al.  Risk Perception by the Public and by Experts: A Dilemma in Risk Management 1 , 1999 .

[28]  E. Petridou,et al.  Human factors in the causation of road traffic crashes , 2004, European Journal of Epidemiology.

[29]  Kaarin J Anstey,et al.  Ability perceptions, perceived control, and risk avoidance among male and female older drivers. , 2008, The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences.

[30]  Jacob Cohen.  Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences , 1969, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Research Design.

[31]  Sveinung Eiksund,et al.  A geographical perspective on driving attitudes and behaviour among young adults in urban and rural Norway , 2009 .

[32]  Patricia Delhomme.  Evaluation d'actions possibles face a un risque : une approche experimentale de l'effet du controle subjectif sur l'optimisme absolu et comparatif , 2001 .

[33]  A. Christophersen,et al.  Rearrest rates among Norwegian drugged drivers compared with drunken drivers. , 2002, Drug and alcohol dependence.

[34]  Torbjørn Rundmo,et al.  The role of risk perception and other risk-related judgements in transportation mode use , 2011 .

[35]  T. Rundmo,et al.  Risk Perception and Demand for Risk Mitigation in Transport: A Comparison of Lay People, Politicians and Experts , 2006 .

[36]  Ray Hurley,et al.  Statistics by subjects , 1956 .

[37]  Bjørg-Elin Moen,et al.  Determinants of safety priorities in transport – The effect of personality, worry, optimism, attitudes and willingness to pay , 2007 .

[38]  Pål Ulleberg,et al.  INFLUENCING SUBGROUPS OF YOUNG DRIVERS AND THEIR PASSENGERS. MOTIVATIONAL INFLUENCES OF PERSONALITY TRAITS ON RISK-TAKING ATTITUDES AND DRIVING BEHAVIOUR , 2002 .

[39]  Agathe Backer-Grøndahl,et al.  Accidents and Unpleasant Incidents: Worry in Transport and Prediction of Travel Behavior , 2009, Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis.

[40]  Discriminant Analysis of Animal Species Odor’s Response , 2009 .

[41]  D M DeJoy,et al.  The optimism bias and traffic accident risk perception. , 1989, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[42]  Torbjørn Rundmo,et al.  Attitudes towards traffic safety, driving behaviour and accident involvement among the Norwegian public , 2004, Ergonomics.

[43]  Ingrid van Schagen,et al.  Driving speed and the risk of road crashes: a review. , 2006, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[44]  D M DeJoy,et al.  An examination of gender differences in traffic accident risk perception. , 1992, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[45]  Jeff K. Caird,et al.  The relationships between organizational and individual variables to on-the-job driver accidents and accident-free kilometres , 2004, Ergonomics.

[46]  T. Rundmo,et al.  RISK PERCEPTION AND DRIVING BEHAVIOUR AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN TWO NORWEGIAN COUNTIES BEFORE AND AFTER A TRAFFIC SAFETY CAMPAIGN , 2004 .

[47]  Margaret M. Peden,et al.  World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention , 2004 .

[48]  D. Marlowe,et al.  A new scale of social desirability independent of psychopathology. , 1960, Journal of consulting psychology.

[49]  L Aberg,et al.  Drinking and driving: intentions, attitudes, and social norms of Swedish male drivers. , 1993, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[50]  R West,et al.  Direct observation of driving, self reports of driver behaviour, and accident involvement. , 1993, Ergonomics.

[51]  J. Nunnally,et al.  Psychometric Theory: NY. , 1978 .

[52]  Dianne Parker,et al.  Driving errors, driving violations and accident involvement. , 1995, Ergonomics.

[53]  Torbjørn Rundmo,et al.  Perception of Transport Risk in the Norwegian Public , 2006 .

[54]  T. Rundmo,et al.  Managers’ attitudes towards safety and accident prevention , 2003 .

[55]  David Crundall,et al.  What happens next? Predicting other road users' behaviour as a function of driving experience and processing time , 2009, Ergonomics.

[56]  D. Walton,et al.  Examining the self-enhancement bias: professional truck drivers’ perceptions of speed, safety, skill and consideration , 1999 .

[57]  Nicholas J. Ward,et al.  The culture of traffic safety in rural America , 2007 .

[58]  L Evans,et al.  The effectiveness of safety belts in preventing fatalities. , 1986, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[59]  C Collet,et al.  Phoning while driving I: a review of epidemiological, psychological, behavioural and physiological studies , 2010, Ergonomics.

[60]  Torbjørn Rundmo,et al.  The effects of personality and gender on risky driving behaviour and accident involvement , 2006 .

[61]  Shelley E. Taylor,et al.  Illusion and well-being: a social psychological perspective on mental health. , 1988, Psychological bulletin.

[62]  T. Rundmo,et al.  Cultural and socio-demographic predictors of car accident involvement in Norway, Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda , 2012 .

[63]  K. Peltzer,et al.  Superstition, risk-taking and risk perception of accidents among South African taxi drivers. , 2003, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[64]  Hilde Hestad Iversen,et al.  Risk-taking attitudes and risky driving behaviour , 2004 .

[65]  M Cameron,et al.  World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention. , 2004 .

[66]  Bahar Öz,et al.  Professional and non-professional drivers’ stress reactions and risky driving , 2010 .

[67]  P. Lachenbruch.  Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.) , 1989 .

[68]  C P Compton,et al.  Effects of alcohol on the geographic variation of driver fatalities in motor vehicle crashes. , 2000, Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

[69]  P. Ulleberg,et al.  Personality, attitudes and risk perception as predictors of risky driving behaviour among young drivers , 2003 .

[70]  Jeremy Broughton,et al.  WORK-RELATED ROAD ACCIDENTS , 2003 .

[71]  S Salminen,et al.  Correlations between traffic, occupational, sports, and home accidents. , 1997, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[72]  T. Rundmo,et al.  Perceptions of traffic risk in an industrialised and a developing country , 2009 .

[73]  G. E. Cooper,et al.  Human error in aviation operations , 1974 .

[74]  J. Krosnick,et al.  Survey research. , 1999, Annual review of psychology.