Retaliatory aggressive driving: A justice perspective.

Driving anger and roadway aggression have previously been conceptualized using attributional theory, the theory of planned behavior, and the general aggression model (GAM) framework. The current study builds on these findings, testing the applicability of the attribution-of-blame model of perceptions of injustice and expanding existing models of retaliatory driving aggression to include unjust world beliefs and sensitivity to injustice. A sample of 269 participants from a large urban Canadian university viewed five animated driving scenarios (i.e., a queuing violation, a dangerous turn in front of oncoming traffic, selfish parking behavior, misuse of a high occupancy vehicle lane, and a driver failing to stop at a red light). Prior to viewing each scenario, a brief written description of the scenario was provided to each participant and read aloud by the experimenter. After viewing each scenario, participants completed a questionnaire regarding their attributions, emotions, and anticipated behavior in response to the animated scenario. After viewing all animated videos, participants completed a second questionnaire that assessed individual differences and demographic variables. Consistent with the GAM, structural equation and mediation analyses identified a significant path from individual differences (i.e., belief in an unjust world and driving injustice sensitivity), through internal states (i.e., perceptions of injustice and anger), to retaliatory aggressive driving. Results of this study found consistent paths between factors which were significant across all five scenarios and may therefore be generalizable to other driving situations. Other pathways were found to influence only a selection of the five scenarios, suggesting that they may be situation specific. Results provide support for possible intervention strategies that can be employed by driver education programs to reduce aggressive driving.

Coronavirus disease 2019: What could be the effects on Road safety?

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a world-wide pandemic. Countries introduced public health measures to contain and reduce its spread. These measures included closures of educational institutions, non-essential businesses, events and activities, as well as working from and staying at home requirements. These measures have led to an economic downturn of unprecedented proportions. Generally, as economic activity declines, travel decreases and drivers are exposed to a lower risk of collisions. However, research on previous economic downturns suggests economic downturns differentially affect driver behaviours and situations. COVID-19 pandemic effects on road safety are currently unknown. However, preliminary information on factors such as the increased stress and anxiety brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, more "free" (idle) time, increased consumption of alcohol and drugs, and greater opportunities for speeding and stunt driving, might well have the opposite effect on road safety. Using an interactionist model we identify research questions for researchers to consider on potential person and situation factors associated with COVID-19 that could affect road safety during and after the pandemic. Collaborative efforts by researchers, and public and private sectors will be needed to gather data and develop road safety strategies in relation to the new reality of COVID-19.

Relationships between thrill seeking, speeding attitudes, and driving violations among a sample of motorsports spectators and drivers.

BACKGROUND: Motor racing includes high speed driving and risky maneuvers and can result in negative outcomes for both spectators and drivers. Interest in motorsports is also associated with risky driving attitudes and behaviors on public roads as well as with individual difference variables, such as sensation seeking. However, whether the links between motorsports involvement and risky driving tendencies differ for spectators and drivers has remained mainly unexamined. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between thrill seeking, attitudes toward speeding, and self-reported driving violations among a sample of motorsports spectators and drivers. METHOD: A web-based survey was conducted and sampled 408 members and visitors of car club and racing websites in Ontario, Canada. The questionnaire included measures of (i) motorsports involvement, (ii) thrill seeking (Driver Thrill Seeking Scale), (iii) attitudes (Attitudes toward Speed Limits on Roadways and Competitive Attitudes toward Driving Scale); (iv) self-reported driving violations (adapted from Driver Behaviour Questionnaire), and (v) background variables. Path analysis was performed to test the relationships among the variables. RESULTS: For both spectators and drivers, thrill seeking directly predicted driving violations; competitive attitudes toward driving further mediated this relationship. Attitudes toward speed limits, however, mediated the relationship between thrill seeking and violations only for drivers. DISCUSSION: We observed significant relationships among individual difference measures, motorsports involvement, speeding attitudes and violations that may inform road safety interventions, including differences in the relationships among thrill seeking, speeding attitudes, and violations for motorsports spectators and drivers.

Personality predictors of driver vengeance.

The purpose of this study was to identify personality and individual difference measures related to driver vengeance, as measured by the Driver Vengeance Questionnaire (DVQ; Wiesenthal, Hennessy, & Gibson, 2000). There were 170 undergraduate students who completed paper-and-pencil questionnaires including the DVQ and measures of narcissism, impulsivity, and trait driver stress. A hierarchical linear regressidn predicting DVQ score revealed that being male (ß = .25), narcissism (ß = .19), and trait driver stress (ß = .41) were significantly associated with vengeance. Impulsivity was significant in the third block of the regression but was not a significant predictor of vengeance in the final block. Interactions between gender and the individual difference measures were not significant. The final model accounted for 34% of the variance. Implications of the results and directions for future research are discussed.

High-risk driving attitudes and everyday driving violations of car and racing enthusiasts in Ontario, Canada.

OBJECTIVE: Attitudes and individual difference variables of car and racing enthusiasts regarding high-risk behaviors of street racing and stunt driving have recently been investigated. Positive attitudes toward high-risk driving, personality variables such as driver thrill seeking, and other self-reported risky driving acts were associated with these behaviors. However, probable relationships among high-risk driving tendencies, everyday driving behaviors, and negative road safety outcomes have remained largely unexamined. This study aimed to investigate the associations among car and racing enthusiasts' high-risk driving attitudes, self-reported everyday driving violations (i.e., ordinary and aggressive violations), and self-reported negative outcomes (i.e., collisions and driving offense citations). METHOD: A web-based survey was conducted with members and visitors of car club and racing websites in Ontario, Canada. Data were obtained from 366 participants. The questionnaire included 4 attitude measures-(1) attitudes toward new penalties for Ontario's Street Racers, Stunt and Aggressive Drivers Legislation; (2) attitudes toward new offenses of stunt driving under the same legislation; (3) general attitudes toward street racing and stunt driving; (4) comparison of street racing with other risky driving behaviors-self-reported driving violations (i.e., ordinary and aggressive violations); self-reported collisions and offense citations; and background and driving questions (e.g., age, driving frequency). RESULTS: Results revealed that attitudes toward stunt driving offenses negatively and general attitudes toward street racing and stunt driving positively predicted ordinary violations, which, in turn, predicted offense citations. Moreover, general attitudes toward street racing and stunt driving positively predicted aggressive violations, which, in turn, predicted offense citations. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that positive high-risk driving attitudes may be transferring to driving violations in everyday traffic, which mediates driving offense citations.

Experimental examination of the effects of televised motor vehicle commercials on risk-positive attitudes, emotions and risky driving inclinations.

PURPOSE: This study examined the short-term effects of risky driving motor vehicle television commercials on risk-positive attitudes, emotions and risky driving inclinations in video-simulated critical road traffic situations among males and females, within an experimental design. METHOD: Participants were randomly assigned to one of three televised commercial advertising conditions embedded in a television show: a risky driving motor vehicle commercial condition, a non-risky driving motor vehicle commercial condition and a control non-motor vehicle commercial condition. Participants subsequently completed the Implicit Attitude Test (IAT) to measure risk-positive attitudes, Driver Thrill Seeking Scale (DTSS) to measure risk-positive emotions and the Vienna Risk-Taking Test - Traffic (WRBTV) to measure risky driving inclinations. RESULTS: ANOVA analyses indicated that type of commercial participants watched did not affect their performance on the IAT, DTSS or WRBTV. However, a main effect of heightened risk-positive emotions and risky driving inclinations was found for males. DISCUSSION: Despite public and governmental concern that risky driving motor vehicle commercials may increase the likelihood that people exposed to these commercials engage in risky driving, this experimental study found no immediate effect of brief exposure to a risky driving motor vehicle commercial on risk-positive attitudes, emotions or risky driving inclinations. Subsequent research should examine the effects of cumulative exposure to risky driving motor vehicle television commercials and print advertisements.

Street racing video games and risk-taking driving: An Internet survey of automobile enthusiasts.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among risky driving attitudes, self-perceptions as a risky driver, playing of "drive'em up" (which rewarded players for frequent traffic and other violations) and "circuit" racing video games as well as self-reported risky driving through a web-based survey of car and racing club members in relation to a socio-cognitive model of the effects of racing video game playing. METHOD: An Internet questionnaire was developed and included: (1) self-perceptions as a risky driver scales (Driver Thrill Seeking and Competitive Attitude Toward Driving); (2) attitudes regarding street racing; (3) street racing video game playing, and (4) self-reported risky driving (Risk-Taking Driving Scale). A sequential logistic regression was performed entering age and driving exposure as control variables in the first block, self-perceptions as a risky driver in the second block, attitudes in the third block and playing "drive'em up" and "circuit" racing games in the last block to examine their effects on self-reported risk-taking driving. RESULTS: A total of 503 survey respondents were included in the analyses and only 20% reported any risk-taking driving. Higher score on the Competitive Attitude Toward Driving Scale, more positive attitudes toward street racing, and more frequent reported playing of "drive'em up" video games were associated with higher odds on the self-reported Risk-Taking Driving Scale. However, the Driver Thrill Seeking Scale and "circuit" video game playing failed to predict self-reported risk-taking driving. CONCLUSIONS: Self-perceptions as a risky driver, positive attitudes toward risky driving and "drive'em up" street-racing games, but not "circuit" racing games, are associated with increased risk-taking driving. These findings are congruent with experimental studies in which games that reward driving violations increased risk taking, suggesting that risk taking may be a function of type of street racing game played by affecting self-perceptions as a risky driver.

Driver anger on the information superhighway: A content analysis of online complaints of offensive driver behaviour.

In recent years, several websites have been developed allowing drivers to post their complaints about other motorists online. These websites allow drivers to describe the nature of the offensive behaviour and to identify the offending motorist by vehicle type, colour, and license plate number. Some websites also ask drivers to list the location where the event took place and the exact date and time of the offence. The current study was a content analysis of complaints posted to RoadRagers.com between 1999 and 2007 (N=5624). The purpose of the study was to: (1) assess the research value of this novel data source; (2) demonstrate the value of content analysis to the study of driver behaviour; (3) further validate an existing coding scheme; (4) determine whether this new data source would replicate previous research findings regarding the most frequent types of driver complaints and temporal distribution of these reports; (5) provide recommendations for improved driver training and public safety initiatives based on these data. A coding scheme that was originally developed for an assessment of complaints submitted to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) (Wickens et al., 2005) was revised to accommodate the new dataset. The inter-rater reliability of the revised coding scheme as applied to the website complaints was very good (kappa=.85). The most frequently reported improper driver behaviours were cutting/weaving, speeding, perceived displays of hostility, and tailgating. Reports were most frequent on weekdays and during the morning and afternoon rush hour. The current study replicated several findings from the analysis of reports to the OPP, but possible differences in the sample and data collection method also produced some differences in findings. The value of content analysis to driver behaviour research and of driver complaint websites as a data source was demonstrated. Implications for driver safety initiatives and future research will be discussed.

Understanding driver anger and aggression: attributional theory in the driving environment.

Two studies tested the applicability of Weiner's (1995, 1996, 2001, 2006) attributional model of social conduct to roadway environments. This model highlights the role of inferences of responsibility after making causal judgments for social transgressions. Study 1 employed written scenarios where participants were asked to imagine themselves driving on a major highway. The degree of controllability and intentionality of the driving act was manipulated experimentally by altering the specific event-related details provided to the participants. Study 2 extended this research to life events by having participants complete online driving diaries every 2 days, identifying their most negative/upsetting encounter with another motorist. The most anger-provoking event was selected from among 4 diary entries and participants were asked to respond to a questionnaire similar to that used in Study 1. Path analyses in both studies generally supported predictions derived from Weiner's model; the association between perceived controllability, intentionality, and dispositional locus of causality of the negative driving event and subsequent anger was mediated by perceptions of responsibility. Additional results in Study 2 suggested that low perceived controllability, intentionality, and dispositional locus of causality were associated with reduced perceived responsibility, which, in turn, facilitated feelings of sympathy. Anger was associated with aggressive responses to the offending driver, whereas sympathy was associated with prosocial responses. Recommendations were offered for improved driver safety, including the development of attributional retraining programs to combat self-serving attributional biases, teaching novice drivers about both formal and informal roadway communication, and the promotion of forgiveness among drivers

Cognitive failures as predictors of driving errors, lapses, and violations.

Dual-process models from the cognitive literature have proposed a taxonomy of cognitive failures in everyday activities, and this novel approach was applied to understanding driver behaviour. This framework was used to examine whether categories of cognitive failure would explain driving errors, driving lapses, and driving violations in a sample of undergraduates at a large urban university. Two types of cognitive failure were examined, one associated with missing affective information and the other associated with a failure to engage effortful processes to override an automatic response. Alexithymia was used as an indicator of missing affective information, and attention regulation, reactivity, and impulsivity were used as indicators of override failure. Relevant demographic variables included gender and hours typically driven. Override failures were significantly associated with driving behaviour in the correlational analyses. In the regression analyses, attention regulation predicted driving errors, and gender, attention regulation, and impulsivity predicted driving violations. The implications of this work include the potential application to driver training, to users of informatics devices (e.g., GPS, cellular phones, messaging systems), and for individuals diagnosed with attention and/or impulsivity problems.

Age and vengeance as predictors of mild driver aggression.

The present study examined the influence of driver age and vengeance on mild aggression among drivers with at least 5 years experience. Mild aggression decreased with age among low vengeance drivers and changed little across age groups among moderately vengeful drivers. However, mild driver aggression actually increased with age among highly vengeful drivers. Results are interpreted in terms of the aggressive nature of an enduring vengeful attitude.

The relationship between driver aggression, violence, and vengeance.

A distinction is made between mild driver aggression and driver violence as unique constructs that differ mainly in frequency of occurrence and severity of outcome. Drivers completed questionnaires assessing the likelihood of engaging in mild driver aggression, the frequency of past driver violence, driving vengeance, and willful violations. Violence was predicted by the interaction of mild aggression and vengeance, such that violence was greater among aggressive drivers, but only for those with elevated levels of vengeance. Driver violence was also predicted by the interaction of mild aggression and violations. Specifically, violence was greater among aggressive drivers reporting traffic violations. The present findings suggest that mild driver aggression and driver violence are linked within a small group of drivers that hold other dangerous driving attitudes and behaviors as part of their typical driving repertoire.

Privacy and the Human Genome Project.

The Human Genome Project has raised many issues regarding the contributions of genetics to a variety of diseases and societal conditions. With genetic testing now easily conducted with lowered costs in nonmedical domains, a variety of privacy issues must be considered. Such testing will result in the loss of significant privacy rights for the individual. Society must now consider such issues as the ownership of genetic data, confidentiality rights to such information, limits placed on genetic screening, and legislation to control genetic testing and its applications. There is often a conflict between individual rights to privacy and the need for societal protection.