Trait anger as a predictor of dangerous driving behaviour amongst people who use methamphetamine.

INTRODUCTION: Despite increased prevalence of methamphetamine in road trauma, it remains unclear how its use translates to an increased risk of traffic-related harm. Exploration of psychosocial factors may thus help identify relevant predictors of dangerous driving behaviour among people who regularly consume methamphetamine. METHODS: Licenced individuals who report predominant and sustained methamphetamine use (at least 1-time/month for 6 months at heaviest use) were recruited from the Australian community and via targeted campaign (Eastern Health). Psychosocial, substance use and driving behaviour data (Dula Dangerous Driving Index, DDDI) were collected via a secure anonymous online forced-entry survey platform (Qualtrics). RESULTS: Seventy-seven individuals (65.5 % male) aged between 20-50 years [mean = 29.7, ± Standard Deviation (SD) 6.1] were included. Most (90 %) respondents met criteria for problematic methamphetamine use [Severity of Dependency Scale (SDS) score ≥ 5], and 75 % were high-risk alcohol consumers [Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-C) score ≥ 4 for men and ≥ 3 for women]. On average, age of first methamphetamine use occurred at 23.3 years (±5.2). A best-possible subset's regression selection method with dangerous driving behaviour as the dependent variable determined the model with three predictors (alcohol use, substance dependence severity and trait anger) as most parsimonious. After controlling for substance use, trait anger strongly and positively predicted dangerous driving behaviour as measured by the DDDI ([F(3,74) = 26.06, p < .001, adjusted R2 = 0.50, Cohens f2 = 0.42). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Trait anger is a strong predictor of risky driving among road users who use methamphetamine. Interactions between stable negative-emotional and situational traffic and driving-related factors may increase risk of harm through greater engagement in risk-taking behaviour.

Evaluating layperson interpretation of actuarial sexual violence risk data: A multi-method comparison of risk communication with attention to gender bias.

Forensic clinicians are often called upon to help courts determine the likelihood that someone will continue to commit sexually violent acts in the future. The utility of these evaluations depends largely on how effectively the results are communicated to and understood by the trier of fact. Actuarial results, such as those commonly reported in sexual offense risk assessments, appear particularly challenging for laypersons to understand. Using a representative sample of 206 U.S. adults, this study examines three methods of communicating actuarial risk via simulated expert testimony on participants' ratings of a hypothetical evaluee's risk of sexual re-offending. The results suggested that all participants, regardless of how results were communicated, over-estimated the examinee's risk level relative to the expert's probabilistic findings, but tended to agree with the expert's categorical predictions. Participants who were only shown actuarial data consistently rated the evaluee as more dangerous and likely to commit future sexually violent acts. Additionally, it was found that gender significantly impacted participants' perceptions, such that women found the evaluee more dangerousness and desired greater social distance from him. This study has implications for best practices regarding expert communication of actuarial results in cases involving sexual violence.

Impact of statutory revisions to family-petitioned civil commitment in South Korea.

INTRODUCTION: This study examined the impact of statutory revisions in 2016 which aimed to enhance procedural justice within the process of civil commitment for persons diagnosed with mental illnesses (PDMI) in South Korea. These changes included requiring that PDMI pose a threat of danger to self or others and the need for treatment simultaneously as criteria for petitioning civil commitment. Additionally, the revision established a public entity to oversee the legitimacy of petitions to involuntarily commit PDMI to inpatient treatment. Despite these statutory changes, families providing care for PDMI still appear to depend on civil commitment as a way to seek respite from care burden, not necessarily to respond to psychiatric emergencies involving dangerousness. This practice seems to be aided by processes within the public entity providing oversight. Due to such barriers we hypothesized that, even after the statutory revision in 2016, PDMI who had been civilly committed following petitions from families will not exhibit elevated dangerousness compared to PDMI who had never been hospitalized during the same period. METHODS: Trained interviewers recruited 331 participants self-identified as PDMI from psychiatric rehabilitation agencies in the community and aided them in completing a survey including measures of self-reported hospitalization history, suicidality, and aggression toward others. Participants were classified into four groups: Family-petition committed (FPC) group (n = 30, 9.1%), voluntarily hospitalized (VH) group (n = 34, 10.3%), public-petition committed (PPC) group (n = 31, 9.4%), and never hospitalized (NH) group (n = 236, 71.3%). We conducted logistic regression analyses to compare self-reported dangerousness between groups with the NH group as the reference group. RESULTS: In the past 12 months, 43.5% of PDMI participants had self-reported behaviors that may have met the dangerousness criteria for civil commitment. Controlling for confounding factors, the PPC group was 2.96 times and 3.02 times as likely to report suicidal ideation and physical aggression, respectively, compared to the NH group. However, as hypothesized, the FPC group did not differ from the NH group on any indicator of self-reported dangerousness. CONCLUSION: The findings were based on cross-sectional correlational data and should not be viewed as conclusive evidence that the 2016 statutory revision is ineffective in preventing family-petitioned civil commitment in cases where dangerousness is not apparent. Nevertheless, these findings encourage further empirical studies that illuminate the etiology of procedural justice in civil commitments petitioned by family members and that assess factors and contexts that promote the consideration of least coercive treatments, rather than resorting to involuntary hospitalization when psychiatric emergencies arise.

Passion for guns and beliefs in a dangerous world: An examination of defensive gun ownership.

This research examines the notion of defensive gun ownership using the Dualistic Model of Passion. We hypothesized that an obsessive (vs. harmonious) passion for guns would be associated with a belief in a dangerous world (BDW). We expected this relationship to intensify in threatening contexts, leading to a more expansive view on defensive gun ownership. We tested this hypothesis across three threat contexts: a gun-control message (Study 1, N = 342), a live shooting simulation (Study 2, N = 398), and the aftermath of the Christchurch mass shootings (Study 3, N = 314). In the experimental Study 1, exposure to a gun-control message increased the intention to purchase guns among those with an obsessive passion (OP) for guns. Study 2 revealed that BDW mediated the relationship between OP and assertive modes of protection, the desire to purchase high-stopping-power guns, and anti-Black racial bias in a shooting task. Study 3 showed that knowledge of the Christchurch attack intensified the link between OP and BDW, leading to increased support for gun access, a willingness to act as a citizen-protector, and prejudice against Muslims. Comprehending these dynamics can assist policymakers in crafting messaging campaigns for firearm regulation and public safety measures that are more effective.

Propiedades psicométricas de las versiones larga y corta del cuestionario de agresión AQ en una muestra de presos españoles / Psychometric properties of the long and short forms of the AQ aggression questionnaire in a sample of Spanish inmates

Objetivos: El cuestionario de agresión (AQ) de Buss-Perry (Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire; Buss y Perry, 1992) es una medida utilizada en la población en general. Existe un debate sobre la interpretación de las puntuaciones y la utilidad de una versión más breve (AQ-SV [short version]). El objetivo de este estudio es analizar y comparar las propiedades psicométricas de la versión larga (AQ-LV [long version]) y la breve y comprobar la fiabilidad de la versión breve en una muestra de varones encarcelados. Material y método: La muestra estaba formada por 236 varones encarcelados (edad media de 40,4 años) del Centro Penitenciario Ocaña I (Toledo), que se ofrecieron a participar en el estudio. La muestra se seleccionó mediante la técnica de muestreo aleatorio por niveles, basada en el número de reclusos internos. También se incluyó una lista aleatoria de posibles sustitutos en caso de negativa a ser entrevistados, interrumpiéndose la sustitución en caso de dos negaciones consecutivas. Este estudio es un diseño descriptivo transversal. Resultados: La versión breve de la escala demostró un mejor ajuste que la versión larga, como indican los valores mayores del índice de ajuste comparativo (CFI, comparative fit index) y los menores del cuadrado medio residual ponderado (WRMR, weighted root mean square residual). El número de penas de prisión se asoció positivamente con la agresión física, la agresión verbal, la ira y la hostilidad. Los coeficientes fueron ligeramente superiores para la versión breve que para la versión larga. Discusión: La versión breve del cuestionario AQ es un instrumento válido y de utilidad para medir la agresividad en contextos penitenciarios en relación con la versión larga, y se correlaciona con subescalas de agresión con más fuerza que la versión larga.(AU)

Objectives: The Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (AQ; Buss & Perry, 1992) is a broad measurement tool used with the general public in Spain. There is some debate regarding the interpretation of AQ scores and the usefulness of a shorter version. The aim is to study and compare the psychometric properties of the long and short version of the AQ and check the reliability of the short version in a sample of male prisoners. Material and method: The sample was composed of 236 incarcerated males (mean age of 40.4 years of age) from Ocaña 1 prison center who volunteered to participate in the study. The sample was selected by using the tiered random sampling technique based on the internal inmate number. A random list of possible substitutes was also included in the event of refusal to be interviewed, with replacement being discontinued in the event of two consecutive refusals. This study is a descriptive cross-sectional design. Results: The short version of the scale demonstrated better adjustment than the long version, as indicated by the larger CFI and smaller WRMR values. The number of prison sentences was positively associated with physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger, and hostility. The coefficients were slightly higher for the short version of the scale than the long one. Discussion: The short version of the AQ is a valid instrument for measuring aggressiveness in prison contexts in relation to the long version, and correlates with subscales of aggression more strongly than the long one.(AU)

Children's risk assessment in street crossing using virtual reality.

INTRODUCTION: Crossing streets represents a risky task for children where they have to assess both the probability and harm severity of being hit by a vehicle. To cross streets safely, children must perceive and interpret the traffic environment and scale their movements to the flow of traffic. Their ability to gather information about the surrounding environment through visual search strategies is essential in this process. This study aimed to explore children's street crossing behaviors and to identify successful risk-assessment strategies. METHOD: Virtual reality (VR) with built-in eye tracking was used for this investigation; 55 children between 7 and 10 years old completed six street crossing tasks with varying complexity and difficulty. RESULTS: Varying competencies in street crossing were demonstrated among the children. Those who crossed safely looked to the left and right more often to check for traffic and spent more time assessing the traffic environment by following oncoming vehicles with their gaze before crossing than those who crossed dangerously. No apparent differences between children who crossed safely and those who crossed dangerously were found while crossing. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that dangerous street crossings were, on different levels, related to assessment time before crossing, visual search strategies during assessment time, and the tasks harm severity and probability risk. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Future research could suggestively include indicators such as assessment time and visual search strategies, and tasks could discern harm severity and probability risk. These indicators might also be considered for training programs aiming to enhance children's pedestrian safety.

Risky decision-making in major depressive disorder: A three-level meta-analysis / Toma de decisiones arriesgadas en el trastorno depresivo mayor: un metanálisis de tres niveles

Background: Individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) are usually observed making inappropriate risky decisions. However, whether and to what extent MDD is associated with impairments in risky decision-making remains unclear. We performed a three-level meta-analysis to explore the relationship between risky decision-making and MDD. Method: We searched the Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and PsycINFO databases up to February 7, 2023, and calculated Hedges' g to demonstrate the difference in risky decision-making between MDD patients and healthy controls (HCs). The moderating effect of sample and task characteristics were also revealed. Results: Across 73 effect sizes in 39 cross-sectional studies, MDD patients exhibited greater risk-seeking than HCs (Hedges' g = 0.187, p = .030). Furthermore, age (p = .068), region (p = .005), and task type (p < .001) were found to have moderating effects. Specifically, patients preferred risk-seeking over HCs as age increased. European patients showed significantly increased risk-seeking compared to American and Asian patients. Patients in the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) exhibited a notable rise in risk-seeking compared to other tasks, along with an increased risk aversion in the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). The multiple-moderator analysis showed that only task type had significant effects, which may be explained by a tentative framework of "operationalization-mechanism-measure" specificity. Conclusions: MDD patients generally exhibit higher risk-seeking than HCs. It implies that impaired risky decision-making might be a noteworthy symptom of depression, which should be placed more emphasis for clinical management and psycho-education.(AU)

Spanish adaptation and validation of the Dula Dangerous Driving Index (DDDI).

The Dula Dangerous Driving Index (DDDI) is a widely used questionnaire that measures the tendency to drive dangerously on the road through three different types of behaviors: aggressive driving, risky driving, and experiencing negative emotions while driving. This study aimed to develop a Spanish version of the DDDI and verify the reliability and validity of this questionnaire in the Spanish population. A community sample of 2174 Spanish participants (51.1% male; age range: 18-79 years) completed the 28-item Spanish version of the DDDI. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a three-factor model fitted adequately to the data. Analysis of internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity showed that the Spanish adaptation of the DDDI had good psychometric properties and retains the theoretical consistency of the original scale. Gender and age differences were observed. The Spanish version of the DDDI can be considered a good instrument for assessing dangerous driving behavior, thus contributing to the cross-cultural study of these types of behaviors and the possible development of intervention programs aimed at reducing road traffic accidents.

Identification and screening of key traffic violations: based on the perspective of expressing driver's accident risk.

Drawing on the core idea of Propensity Score Matching, this study proposes a new concept named Historical Traffic Violation Propensity to describe the driver's historical traffic violations, and combines the new concept with an improved mutual information-based feature selection algorithm to construct a method for screening key traffic violations from the perspective of expressing driver's accident risk. The validation analysis based on the real data collected in Shenzhen demonstrated that drivers' state of Historical Traffic Violation Propensity on 19 key traffic violations screened have a stronger predictive ability of their subsequent accidents compared to the level in existing research. The positive state of Historical Traffic Violation Propensity on 'Drinking', 'Parking in dangerous areas', 'Wrong use of turn lights', 'Violating prohibited and restricted traffic regulations', and 'Disobeying prohibition sign' will increase the probability of a driver's subsequent accident by more than 1.7 times. The research provides directions to more efficiently and accurately capture the driver's accident risk through historical traffic violations, which is valuable for identifying high-risk drivers as well as the key psychological or physical risk factors that manifest in daily driving activities and lead to subsequent accidents.

Study on driver's active emergency response in dangerous traffic scenes based on driving simulator.

OBJECTIVE: A driver's active emergency response in dangerous traffic scenes consists of two parts, including reaction behavior and physiological state. In dangerous traffic scenes, the driver's active emergency response has an important impact on human collision injury. Clarifying the driver's active emergency response is an important prerequisite for the study of human collision injury under nonstandard posture. Therefore, this study investigates the driver's active emergency response in different inevitable collision scenes using driving simulator. METHODS: A driving simulator with a high-speed camera system and human physiological signal acquisition system was first built. Then, three typical vehicle dangerous collision scenes were developed, including frontal collision, side collision, and rear-end collision. Finally, twenty participants (15 males and 5 females) were recruited for a driving experiment, and their active emergency responses were recorded and analyzed. RESULTS: All subjects would rotate the steering wheel to the left or right in the active emergency state, and the rotation of the hand would also cause the subject's upper body to tilt in the same direction. The maximum angle for male subjects to rotate the steering wheel was 59.98°, while for the female subjects, it was 44.28°. In addition, the maximum grip force between the male subjects and the steering wheel was 280.5 N, compared to 192.5 N for female subjects. Compared to the female participants, the male participants not only have a greater rotation angle and a greater grip force on the steering wheel, but also have greater pressure on the brake pedal, and the foot moves quickly from the accelerator pedal to the brake pedal and presses the brake pedal. CONCLUSIONS: Drivers have different active emergency responses to different vehicle collision scenes. Quantitative statistics of driver's active emergency response will have important guiding significance for the analysis of the impact of human active emergency response on human injury characteristics in subsequent vehicle collision experiments.

Who might encounter hard-braking while speeding? Analysis for regular speeders using low-frequency taxi trajectories on arterial roads and explainable AI.

Regular speeders are those who commit speeding recidivism during a period. Among their speeding behaviors, some occurring in specific scenarios may cause more hazards to road users. Therefore, there is a need to evaluate the driving risks if the regular speeders have different speeding propensities. This study considers speeding-related hard-braking events (SHEs) as a safety surrogate measure and recognizes the regular speeders who encounter at least one SHEs during the study period as risky individuals. To identify speeding behaviors and hard-braking events from low-frequency GPS trajectories, we compare the average travel speed between pairwise adjacent GPS points to the posted speed limit and examine the speed curve and the corresponding travel distance between these GPS points, respectively. Thereafter, a logistic model, XGBoost, and three 1D Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) including AlexNet CNN, Mini-AlexNet CNN, and Simple CNN are respectively developed to recognize the regular speeders who encountered SHEs based on their speeding propensities. The proposed Mini-AlexNet CNN achieves a global F1-score of 91% and recall of 90% on the testing data, which are superior to other models. Further, the study uses the Shapley Additive exPlanation (SHAP) framework to visually interpret the contribution of speeding propensities on SHE likelihood. It is found that speeding by 50% or greater for no more than 285 m is the most dangerous kind among all the speeding behaviors. Speeding on roads without bicycle lanes or on roads with roadside parking and excessive accesses increases the probability of encountering SHEs. Based on the analyses, we put forward tailored recommendations that aim to restrict hazard-related speeding behaviors rather than speeding behaviors of all kinds.

The short-term impact of a referendum on motor vehicle collisions casualties.

OBJECTIVE: A referendum took place in Greece on the 5th of July 2015 to decide whether the suggested bailout would be accepted. Since this was the first one since 1974, the period between the referendum and the subsequent national elections was characterized by increased uncertainty and had spillover effects in many aspects of everyday life. We take advantage of this quasi-experiment to investigate the short-term impact of the referendum on vehicle collisions casualties. METHODS: We use data from the daily number of injuries and fatalities caused by vehicle collisions in 2015 and employ a difference-in-differences approach, comparing trends before and after the referendum. RESULTS: We reveal that the referendum had a short-term impact on road traffic casualties (4.14 more casualties per day), compared to what would have been expected in the absence of the referendum. CONCLUSIONS: The study provides evidence that negative emotions and anxiety, due to uncertainty, could promote dangerous driving behavior. Preventive and traffic control measures may need to be considered by policy makers during periods of uncertainty.

Key Factors in Crane-Related Occupational Accidents in the Spanish Construction Industry (2012-2021).

The construction industry is one of the riskiest sectors worldwide, with crane operations being one of the most dangerous activities. The aim of this study was to gain insight into the key factors involved in crane-related occupational accidents in the construction industry in Spain. To this end, 1314 accidents involving cranes were analyzed from a total of 241,937 accidents that occurred in the construction of buildings. The data were collected from the Spanish government's occupational accident statistics corresponding to the years 2012-2021. The results evidenced a statistically significant relationship between cranes as the material agent and the size of the company, with 95% of cases corresponding to small- or medium-sized companies (less than 250 employees). Additionally, it shows how the crane operator is identified as a material contributor to crane accidents in the construction industry, and may be considered a key component to these accidents. In conclusion, improving the knowledge gained about the key factors in crane-related accidents at work in the construction industry provides essential information that helps to design and implement appropriate preventive measures to avoid the recurrence of unwanted events with these machines.

Motor inhibition impacts the motor interference effect of dangerous objects based on a prime-target grasping consistency judgment task.

Whether motor inhibition impacts the motor interference effect of dangerous objects is controversial. Previous studies have manipulated task type and found that dangerous objects elicited increased motor inhibition compared to safe objects in the reachability judgment task but not in the categorization task. However, it was still unclear why motor inhibition was reduced for dangerous objects in the categorization task. We speculated that the activation strength of object affordance might modulate the occurrence of motor inhibition. To test this hypothesis, the present study designed a prime-target grasping consistency judgment task and manipulated target grips (power grip vs. precision grip), target dangerousness (dangerous vs. safe), and Go/NoGo (Go vs. NoGo). The results showed that under the condition of high activation strength of the target affordance (i.e., power grip targets), processing dangerous targets evoked increased motor inhibition (reflected by a more negative frontal N2 component) compared to safe targets and produced a motor interference effect in reaction time (RT). In contrast, under the condition of low target affordance activation strength (i.e., precision grip targets), processing dangerous targets facilitated RT compared to safe targets, with no difference found between the dangerous and safe conditions in the frontal N2 component. Furthermore, compared to safe objects, dangerous objects attracted more attention and recruited more cognitive resources to select appropriate responses to them. This study extended the findings of previous studies on the motor interference effect by highlighting the importance of activation strength for eliciting motor inhibition based on the prime-target consistency judgment task.

Driving Skills at Licensure and Time to First Crash.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Young drivers are overrepresented in crashes, and newly licensed drivers are at high risk, particularly in the months immediately post-licensure. Using a virtual driving assessment (VDA) implemented in the licensing workflow in Ohio, this study examined how driving skills measured at the time of licensure contribute to crash risk post-licensure in newly licensed young drivers. METHODS: This study examined 16 914 young drivers (<25 years of age) in Ohio who completed the VDA at the time of licensure and their subsequent police-reported crash records. By using the outcome of time to first crash, a Cox proportional hazard model was used to estimate the risk of a crash during the follow-up period as a function of VDA Driving Class (and Skill Cluster) membership. RESULTS: The best performing No Issues Driving Class had a crash risk 10% lower than average (95% confidence interval [CI] 13% to 6%), whereas the Major Issues with Dangerous Behavior Class had a crash risk 11% higher than average (95% CI 1% to 22%). These results withstood adjusting for covariates (age, sex, and tract-level socioeconomic status indicators). At the same time, drivers licensed at age 18 had a crash risk 16% higher than average (95% CI 6% to 27%). CONCLUSIONS: This population-level study reveals that driving skills measured at the time of licensure are a predictor of crashes early in licensure, paving the way for better prediction models and targeted, personalized interventions. The authors of future studies should explore time- and exposure-varying risks.

Investigating the cognitive processing of tools: Effects of dangerousness and directionality on attentional biases.

Research has found a tool-based head-superiority effect (responses are faster to target stimuli that appear at the head than at the handle position). However, these studies did not consider the effects of directionality and dangerousness. This study investigated how directionality and dangerousness influence the head-superiority effect. Subjects were required to respond to the target location in all experiments. Experiment 1 manipulated the directionality, dangerousness and target location. Experiment 2 matched the sharpness of the tool tip in the directed conditions. Experiment 3 shortened the presentation time of the cue stimuli from 800 ms to 200 ms. Experiment 4 selected four tools with different functions to rule out an alternative explanation caused by functional repetition. The results indicate that a head-superiority effect emerges in the directed condition, and that dangerousness modulates the magnitude of this effect during the 800 ms condition. However, the modulation effect of dangerousness diminishes during the 200 ms condition.

"Stigmatization and perceived dangerousness for intrafamilial child sexual abuse of fathers with a history of sexual offenses and paraphilic interests: Results from a survey of legal psychological experts".

BACKGROUND: Intrafamilial child sexual abuse (ICSA) is a puzzling phenomenon that is not well understood by researches. Nevertheless, psychologists are demanded to assess the risk for child maltreatment by family courts regarding male caregivers with a history of sex offenses and/or paraphilic interests. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess legal psychological experts' perspective on risk assessment in family court proceedings regarding ICSA, their opinions regarding the necessity of contact limitations between fathers/stepfathers who might impose a risk for ICSA, and experts' stigmatization of minor-attracted persons. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: 153 psychological experts working in family court proceedings were assessed via an online survey. METHOD: Jahnke's Stigma Inventory was used as well as a questionnaire tapping into different contact limitations, the perception of child maltreatment risk, and parental capacity. Network analysis was conducted to multivariately investigate item intercorrelations. RESULTS: Fathers/stepfathers with a diagnosed pedophilic disorder are being regarded as most dangerous, 71 % of the experts agreed with the necessity of a complete contact ban. Reduced parental capacity and increased risk for child maltreatment was observed with regard to sexual offending history and paraphilias. CONCLUSIONS: Psychological experts in family court proceedings hardly discriminate between sexual offending and paraphilic interests which might be associated with stigmatizing attitudes and lack of experience. An increasing cooperation between family psychologists and experts of forensic risk assessment might reduce the risk of stigmatization and may contribute to more adequate risk assessments for ICSA thus aiding to prevent children from sexual victimization or misinformed risk management interventions.

Sex difference in driving speed management: The mediation effect of impulse control.

Previous studies have shown that male drivers drive faster than female drivers, but there is no agreement on whether impulsivity could induce this sex difference, nor is there a cross-sectional comparison of the effects of different road environments. The purpose of this study was to verify whether impulsivity and impulse control could explain the sex differences in driving speed. A driving simulator study (study 1, N = 41) was performed to investigate whether there were sex differences in driving speeds in two road sections of different complexity, and a questionnaire survey (study 2, N = 163) was conducted to investigate the relationship between sex, impulsivity, impulse control and driving behavior of the participants. The results showed that male drivers drove faster on simple roads, but this difference did not show on complex roads. There were no sex differences in impulsivity traits, but male participants had significant lower levels of impulse control. The results also reveal a partial mediating role of impulse control in the relationship between sex and driving speed. These results suggest that impulse control can predict dangerous driving behaviors and is an important factor in explaining sex differences in driving speed.