Aggressive Driving, Lecture notes of Construction

Download Aggressive Driving and more Lecture notes Construction in PDF only on Docsity! Aggressive Driving What is... What is aggressive driving? Although many people think of ‘road rage’ when they hear the words aggressive driving, the term includes a wide range of driving behaviours. According to the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF), aggressive driving includes: running red lights, and speeding up to get through the light; street racing; excessive speeding, and driving well over the speed limit; swearing, and making rude signs at other drivers; using the horn when being annoyed; and, taking risks, just for fun.1 Excessive speeding is often cited as the most common aggressive driving behaviour.2 Aggressive driving behaviours are deliberate, intentional, and are not due to driver error. What is road rage? Road rage is defined as a situation in which a driver or passenger attempts to kill, injure, or intimidate a pedestrian/ driver/ passenger, or damage another person’s vehicle.3 The difference between aggressive driving and road rage is that physical harm is intended during road rage by the offending driver, whereas aggressive drivers intentionally disregard safety but do not intend to harm others. What causes aggressive driving? There are many factors that can contribute to aggression in drivers and which are dependent on individual and environmental conditions. Some factors that can contribute to aggressive driving include: > increases in traffic volume on roads and highways; > increases in construction and roadwork; > busy lives of drivers with little time; and, > stress stemming from work or personal lives.4 Aggressive driving is sometimes a result of displaced aggression, which occurs when a person is provoked in one instance but does not or cannot respond. Aggression is 1 Vanlaar et al. 2007 2 AAAFTS 2009 3 Agerwala et al. 2008 4 Smooth Operator Program 2013 then directed toward a different person or situation.5 This can cause a waterfall effect where other drivers become increasingly aggressive because of other aggressive drivers. How many people drive aggressively? In the 2006 Road Safety Monitor (RSM) completed by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF), respondents admitted to: > swearing under their breath (20%); > driving well over the speed limit (12%); > speeding up to get through a light (9%); > using their horn when annoyed (6%); > making rude signs at other drivers (4%); and, > taking risks for fun (3%). The same study reported that the majority of Canadians (88%) believe that there is actually more aggressive driving today compared to five years ago.6 Estimates of the number of aggressive driving episodes in the United States (U.S.) reach as high as 1.8 billion per year. There was an estimated 28,000 deaths involving aggressive driving behaviours between 1990 and 1996. About one-quarter of drivers admit they drive aggressively at some time.7 The number of reported aggressive drivers varies according to the behaviours that are included in the definition. For instance it is estimated that there are as many as two red light runners per hour at urban intersections.8 A similar study revealed that 1 in 5 respondents reported running one or more red lights when entering the last ten signalized intersections.9 Among teens: > Just over 6% of Ontario students in grades 7 through 12 experienced attempted or actual damage to their vehicle or personal injury as a result of aggressive drivers.10 > A U.S. survey found that 50% of boys and 40% of girls had raced or passed a vehicle in a no passing zone at least once in the last year. An even larger percentage 5 Agerwala et al. 2008 6 Vanlaar et al. 2007 7 Miles and Johnson 2003 8 Porter and England 2000 9 Retting et al. 2008 10 Smart et al. 2007 reported driving 30 km/h over the speed limit; 80% of boys and 70% of girls had done so in the past year.11 How many crashes result from aggressive driving behaviour? Crash data involving aggressive driving incidents varies depending on the different behaviours and definitions of aggressive driving that are taken into account. Since the definition of aggressive driving and its behaviours are interpreted differently in some cases, calculating resulting injuries or fatalities is difficult. It is also hard to measure the level of intent of aggressive drivers without asking them directly, a factor that is not usually included in most databases. For instance, a drowsy driver may swerve into another lane and appear to be taking aggressive action when in fact they did not mean to swerve at all. These factors, among many others, may or may not be taken into account when measuring the prevalence of aggressive driving. The American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety (AAAFTS 2013) estimates that aggressive driving behaviours account for over half of all fatal crashes. That is a significant amount that demonstrates the severity of the problem. What are the costs associated with aggressive driving? Aggressive driving has a huge economic cost. The National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) attributes $40.4 billion to speeding-related crashes each year in the U.S., and this accounts for only one of the many aggressive driving behaviours (2008). Where does aggressive driving primarily occur? Different aggressive driving behaviours tend to occur at varying times and places. However, one of the primary locations for aggressive driving is at traffic intersections. An Ontario study revealed that disobeying the traffic signal was observed in 42% of fatal crashes and 29% of injury crashes occurring at intersections.12 A Quebec study also found a high prevalence of road crashes, just over one-quarter, occurring at traffic intersections due to aggressive driving.13 While it might be assumed that speeding, one of the most common forms of aggressive driving, would mostly occur on open roads and highways this is not always the case. According to Transport Canada (2011), among young adult drivers, the primary location for fatal crashes involving speeding, as well as alcohol, is urban roads at night. This is due to the fact that urban centers have a greater number of establishments (e.g., restaurants and bars) that serve alcohol. BEHAVIOURS What factors contribute to road rage? > Situational and environmental conditions. In these instances, driving conditions can cause annoyance and 11 Arnett et al. 1997 12 Ministry of Transportation Ontario 1998 13 Brault, Auger, and Montegiani 2007 stress (e.g., high congestion conditions which lead to road rage). Since drivers are less visible to other drivers it is easier to express rage under anonymity. > Personality and dispositional factors. If a driver has an aggressive personality they are more likely to drive aggressively. If they are already stressed or become stressed from the act of driving, this may be acted out as road rage. Being aggressive and stressed may lead drivers to misperceive other drivers’ behaviours as personal attacks (e.g., cutting someone off to be rude versus making an honest mistake). > Demographic variables. These variables can include age, sex, and socio-economic background. Certain demographic variables are associated with an increase in aggressive driving behaviours. In a 2006 RSM survey conducted by TIRF, it was found that young drivers (ages 16-24) were more likely to use their horn when annoyed (12%) compared with older drivers (5%). Further differences are outlined in the following section. Who is more likely to drive aggressively? Sex differences among aggressive drivers have been widely reported in research. For example, men tend to engage in risky driving, react more aggressively to congestion, and become revengeful and physically aggressive more often than women.14 Furthermore, femininity in women is positively correlated with lower driving aggression. “Macho” males, on the other hand, score higher on the driving aggression scale.15 To illustrate, the 2006 RSM found that there were more than double the percent of male aggressive drivers than there were female aggressive drivers (16% versus 6%). Age factors have also been shown to correlate to aggressive driving indicators. In the 2006 RSM, drivers ages 16-44 were more likely to drive aggressively compared to drivers ages 45 and older (15% versus 6%).16 Other factors related to aggressive driving include: > having previous traffic transgressions; > young drivers, especially novice drivers between 16 and 17, and those with young passengers; > drivers not wearing a seatbelt; > drivers who are under the influence of alcohol; > drivers who do not hold a valid licence; > drivers who drive a pick-up truck or SUV; > driving during the morning rush hour; > driving on high-speed roads; and, > parental influences (i.e., those who observed their parents driving aggressively).17 14 Sharkin 2003 15 Agerwala et al. 2008 16 Vanlaar et al. 2007 17 Agerwala et al. 2008; Paleti et al. 2010; and Vanlaar et al. 2007