Does anticipation training affect drivers' risk taking?

Investigating the factorial invariance of the 28-item DBQ across genders and age groups: an Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling study

The Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ) is perhaps the most widely used questionnaire instrument in traffic psychology with 174 studies published by late 2010. The instrument was developed based on a plausible cognitive ergonomic theory (the Generic Error Modeling System, GEMS), but the factor structure obtained in the original study (Reason et al., 1990) did not mirror the theory's conceptual structure. This led to abandoning GEMS and adopting the obtained factor structure as a starting point for further DBQ research. This article argues that (1) certain choices in the original study, concerning statistical methodology and the wording of individual question items, may have contributed to the ways the obtained factor structure deviated from the underlying theory and (2) the analysis methods often used in DBQ studies, principal components (PC) analysis and maximum likelihood (ML) factor analysis, are not optimal choices for the non-normally distributed categorical data that is obtained using the instrument. This is because ML produces biased results when used with this type of data, while PC is by definition unable to uncover latent factors as it summarizes all variation in the measured variables. (3) Even though DBQ factor scores have been routinely compared in subgroups of men and women and respondents of different ages, DBQ's factorial invariance in these groups has not been rigorously tested. These concerns are addressed in this article by framing the results of certain previous DBQ studies as a structural equation model (SEM) and an Exploratory Structural Equation Model (ESEM) and testing measurement model fit in subgroups of respondents. The SEM analyses indicate that the model does not fit data from the whole sample of respondents as it stands, while the ESEM analyses show that a modification of the model does. However, the ESEM analyses indicate the DBQ measures different underlying latent variables in the different subgroups. Based on the analyses and a review of recent advances in attention and memory research, an update to the theory underlying the DBQ is suggested.

Young drivers' optimism bias for accident risk and driving skill: Accountability and insight experience manipulations

This study aimed to determine whether two brief, low cost interventions would reduce young drivers' optimism bias for their driving skills and accident risk perceptions. This tendency for such drivers to perceive themselves as more skillful and less prone to driving accidents than their peers may lead to less engagement in precautionary driving behaviours and a greater engagement in more dangerous driving behaviour. 243 young drivers (aged 17-25 years) were randomly allocated to one of three groups: accountability, insight or control. All participants provided both overall and specific situation ratings of their driving skills and accident risk relative to a typical young driver. Prior to completing the questionnaire, those in the accountability condition were first advised that their driving skills and accident risk would be later assessed via a driving simulator. Those in the insight condition first underwent a difficult computer-based hazard perception task designed to provide participants with insight into their potential limitations when responding to hazards in difficult and unpredictable driving situations. Participants in the control condition completed only the questionnaire. Results showed that the accountability manipulation was effective in reducing optimism bias in terms of participants' comparative ratings of their accident risk in specific situations, though only for less experienced drivers. In contrast, among more experienced males, participants in the insight condition showed greater optimism bias for overall accident risk than their counterparts in the accountability or control groups. There were no effects of the manipulations on drivers' skills ratings. The differential effects of the two types of manipulations on optimism bias relating to one's accident risk in different subgroups of the young driver sample highlight the importance of targeting interventions for different levels of experience. Accountability interventions may be beneficial for less experienced young drivers but the results suggest exercising caution with the use of insight type interventions, particularly hazard perception style tasks, for more experienced young drivers typically still in the provisional stage of graduated licensing systems.

Spying or steering? Views of parents of young novice drivers on the use and ethics of driver-monitoring technologies

In-vehicle technologies that document driving practices have the potential to enhance the driving safety of young drivers, but their installation depends largely on their parents' willingness and raises ethical dilemmas. This study investigated, using closed and open-ended questions, the views of 906 parents of young drivers in Israel regarding their willingness to install such a technology, and their conceptions of social norms and ethical issues associated with the technology and of factors that would encourage or discourage parents to adopt it. Most believed parents should feel morally obligated to install it. When cost was not a consideration, most said they would, and believed other parents would be willing to install the technology. Fewer (about half) expressed willingness to install it after being told about its estimated cost. Monetary cost was rated as a barrier to install it by about half. Environmental considerations were viewed as an incentive. Parents who supported the installation believed it would serve as a trigger for parent-young driver communication but those who did not thought it would erode trust in the parent-young driver relationship. Most said parents should have access to the monitoring data. Policy implications regarding issues of privacy and resources for parents are discussed.

A hazard perception test for novice drivers

We developed a hazard perception test, modeled on that used currently in several Australian states, that presents short video scenes to observers and requires them to indicate the presence of a traffic conflict that would lead to a collision between the "camera" vehicle and another road user. After eliminating those scenes that were problematic (e.g., many observers did not recognize the hazard), we predicted driver group (novice vs. experienced drivers of similar age) on the basis of individual differences in reaction time, miss rate and false alarm rate. Novices were significantly slower in responding to hazards, even after controlling for age and simple reaction time. After selecting those scenes with the larger group differences, an 18-scene test that would be useful for mass testing exhibited even larger experience effects. There was good reliability in the resulting scale. Results suggest that this brief test of hazard perception can discriminate groups that differ in driving experience. Implications for driver licensing, evaluation and training are discussed.

A comparative study of two hazard handling training methods for novice drivers

OBJECTIVES

The effectiveness of two hazard perception training methods, simulation-based error training (SET) and video-based guided error training (VGET), for novice drivers' hazard handling performance was tested, compared, and analyzed.

METHODS

Thirty-two novice drivers participated in the hazard perception training. Half of the participants were trained using SET by making errors and/or experiencing accidents while driving with a desktop simulator. The other half were trained using VGET by watching prerecorded video clips of errors and accidents that were made by other people. The two groups had exposure to equal numbers of errors for each training scenario. All the participants were tested and evaluated for hazard handling on a full cockpit driving simulator one week after training. Hazard handling performance and hazard response were measured in this transfer test.

RESULTS

Both hazard handling performance scores and hazard response distances were significantly better for the SET group than the VGET group. Furthermore, the SET group had more metacognitive activities and intrinsic motivation. SET also seemed more effective in changing participants' confidence, but the result did not reach the significance level.

CONCLUSIONS

SET exhibited a higher training effectiveness of hazard response and handling than VGET in the simulated transfer test. The superiority of SET might benefit from the higher levels of metacognition and intrinsic motivation during training, which was observed in the experiment. Future research should be conducted to assess whether the advantages of error training are still effective under real road conditions.

Effects of a simulation-based training intervention on novice drivers' hazard handling performance

OBJECTIVES

Young novice drivers are overrepresented in crash rates during their first few months of driving. The dramatic drop afterwards implies that some important skills of safe driving are learned during this period. In an attempt to help novice drivers acquire higher-order perceptual and cognitive skills for safe driving, a training intervention based on driving simulation was developed, tested, and evaluated.

METHODS

Eight virtual driving scenarios (four equivalent and four analogical) were developed for road hazard handling training, and another eight scenarios were developed for subsequent formal testing. Two groups of novice drivers were recruited to test and compare their road hazard handling performance. The trained group received training treatment 6 weeks before testing, whereas the untrained group had no prior training except a basic driving skill exercise. The comprehensive training intervention included simulated driving in eight virtual scenarios, then feedback of their own hazard handling performance, and finally watching the playback video of an experienced driver's handling of each road hazard.

RESULTS

Road hazard handling performance scores were significantly higher for the trained group and the training effect was greater for equivalent scenarios than for analogical ones. The trained drivers anticipated potential hazards in advance to a larger extent than the untrained, as indicated by both earlier speed reduction and subjective self-report data when approaching the hazards. Subjective mental workload of the trained drivers was significantly lower in completing the simulated driving task.

CONCLUSIONS

The tested comprehensive training intervention has shown positive effects in improving novice drivers' abilities to anticipate, recognize, and deal with hazards in simulated driving. Performance of the trained drivers with different starting levels converged to a relatively high level after training.

Effects of a computer-based training module on drivers' willingness to engage in distracting activities

OBJECTIVE

This study examines the effect of a computer-based training module on drivers' attitudes and behaviors with respect to in-vehicle distraction.

BACKGROUND

Research findings on the negative performance implications of distraction call for the need to mitigate these adverse effects.

METHOD

Forty drivers (ages 18 to 20 yrs) were divided into two groups: a training group that completed the module and a control group that viewed an unrelated video. The training promoted enhanced metacognitive skills (e.g., planning, monitoring) and strategies to deal with distraction. Measures of willingness to perform in-vehicle activities while driving (involving the use of short videos) were assessed before and after the intervention. Drivers also performed in-vehicle tasks while driving an instrumented vehicle on a closed test track.

RESULTS

Following the training, drivers in the training group showed a decline in their ratings of willingness to engage in distracting activities along with a corresponding increase in perceived risk. In contrast, ratings from drivers in the control group did not change on any measures. Drivers in the training group were also more likely to perform in-vehicle tasks while the vehicle was parked compared with the control group-an obvious safety benefit. However, there was no observable benefit of training for drivers who performed the distracting tasks while the vehicle was in motion.

CONCLUSION

There may be some promise to such a training approach. The implications for distraction and training are discussed.

APPLICATION

Training general skills in dealing with potentially distracting in-vehicle tasks may help offset some of the negative outcomes associated with their use.

Can younger drivers be trained to scan for information that will reduce their risk in roadway traffic scenarios that are hard to identify as hazardous?

Younger drivers (18-21 years) are over-involved in crashes. Research suggests that one of the reasons for this over-involvement is their failure to scan areas of the roadway for information about potential risks in situations that are hazardous, but not obviously so. The primary objective of the present study is to develop and evaluate a training program that addresses this failure. It was hypothesised that PC-based hazard anticipation training would increase the likelihood that younger drivers would scan for potential hazards on the open road. In order to test this hypothesis, 12 trained and 12 untrained drivers' eye movements were measured as they drove a vehicle on local residential, feeder and arterial roads. Overall, the trained drivers were significantly more likely to gaze at areas of the roadway that contained information relevant to the reduction of risks (64.4%) than were the untrained drivers (37.4%). Significant training effects were observed even in situations on the road that were quite different from those shown in training. These findings have clear implications for the type of training of teen drivers that is necessary in order to increase their anticipation of hazards.

What happens next? Predicting other road users' behaviour as a function of driving experience and processing time

Hazard perception is one of the most important facets of driving and if the appropriate diagnostic tool is used it can discriminate between novice and experienced drivers. In this study video clips of actual driving scenarios were shown to novice and experienced drivers. The clips were stopped just prior to hazard onset and either the screen went black or the final still image stayed on the screen. Participants were then asked five questions about what happened next. This variant of the hazard perception test allowed the influence of processing time to be included and the level of situation awareness to be measured. Experienced drivers significantly anticipated more correct hazardous outcomes than novice drivers when the screen went black. Novice drivers benefited from the extra processing time afforded by the image remaining on the screen and significantly anticipated more hazards when the image remained on the screen than when it went black. The findings indicate that when processing time is manipulated, hazard perception accuracy reveals experiential differences. These differences are discussed with reference to hazard perception and situation awareness. This research informs the current controversy over whether hazard perception is a good diagnostic tool for driving performance. It identifies potential confounds in previous work and demonstrates that experiential differences can be found if the appropriate tests are used. Further, it suggests improvements for new hazard perception tests.

Perceived risk and other predictors and correlates of teenagers' safety belt use during the first year of licensure

OBJECTIVES

Teenagers have the lowest rate of safety belt use and the highest crash rate compared to other age groups. Past studies on teenagers' belt use have mostly been cross-sectional. The first goals of this study were to examine, at licensure, teenagers' and parents' perceptions of risk of crash/injury for newly licensed teenagers when driving unbelted and teenagers' perceived and parents' intended consequences for safety belt rule violations. In addition, the comparability of these variables to other risky driving behaviors was explored. The second goal was to evaluate the importance of these variables in the prediction of teenagers' belt use during the first year of licensure, relative to other factors related to belt use, including demographics and substance use.

METHODS

More than 2,000 parent-teenager dyads were interviewed by telephone, parents at permit and licensure and teenagers at permit, licensure, and 3, 6, and 12 months after licensure.

RESULTS

Approximately a third of the teenagers reported at least once at 3, 6, or 12 months post-licensure not always using their safety belt in the past week. At licensure, participants' perceived risk of safety belt non-use was high and ranked among the behaviors most related to crash/injury for newly licensed teenagers, behind driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Parent-imposed consequences for safety belt rule violations were not as highly rated as parent-imposed consequences for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Sequential logistic regression modeled the relationship between safety belt use and perceived risk and consequences of non-use, as well as other prospective predictors assessed at permit and licensure, and driving correlates measured after licensure. Teenagers' extreme perceived risk and parents' intended sure consequences for non-use were significant prospective predictors of regular use during the first year of licensure. Other significant predictors and correlates were race (White), high school grade average of "A," not smoking cigarettes, driving a passenger vehicle, and never receiving a traffic citation or engaging in risky driving behaviors, including driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and running a red light.

CONCLUSIONS

While the effect size was small for perceived risk of non-use, it is a modifiable factor and focused intervention contrived to enhance perceived risk could increase teenagers' belt use. Perceived risk is discussed as a target for intervention in relation to the Protection Motivation Theory. This theory appears helpful in guiding future research into the modifiable factors studied here as well as other factors, including perceived rewards and costs associated with non-use.

Enhanced postural stability following driver training is associated with positive effects in vehicle kinematics during cornering

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of a specific post-license driver training program on postural stability and vehicle kinematics during cornering.

BACKGROUND

Inertial forces experienced during driving can perturb a driver's posture, which may in turn diminish a driver's perceptual sensitivity and corresponding control actions.

METHODS

A trainee group (n=21) and control group (n=12) participated in the study. The trainee group participated in a 2-day driver training program that included instruction on how to enhance perceptual sensitivity, postural stability, and vehicle kinematics during common driving maneuvers, including cornering. Postural stability and vehicle kinematics were assessed during cornering maneuvers performed on a closed-circuit track using an instrumented vehicle prior to and following training.

RESULTS

Trainee drivers experienced enhanced postural stability and reduced the magnitude and onset of peak vehicle lateral accelerations following training. Prior to training, drivers who were more posturally unstable tended to experience higher lateral vehicle accelerations, and drivers with the biggest improvements in postural stability following training tended to experience the greatest reductions in lateral accelerations of the vehicle.

CONCLUSION

Training led to changes in postural stability that were associated with reduced lateral accelerations during cornering.

APPLICATION

The reduction in lateral accelerations following training in the present study indicates a greater dynamic margin of safety for cornering. Overall findings suggest that the driver training programs produced beneficial effects on cornering kinematics and that these effectswere associated with enhanced postural stability.

Technology and teen drivers

The rapid evolution of computing, communication, and sensor technology is likely to affect young drivers more than others. The distraction potential of infotainment technology stresses the same vulnerabilities that already lead young drivers to crash more frequently than other drivers. Cell phones, text messaging, MP3 players, and other nomadic devices all present a threat because young drivers may lack the spare attentional capacity for vehicle control and the ability to anticipate and manage hazards. Moreover, young drivers are likely to be the first and most aggressive users of new technology. Fortunately, emerging technology can also support safe driving. Electronic stability control, collision avoidance systems, intelligent speed adaptation, and vehicle tracking systems can all help mitigate the threats to young drivers. However, technology alone is unlikely to make young drivers safer. One promising approach to tailoring technology to teen drivers is to extend proven methods for enhancing young driver safety. The success of graduated drivers license programs (GDL) and the impressive safety benefit of supervised driving suggest ways of tailoring technology to the needs of young drivers. To anticipate the effects of technology on teen driving it may be useful to draw an analogy between the effects of passengers and the effects of technology. Technology can act as a teen passenger and undermine safety or it can act as an adult passenger and enhance safety.

IMPACT ON INDUSTRY

Rapidly developing technology may have particularly large effects on teen drivers. To maximize the positive effects and minimize the negative effects will require a broad range of industries to work together. Ideally, vehicle manufacturers would work with infotainment providers, insurance companies, and policy makers to craft new technologies so that they accommodate the needs of young drivers. Without such collaboration young drivers will face even greater challenges to their safety as new technologies emerge.