An observational study of secondary task engagement while driving on urban streets in Iranian Safe Communities

Identifying distracted-driving events from on-road observations using a moving vehicle: A case study in New Jersey

Distracted driving is a major traffic safety concern in the USA. To observe and detect distracted-driving events, various methods (e.g., surveys, videos, and simulations) involving the collection of cross-sectional data from individual subjects have been used in the transportation field. In this study, we employed an unconventional approach of on-road observations using a moving vehicle to collect data on distracted-driving events for multiple subjects in New Jersey. A data-collection crew member continuously navigated selected corridors to record driver-distraction events. A GPS (Global Positioning System) tracker was used to timestamp and record the location of each incident. Two non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test) were performed to identify the significance of the variations in distracted-driving behaviors due to changes in temporal variables (e.g., day of the week, season), the type of roadway, and the geometric properties of the roadway. The results indicated that cellphone use was the leading type of distraction. Additionally, "handheld phone use (phone to ear)," "fidgeting/grooming," "drinking/eating/smoking," and "talking to passengers" events were significantly affected by the time of day and the geometric properties of the roadway. The results of this study are expected to assist state and local agencies in promoting awareness of distracted driving with the aim of reducing the frequency and severity of distracted driving-related crashes.

Psychosocial factors associated with the self-reported frequency of cell phone use while driving in Iran

Cell phone use while driving is a common contributing factor in thousands of road traffic injuries every year globally. Despite extensive research investigating the risks associated with cell phone use while driving, social media campaigns to raise public awareness and a number of laws banning phone use while driving, this behaviour remains prevalent throughout the world. The current study was conducted in Iran, where road traffic injuries are the leading causes of death and disability, and where drivers continue to use their cell phones, despite legislative bans restricting this behaviour. A total of 255 drivers in the city of Mashhad (male = 66.3%; mean age = 30.73 years; SD = 9.89) completed either an online or a paper-based survey assessing the self-reported frequency of using a cell phone while driving. Psychosocial factors contributing to cell phone use while driving and support for legislation restricting this behaviour, as well as the Big Five personality traits, were also measured. Overall, the results showed that almost 93% of drivers use their cell phones while driving at least once a week, with 32.5% reporting they always use their cell phones while driving. Ordinal logistic regression revealed that the presence of a child passenger, age, perceived benefits and risks of using cell phones while driving, as well as the perceived ability to drive safely while using a cell phone, were strongly associated with the frequency of cell phone use while driving. As for personality traits-extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness significantly predicted the frequency of cell phone use in this sample of Iranian drivers.

'Just Drive': An Employee-Based Intervention to Reduce Distracted Driving

Distracted driving is a major danger on today's roadways. Employers play a critical role in developing distracted driving policies and promoting a culture of workplace driving safety. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an in-person work-based class to reduce distracted driving in participating employees. The "Just Drive-Take Action Against Distraction" class was designed by the UC San Diego Training, Research and Education for Driving Safety (TREDS) program to increase awareness of the dangers of distracted driving and to encourage employees to be safe and responsible drivers, both on and off the job. Participants completed pre- and post-anonymous surveys and, in a subset of attendees, volunteers were contacted via email 3 months post-intervention to complete a driving-behavior survey on Surveymonkey.com. 115 classes for 6896 employees were delivered at 54 agencies in Southern California. A total of 4928 participants completed the pre- and post-survey; 2014 n = 2263 and 2015 n = 2665. The course was found useful (85%) and engaging (85.6%). For non-commercial drivers, 55.6% of participants reported an increase of 80-100% in awareness of the dangers of distracted driving, and 67.2% reported an increase of 80-100% in their motivation to change. For commercial drivers, 71.3% reported a motivation increase of 80-100%. There were significant increases in knowledge for both groups. In the three-month follow-up survey, participants identified multiple positive changes in distracted driving behavior. This 1-h employer-supported intervention demonstrated positive changes in short-term intention and medium-term behaviors.

Systematic review of observational studies on secondary task engagement while driving

The last decade has seen a worldwide exponential increase in the use of mobile information systems, especially smartphones. This trend covers all areas of life, and also seems to include phone use while driving. In order to assess the scope of secondary task occupation, especially smartphone use while driving, observation studies from outside the car have been established as an efficient and valid method. A review of international studies using traffic observation was done finding 51 publications with a total of 117 observation studies with more than 1,800,000 single observations at more than 17,500 sites from nine different countries. The review describes the relevant aspects of the observation methods and gives an overview about the trends found in the data. As the methods differ widely over the years as well as between the countries and studies, an integration of the results is not possible. However, from all studies it is very clear that smartphone use has increased including not only phoning while driving but also, more important to traffic safety, using apps and texting on the smartphone. Additional observable secondary tasks were only rarely examined. Thus, further research using observational studies is strongly recommended. Suggestions are given with regard to the methodology which can contribute to get comparable and valid results across countries and studies.