Deterring illegal smartphone use while driving: Are perceptions of risk information associated with the impact of informal sanctions?

How state mindfulness affects mobile phones usage while walking: A daily diary study in China

INTRODUCTION

Pedestrians are a particularly vulnerable group of road users. Mobile phone usage while walking (MPUWW) is a significant contributor to pedestrians' involvement in road crashes and associated injuries. The current study aims to explore the effect of state mindfulness on daily MPUWW via phone dependence (at the within-person level), and the moderating role of risk perception (at the between-person level) in the phone dependence-MPUWW relationship.

METHOD

We utilized a fine-grained method, the daily diary methodology (DDM) to explore the aforementioned model. A total of 88 Chinese college students participated in a consecutive 12-day study, yielding 632 daily data. Unconflated multilevel modeling was used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

After trait mindfulness being controlled, state mindfulness has a negative impact on MPUWW via phone dependence at the daily level. Furthermore, risk perception as an individual difference variable moderates the relationship between phone dependence and MPUWW, in which a weaker effect observed in individuals with higher levels of risk perception.

CONCLUSIONS

State mindfulness can decrease the frequency of daily MPUWW by reducing phone dependence, and risk perception is a crucial factor in mitigating the negative effects of phone dependence on MPUWW.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

To lower MPUWW and thereby minimize the risk of road crashes and associated injuries, it is beneficial to foster present-moment awareness of individuals, encourage individuals to use mobile phones in a balanced and sensible manner, and integrate the enhancement of risk perception into road safety education.

"It is a different type of policing than in the bush": Police officers' perceptions of the differences in enforcement of the phone use while driving legislation in rural and urban areas

Mobile phone use while driving continues to be a significant road safety concern, despite the severe legal countermeasures to reduce this behaviour. Phone use while driving-related crashes have been demonstrated to be an issue in rural areas, yet research into the impact of legal sanctions on phone use while driving has primarily focussed on urban areas. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate differences in enforcement of phone use while driving between rural and urban environments as reported by police officers. In addition, to provide necessary context, this study aimed to explore how the police officers perceive differences in drivers' engagement in phone use while driving between rural and urban environments. To address these aims, a total of 26 police officers from Queensland, Australia (18 with both rural and urban experience, 6 with only rural experience and 2 with only urban experience) completed an interview. A total of seven themes were developed from the data. Several differences between rural and urban environments were identified concerning different types of phone offending behaviour, as well as different resources, management and infrastructure that can impact police enforcement. For example, it was suggested that drivers in rural areas have less reasons to use their phone while driving. Nevertheless, when this behaviour does occur, it is more challenging to enforce this law in rural compared to urban environments. The results not only provide important contextual information for phone use while driving research, but also suggest that enforcement strategies for this behaviour may need to be recontextualised to incorporate the more nuanced aspects of rural policing.