A qualitative study of college students' perceptions of risky driving and social influences

Distracted Driving Behavior Among Adults in the Perambalur District: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background Distracted driving is a major public health concern. Distraction results in reduced speed control, lateral lane position, reduced situational awareness, and impaired response times to roadway hazards. Visual, cognitive, and manual distractions impair drivers in different ways. With the above background, this study was conducted with the objective of estimating the proportion of distracted driving behavior and its predictors among the adult population in the Perambalur district, Tamil Nadu, India, by using the Total Distracted Driving Scale. Materials and methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 403 adults aged 18 years and above by convenience sampling technique in the Perambalur district for six months. A pretested, semi-structured proforma was used to collect data on socio-demographic characteristics such as age, sex, education, and occupation. To quantify distracted driving behavior, the Total Distracted Driving Scale was used. This scale contains seven questions about talking on the phone, five questions about texting, and five questions about using specific devices while driving. Data were entered into Microsoft Excel and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 21. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the distracted driving behavior with respect to each variable, and to find out the significance, a corresponding statistical test was employed. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The mean age of the study participants was 24.86 ± 10.63 years. More than half of the study subjects (52.4 percent) were females, and around 87.3 percent of them were Hindu by religion. Among the study participants, around 66.74 percent mentioned that they had used a cell phone while driving. Around 38 percent of the study participants admitted that they had been in or were near-crash circumstances during the past year. Around 87 percent of the study participants who had a crash or near-crash in the past year admitted that they had been distracted while driving. On primary analysis, religion of individuals and increased driving frequency had a statistically significant association with a history of distracted driving. Study participants who were using three- and four-wheelers and those who used cellphones while driving had a statistically significant association with a history of distracted driving. According to the regression, cell phone users are 3.915 times more distracted than those who do not use cellphones (p = 0.001). Subjects with a history of crashes or near-crashes were 56.96 times more distracted than those without a history (p < 0.001). Conclusion In the present study, three-fourths of the study population used a cell phone while driving. More than three-fourths of the study participants admitted that they had been in a crash or near-crash circumstances during the past year. Distracted driving was responsible for four-fifths of all crashes or near-collisions. Use of a cell phone while driving and a history of near-crashes have a higher risk of distraction than those who do not.

Context and culture: Reasons young adults drink and drive in rural America

Montana, a large and rural U.S. state, has a motor vehicle fatality rate almost double the national average. For young adults, the alcohol-related motor vehicle fatality rate in the state is almost three times the national average. Yet little research has explored the underlying reasons that young people in rural areas drink and drive. Drawing from the theory of triadic influence (TTI) and a series of qualitative focus group discussions, the current study examined how aspects of the landscape and culture of rural America promote and hinder drinking and driving among young people. In 2015 and 2016, 72 young adults (36 females) aged 18-25 years old (mean age = 20.2) participated in 11 semi-structured focus groups in 8 rural counties in Montana. Discussions were transcribed, and two reviewers independently coded text segments. Themes were identified and an inductive explanatory model was created. The results demonstrated that aspects of the social context (e.g., peer pressure and parental modeling), rural cultural values (e.g., independence, stoicism, and social cohesion), and the legal and physical environment (e.g., minimal police presence, sparse population, and no alternative transportation) promoted drinking and driving. The results also identified salient protective factors in each of these domains. Our findings demonstrate the importance of examining underlying distal determinants of drinking and driving. Furthermore, they suggest that future research and interventions should consider the complex ways in which cultural values and environmental factors intersect to shape the risky health behaviors of rural populations.

Understanding the psychological precursors of young drivers' willingness to speed and text while driving

This study applied the Prototype Willingness Model (PWM) to investigate the factors that may predict young drivers' (non-intentional) willingness to text while driving, text while stopped, and engage in high and low levels of speeding. In addition, the study sought to assess whether general optimism bias would predict young drivers' willingness to text and speed over and above the PWM. Licenced drivers (N = 183) aged 17-25 years (M = 19.84, SD = 2.30) in Queensland, Australia completed an online survey. Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed that the PWM was effective in explaining the variance in willingness to perform all four illegal driving behaviours. Particularly, young drivers who possessed favourable attitudes and a positive prototype perception towards these behaviours were more willing to engage in texting and speeding. In contrast to the study's predictions, optimistically biased beliefs decreased young drivers' willingness to text while stopped and engage in high and low levels of speeding. The findings of the study may help inform policy and educational campaigns to better target risky driving behaviours by considering the influence of attitudes, prototypes and the non-intentional pathway that may lead to engagement in texting while driving and stopped and engagement in high and low levels of speeding.

Motivational factors associated with drowsy driving behavior: a qualitative investigation of college students

OBJECTIVES

This qualitative investigation sought to identify the motivational factors that contribute to drowsy driving in college students and to discover important messaging strategies that may help prevent or reduce this behavior in this population.

DESIGN

Four focus groups of college students.

SETTING

A large university in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area during the Fall 2016 term.

PARTICIPANTS

Twenty-six undergraduate students between the ages of 18 and 25 years.

MEASUREMENTS

Notes and transcripts from the focus group sessions were analyzed to identify recurring themes regarding attitudes, motivations, experiences, influences, and potential preventive messaging strategies related to drowsy driving.

RESULTS

Although most participants had heard of drowsy driving and were concerned about it, they did not associate it with legal risks and were more concerned about alcohol-impaired and distracted driving as crash risks. Participants viewed drowsy driving as a normal and unavoidable part of their lives over which they had little control. For potential anti-drowsy driving messaging strategies, participants preferred messages delivered via audiovisual or social media that featured graphic and emotional portrayals of crashes and their consequences. Participants also voiced strong support for preventive messaging strategies equating various degrees of sleep deprivation to known impairing levels of alcohol, as well as messages providing cues to action to actual drowsy drivers on roadways.

CONCLUSIONS

Increased enforcement, education, and public messaging campaigns are needed to increase knowledge and influence attitudes and opinions among young drivers about the dangers and social unacceptability of drowsy driving.

Cell Phone Use While Driving: Prospective Association with Emerging Adult Use

Secondary task engagement such as cell phone use while driving is a common behavior among adolescents and emerging adults. Texting and other distracting cell phone use in this population contributes to the high rate of fatal car crashes. Peer engagement in similar risky driving behaviors, such as texting, could socially influence driver phone use behavior. The present study investigates the prospective association between peer and emerging adult texting while driving the first year after high school. Surveys were conducted with a national sample of emerging adults and their nominated peers. Binomial logistic regression analyses, adjusting for gender, race/ethnicity, parental education, and family affluence, showed that participants (n=212) with peers (n=675) who reported frequently texting while driving, were significantly more likely to text while driving the following year (odds ratio, 3.01; 95% CI, 1.19-7.59; P=0.05). The findings are consistent with the idea that peer texting behavior influences the prevalence of texting while driving among emerging adults.

How do significant others influence our driving? A descriptive study of ego-alter dyads in a college population

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this investigation was to describe the mutual influences between drivers and their significant others in a sample of college students, using a social network perspective.

METHODS

A web-based survey was made of 65 dyads of drivers and their significant others, in order to examine areas of mutual influence concerning driving. Measures were taken of their frequency of risky driving, including how often they drive, talk on the cell phone, or text with each other while driving. They were also asked whether they have influenced or been influenced by each other to drive safer or in a more risky manner.

RESULTS

The dyads were very similar in how frequently they drive as well as talk to each other on the phone while driving. However, they were unlikely to feel that their driving was influenced by each other, with only 17% of the drivers and 19% of the significant others saying that they have been overtly influenced by (or have influenced) each other's driving behavior often or most of the time. Yet, most (67.7% and 72.1%) said they have ever encouraged or been encouraged by each other to drive more safely, mainly by being told to reduce their speed. In both sets of drivers in these dyads, talking to and texting their significant other while driving was related to risky driving.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that a similarity exits in the driving patterns of young drivers and their significant others, especially concerning talking to each other on the phone while driving. The largest degree of overt social influence appears to center around avoidance of behaviors perceived to be associated with getting a traffic citation. Implications for safety campaign development and future research are presented.