Driver Behaviour and Accident Research Methodology: Unresolved Problems

Book•

Driver Behaviour and Accident Research Methodology: Unresolved Problems

28 Oct 2009-

TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss several methodological problems in traffic psychology which are not currently recognized as such, and make suggestions as to further studies that should be made to address some of the problems.

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Abstract: This book discusses several methodological problems in traffic psychology which are not currently recognized as such. Summarizing and analyzing the available research, it is found that there are a number of commonly made assumptions about the validity of methods that have little backing, and that many basic problems have not been researched at all. Suggestions are made as to further studies that should be made to address some of the problems. The chapters cover traffic accident involvement taxonomies, the validity of self-reported traffic behaviour data, accident proneness, the determination of fault in collision, the accident-exposure association, constructing a driving safety criterion, alternatives to accidents as dependent variable, and case studies. The book is primarily intended for traffic / transport researchers, but it should also be useful for specialized education at a higher level as well as officials who require a good understanding of methodology to be able to evaluate research.

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Journal Article•DOI•

Crash risk by driver age, gender, and time of day using a new exposure methodology.

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Shirley Regev¹, Jonathan J. Rolison², Salissou Moutari³•Institutions (3)

University College London¹, University of Essex², Queen's University Belfast³

01 Sep 2018-Journal of Safety Research

TL;DR: A biasing effect of low travel exposure on conventional crash rates implies that conventional methods do not yield meaningful comparisons of crash risk between driver groups and driving conditions of varying exposure to risk.

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118 citations

Cites background from "Driver Behaviour and Accident Resea..."

...…researchers (Elander et al., 1993; Elvik, 2014; Janke, 1991; Langford, Methorst, & Hakamies-Blomqvist, 2006; Maycock, Lockwood, & Lester, 1991; Qin et al., 2004; see af Wåhlberg, 2009 for review) reported that the relationship between annual crash counts and driving exposure is in fact nonlinear....
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Journal Article•DOI•

The effect of social desirability on self reported and recorded road traffic accidents

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Anders af Wåhlberg¹, Lisa Dorn², Theresa J. B. Kline³•Institutions (3)

Uppsala University¹, Cranfield University², University of Calgary³

01 Mar 2010-Transportation Research Part F-traffic Psychology and Behaviour

TL;DR: The authors found that self-reported crashes are negatively associated with a lie scale for driving, while recorded ones were not, as could be expected if the scale was valid and a self-report bias existed.

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Abstract: The use of lie scales has a fairly long history in psychometrics, with the intention of identifying and correcting for socially desirable answers. This represents one type of common method variance (bias introduced when both predictors and predicted variables are gathered from the same source), which may lead to spurious associations in self-reports. Within traffic safety research, where self-report methods are used abundantly, it is uncommon to control for social desirability artifacts, or reporting associations between lie scales, crashes and driver behaviour scales. In the present study, it was shown that self-reports of traffic accidents were negatively associated with a lie scale for driving, while recorded ones were not, as could be expected if the scale was valid and a self-report bias existed. We conclude that whenever self-reported crashes are used as an outcome variable and predicted by other self-report measures, a lie scale should be included and used for correcting the associations. However, the only existing lie scale for traffic safety is not likely to catch all socially desirable responding, because traffic safety may not be desirable for all demographic groups. New lie scales should be developed specifically for driver behaviour questionnaires, to counter potential bias and artifactual results. Alternatively, the use of a single source of data should be discontinued.

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90 citations

Cites background from "Driver Behaviour and Accident Resea..."

...…the possible influence of social desirability on self-reports of behaviours and attitudes, few would seem to have thought that it would affect reports of crashes and other dependent variables (for a review and discussion, see af Wåhlberg, 2009), which is necessary for CMV effects to result....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Social desirability effects in driver behavior inventories.

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Anders af Wåhlberg¹•Institutions (1)

Uppsala University¹

01 Apr 2010-Journal of Safety Research

TL;DR: In this article, a questionnaire containing scales from several well known driver inventories that have been claimed to predict traffic accident involvement was distributed three times to a group of young drivers in a driver education program, as well as a random group twice.

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82 citations

Cites background or methods from "Driver Behaviour and Accident Resea..."

...Unfortunately, such validity threats have not stopped researchers from using self-reported mileage data (af Wåhlberg, 2009), so either interpretation has some bearing on current traffic safety research....
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...Using selfreported data only, few studies in traffic safety have controlled for such validity threats (af Wåhlberg, 2009), and such research is therefore open to re-appraisal....
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...That self-reports of crashes can be influenced by cognitive response biases is something that has sometimes been admitted by questionnaire researchers, but only as a problem of under-reporting and restricted variance, not as a risk of CMV (af Wåhlberg, 2009)....
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...If the measurements were valid, this would be a very strange occurrence because exposure to risk does have some association with crash record (af Wåhlberg, 2009), and controlling for it should bring out the differences in reported behavior more strongly, instead of the opposite....
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...In many studies, it is implicitly assumed that citations/points are a good safety proxy variable, which can be used in parallel, or replace, accidents as an outcome variable in individual differences studies (af Wåhlberg, 2009)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Cell phone use and traffic crash risk: a culpability analysis

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Mark Asbridge¹, Jeffrey R. Brubacher¹, Herbert Chan¹•Institutions (1)

University of British Columbia¹

01 Feb 2013-International Journal of Epidemiology

TL;DR: In this article, a standardized scoring tool was used to determine crash culpability from police reports on all drivers from the crashes, with additional subgroup analyses based on crash severity, driver characteristics and type of licence.

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Abstract: BACKGROUND: The use of a cell phone or communication device while driving is illegal in many jurisdictions, yet evidence evaluating the crash risk associated with cell phone use in naturalistic settings is limited. This article aims to determine whether cell phone use while driving increases motor vehicle crash culpability.Method Drivers involved in crashes where police reported cell phone use (n = 312) and propensity matched drivers (age, sex, suspect alcohol/drug impairment, crash type, date, time of day, geographical location) without cell phone use (n = 936) were drawn from Insurance Corporation of British Columbia Traffic Accident System data. A standardized scoring tool, modified to account for Canadian driving conditions, was used to determine crash culpability from police reports on all drivers from the crashes. The association between crash culpability and cell phone use was determined, with additional subgroup analyses based on crash severity, driver characteristics and type of licence. RESULTS: A comparison of crashes with vs without cell phones revealed an odds ratio of 1.70 (95% confidence interval 1.22-2.36; P = 0.002). This association was consistent after adjustment for matching variables and other covariates. Subgroup analyses demonstrated an association for male drivers, unimpaired drivers, injured and non-injured drivers, and for drivers aged between 26 and 65 years. CONCLUSIONS: Crash culpability was found to be significantly associated with cell phone use by drivers, increasing the odds of a culpable crash by 70% compared with drivers who did not use a cell phone. This increased risk was particularly high for middle-aged drivers. Keywords: Driver distraction; Language: en

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76 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Validation of the driver behaviour questionnaire using behavioural data from an instrumented vehicle and high-fidelity driving simulator.

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Shaun Helman¹, Nick Reed¹•Institutions (1)

Transport Research Laboratory¹

01 Feb 2015-Accident Analysis & Prevention

TL;DR: Findings are consistent with the idea that the DBQ is a valid measure of observed behaviour in real driving and also in simulated driving, and lend further support to the relative validity of driving simulation.

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75 citations

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Driver Behaviour and Accident Research Methodology: Unresolved Problems

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