Aberrant driving behaviour: errors and violations

Abstract

The present study was a replication of the research of Reason et al. (1990). Its aim was to confirm the distinction between driving errors and violations in a Western Australian driving population. Sixty-one male drivers and 74 female drivers completed a questionnaire containing items on driver demographics, driving penalties incurred, driving convictions and accident history and driver behavioral aberrations drawn from the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ). In agreement with Reason et al. factor analysis revealed three factors; in the present study these were general errors, dangerous errors, and dangerous violations. Young drivers committed more dangerous errors and dangerous violations than older drivers. Females reported more dangerous errors than males. Males reported more dangerous violations than females. Drivers who reported a high level of road exposure and those who reported having been convicted for speeding reported more dangerous violations. Differences in the results of the two studies can largely by accounted for by differences in the representation of age and gender in the two populations studied.

Age, gender, mileage and the DBQ: The validity of the Driver Behavior Questionnaire in different driver groups

“…However, Reason et al's study (1990) did not find such a structure, but found a three-factor structure instead. Other previous studies have also found different factor structures of the DBQ (Blockey & Hartley, 1995;Lawton et al, 1997;Reason et al, 1990;Åberg & Rimmö, 1998). This is not surprising as the driving style is formed by personal factors such as age, gender and cognitive biases, as well as by the social context (Reason 1990;Reason et al, 1990).…”

“…Similar results have been obtained in Australia by Lawton et al (1997) and Davey et al (2007) who found support for errors, highway-code violations and interpersonal aggressive violations. However, also within Australian drivers Blockey and Hartley (1995) found a different factor structure consisting of general errors, dangerous errors and dangerous violations in their DBQ study.…”

“…The DBQ has over the years been applied in numerous countries for example; Qatar and United Arab Emirates (Bener et al, 2008), USA (Owsley et al, 2003), China (Xie and Parker, 2002), Australia (Blockey and Hartley, 1995;Davey et al, 2007;Dobson et al, 1999;Lawton et al, 1997), Sweden (Rimmö and Hakamies-Blomqvist, 2002;Åberg and Rimmö, 1998;Åberg and Warner, 2008), Greece (Kontogiannis et al, 2002), The Netherlands (Lajunen et al, 1999), Spain (Gras et al, 2006), France (Obriot-Claudel and Gabaude, 2004), New Zealand (Sullman et al, 2000), Turkey (Özkan and Lajunen, 2005;Sümer, 2003), and UK (Parker et al, 1995;Reason et al, 1990). However, the factorial structures of the DBQ as well as the number of items vary between different driving cultures and nations.…”

“…The most common besides the original three-factor structure seems to be the four-factor solution (Mesken et al, 2002;Lajunen et al, 2004;Rimmö, 2002, Xie andParker, 2002). Despite cross-cultural differences, the important distinction between unintended errors and intended violations has been found in most studies (Warner et al, 20101;Kontogiannis et al, 2002;Blockey and Hartley, 1995;Lajunen et al, 2004;Parker et al, 1998;Rimmö and Hakamies-Blomqvist, 2002;Rimmö and Åberg, 1999;Sullman, Meadows, and Pajo, 2002;Özkan et al, 2006a;Warner, 2006). The distinction between errors and violations also seems to be stable over time (Özkan et al, 2006b).…”

Analysis of Traffic Accidents Leading to Death Using Tripod Beta Method in Yazd, Iran

“…Definitely, the number of handicapped and casualties of traffic accidents is 10 to 15 times greater than the number of the related mortalities with its irreparable consequences such as getting helpless without any support, the mental and psychological problems, the extremely back-breaking therapeutic expenses, and also the penal and judicial issues. Many dangerous road accidents happen yearly in Iran pushing many people towards death and subsequently, leaving many families helpless without any support [15]. More than 90% of mortalities occur in low-income and moderate-income countries in Africa and Middle East.…”