Driving distractions: An insight gained from roadside interviews on their prevalence and factors associated with driver distraction

Abstract

The present research investigated the proportion of drivers that engage in a wide range of observable and unobservable driving distractions, along with a number of variables associated with driver distraction. A total of 426 semi-structured interviews were performed, with the results weighed according to the proportion of driver licences among city residents of each gender and age group (18-24, 25-44, 45-64, and 65+). Drivers were most inclined to think about phone-related activities when asked about driving distractions, although the vast majority also recognised that a wide variety of other activities can be regarded as distractions.Drivers were aware of the ban on handheld mobile phone activities, but their knowledge of the law was less accurate in relation to other illegal activities, such as manipulating a SatNav while driving. Almost 90% of participants reported engaging in distractions while driving, such as: looking at something outside the vehicle, thinking about things unrelated to the driving task and manipulating the audio entertainment system. The figures for text messaging, having a handheld or hands-free conversation were also relatively high (43.7%, 32.2%, and 25.4%, respectively). Texting while driving was perceived to be the most dangerous secondary activity, followed by having a handheld conversation, with significant differences between distractions. Further, hands-free conversations were perceived to be significantly less risky than handheld conversations. Perceived descriptive norms consistently predicted

Road lighting and distraction whilst driving: Establishing the significant types of distraction

“…Conversing with a passenger was considered to be the least distracting task, followed by eating/drinking and tuning the radio: Using a hand-held mobile phone and texting where seen to be the most distracting. This is supported by roadside interviews [Prat et al 2017]: conversing with passengers was deemed distracting by fewer participants (83%) than using a hand-held phone and manipulating the GPS (100%). Figure 1 shows the contrast between drivers' perception of risk (the results from Burns et al [Burns et al 2002] and Prat et al [Prat et al 2017]) and those distractions associated with reported RTCs (Table 1).…”

“…This is supported by roadside interviews [Prat et al 2017]: conversing with passengers was deemed distracting by fewer participants (83%) than using a hand-held phone and manipulating the GPS (100%). Figure 1 shows the contrast between drivers' perception of risk (the results from Burns et al [Burns et al 2002] and Prat et al [Prat et al 2017]) and those distractions associated with reported RTCs (Table 1). For Figure 1 the data were converted to z-scores to aid comparison across different types of dependent variable.…”

“…For Figure 1 the data were converted to z-scores to aid comparison across different types of dependent variable. For perceived risk data [Burns et al 2002, Prat et al 2017, perceived risk was evaluated using category rating, and the zscores shown in Figure 1 were determined using only these four distraction categories. For the frequency of association with an RTC, z-scores were determined for the individual studies of Table 1 for the same four distraction categories as perceived risk, and then averaged across those six studies.…”

Mobile Phone Use in a Car-Following Situation: Impact on Time Headway and Effectiveness of Driver’s Rear-End Risk Compensation Behavior via a Driving Simulator Study

“…In the United States (n = 3265), a study based on roadside observations found that 48% of all distracted drivers engaged in using mobile phones while driving [5]. In European countries such as Spain, it has been reported that the proportion of drivers for text messaging, having a handheld or hands-free conversation is 43.7%, 32.2%, and 25.4%, respectively [6]. A cross-sectional study in Australia indicated that nearly 50% of drivers (n = 484) engaged in mobile phone conversations or texting/browsing during driving on a typical day [7].…”

An analysis of the crash risk and likelihood of engaging in a distraction while driving using naturalistic, time-series data

“…Research investigated the proportion of drivers that engage in cell phone-related distractions (Prat et al, 2016). In total, 426 interviews among licensed drivers were performed.…”