Risky Driving or Risky Drivers?

Abstract

Illegal street racing has received increased attention in recent years from road safety professionals and the media as jurisdictions in Australia, Canada, and the United States have implemented laws to address the problem, which primarily involves young male drivers. Although some evidence suggests that the prevalence of illegal street racing is increasing, obtaining accurate estimates of the crash risk of this behavior is difficult because of limitations in official data sources. Although crash risk can be explored by examining the proportion of incidents of street racing that result in crashes, or the proportion of all crashes that involve street racing, this paper reports on the findings of a study that explored the riskiness of involved drivers. The driving histories of 183 male drivers with an illegal street racing conviction in Queensland, Australia, were compared with a random sample of 183 male Queensland drivers with the same age distribution. The offender group was found to have significantly more traffic infringements, license sanctions, and crashes than the comparison group. Drivers in the offender group were more likely than the comparison group to have committed infringements related to street racing, such as speeding, “hooning,” and offenses related to vehicle defects or illegal modifications. Insufficient statistical capacity prevented full exploration of group differences in the type and nature of earlier crashes. It was concluded, however, that street racing offenders generally can be considered risky drivers who warrant attention and whose risky behavior cannot be explained by their youth alone.

Do young insured drivers slow down after suffering an accident?

“…For young drivers, gender, car ownership, reward sensitivity, depression, and personal attitudes have been identified as being significant predictors (Scott-Parker, Hyde, Watson, & King, 2013). In an extensive literature review undertaken by Leal, Watson, & Armstrong (2010), the authors examine the increased risk young drivers are at of being involved in a crash and they report the specific risk-taking behavior displayed by this group of drivers (namely, driving for recreational purposes and illegal street racing).…”

“…Elliott and Thomson (2010), working within the framework of the theory of planned behavior, indicate that the offending driver's speeding behavior is explained not only by past events but also by such factors as attitude (instrumental/cognitive and affective/emotional), perceived social pressure (social norms), and perceived behavioral control (self-efficacy or control over internal factors, that is, the ability or otherwise to keep the vehicle speed within the legal limit, and the perceived controllability, or control over external factors, that is, other traffic driving in excess of the speed limit). Behavior can also be influenced by the riskiness of the drivers involved and their propensity to commit traffic infringements such as speeding (Leal, Watson, & Armstrong 2010). Moreover, in line with the tenets of the health belief model, when a driver perceives that their behavior may cause severe damage to the health of others (perceived severity and perceived benefits), they can be motivated to change their behavior (Tavafian, Aghamolaei, Gregory, & Madani, 2011).…”

“…'Crash-involved' drivers also showed a greater tendency towards a non-compliance with the posted speed limit, as reported previously by Evans & Wasielewski (1982), who observed that 'accident-involved' drivers and drivers cited for violations exhibit higher levels of risk in everyday driving than 'accident-free' and 'citation-free' drivers. The factors that could help explain this contradiction are widely analyzed in Elliott & Thomson (2010) and Leal, Watson, & Armstrong (2010).…”