Driving Culture and Driver Behavior: PopulationBased Approaches to Traffic Crash Prevention

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Driving Culture and Driver Behavior
Population-Based Approaches to Traffic Crash
Prevention

• Bill Turnbull, MSPH, CSP
• Safety Program Manager
• Navy Region Europe
• March 2007

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1900-1999 Motor-Vehicle Safety A 20th Century
Public Health Achievement?
(CDC, 1999)
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A significant decrease in fatalities per million
miles driven does not necessarily mean we have
solved the problem.
Adapted from Advocates for Highway and Auto
Safety, (2004)

• Are 30,000 to 50,000 fatalities per year the
  negotiated price for the mobility provided by the
  automobile? (Gusfield, 1990).

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Since the 1960s, the U.S. has used three
approaches to the traffic crash fatality problem

• Vehicle engineering
• Crash protection
• Restraint Systems
• Anti-lock brakes
• Roadway engineering
• Crash barriers
• Surfacing
• Curves
• Behavior change
• Media campaigns (drive safely)
• Occupant restraint use
• Laws and enforcement

(Evans, 1991)
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Where is the primary prevention?

• Some roadway engineering and some vehicle
  engineering can be categorized as primary
  prevention, but most is secondary, only reducing
  the severity of crash consequences.
• Most behavior change efforts have focused on
  using seatbelts - more secondary prevention.
• Primary prevention has largely been limited to
  reducing unsafe driving behavior through traffic
  law enforcement.
• Some of the public health achievement(CDC,
  1999) has been the result of improvements in
  medical care and emergency response - tertiary
  prevention.

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Dont drivers know that driving is a dangerous
activity? Dont they read the papers or watch the
news?

• Most people think they are better than average
  drivers and are skilled in avoiding/reacting to
  crashes (Williams, 2003 Williams, et al.,1995).
  Most people do, in fact, have good driving
  records. The reality is that a crash is a
  statistically rare event, and years of crash-free
  driving reinforces driver feelings that bad
  things rarely happen to them, even when they take
  risks, such as speeding or running stop signs.
• By increasing their risk-taking behavior, they
  are ensuring that if involved in a crash, the
  results are more likely to be fatal (Evans,
  1991). M

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So, how can we influence driver behavior?

• Improve training for new drivers?
• Currently, this is a major focus area - certified
  instruction, graduated licenses, etc. (Rothe,
  1994).
• Send more people to remedial driver training?
• Most studies and experts agree that remedial
  training has very little benefit (Evans, 1991).
• Better law enforcement/stiffer penalties?
• Must be sustained for the long term to be
  successful. Very high cost.
• More media campaigns?
• Most people believe that safe driving messages
  are directed at the other guy. We all think we
  are safe drivers. (Williams, 2003 Williams et
  al., 1995).

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What about population-based programs?

• Other public health areas have seen improvement
  only when population efforts were applied.
• Smoking
• Drunk-driving
• The key seems to be changing the social norms and
  culture surrounding a particular behavior.
• Social norms and culture are likely changed
  through population-based interventions.

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Driving Culture?

• Drivers are influenced by the observed behaviors
  of other drivers, as well as the social norms and
  culture surrounding the driving event. (Gusfield,
  1990 Williams, 1994).
• We need to be able to operationalize driving
  culture and how it is varies in different
  populations.
• Some effort underway in youth driving culture
  (Redshaw, 2001).
• What about the other 200 million U.S. drivers?
• Little being done.
• Youth drivers assimilate into the current driving
  culture, despite improved new driver education.

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Applying theory to driving culture and social
norm change.

• Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)
• Driver attitudes and predicting driving behavior
• (Parker Stradling, 2001).
• Applied in one published population-based driving
  behavior intervention (Stead, et al., 2005).
• Decision Theory
• How does a drivers perception of the social norm
  affect driving decisions? (Zaidel, 1992).
• No published applications.
• Diffusion of Innovation Theory
• What is the critical number within a population
  that need to change before the social norm begins
  to change? (Zaidel, 1992).
• No published applications.
• Organizational Theory
• Can improving the safety climate of a work
  organizations driving culture affect the larger
  population?
• Nothing published.

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Not new, just difficult

• The importance of and difficulty in changing
  driver behavior to prevent traffic crashes has
  long been recognized
• The relationship between undesirable social
  phenomena and bad driving has not been much
  studied because bad driving has always been
  regarded as problem to be solved principally by
  improvements in the roads and cars, or by general
  propaganda and safety education in the schools
  (De Silva, 1942, p.90)
• Ideas for addressing social norms of driving at
  the population level are not new
• Safety campaigns should focus on the drivers
  peer group rather than the driver himself as the
  target of change, possibly by developing
  collaborative action research programmes between
  recreational and work groups and sponsoring
  groups
• (Clark, 1976, p. 326)

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What Is Needed?

• Re-engineering motor vehicles, re-engineering
  roads, and even establishing and enforcing
  traffic laws are much easier than changing
  population-level factors such as social norms and
  culture, but it is these factors that will enable
  further continued reduction in the cost, in terms
  of lives, that we pay for the convenience and
  mobility provided by the automobile.
• Additional investigation is needed into applying
  various theories of culture and social norms to
  the prevention of traffic crashes, and traffic
  safety interventions need to be designed to test
  the application of these theories.

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A Campaign to Reduce Speeding

• Crash analysis reveals excessive speed as a
  frequent contributor to crashes (Hendricks, Fell,
  Freedman, 2001)
• Surveys reveal that drivers rate fear of an
  accident as a strong motivator to drive safely
  (Williams, 2003 Williams, Paek, Lund, 1995)

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A Campaign to Reduce Speeding

• Things to Consider
• Driving is a symbol of American freedom,
  independence, mobility (Evans, 1991) .
• Driving is a social activity
• The Speed Ethos (Roth, 1994).
• Fatal crashes are a statistically rare event

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A Campaign to Reduce Speeding

• A possible conclusion
• Social norms about driving and speed may have
  more influence than knowledge of the dangers and
  risks speeding entails.

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A Campaign to Reduce Speeding

• What do drivers think about speeding? (i.e., the
  social norm)
• Bad drivers and inattention, not violations of
  traffic laws, are the cause of most crashes.
  (Williams, 2003).
• Bad drivers are the other guys
• They can take chances or exceed posted limits
  without increasing risk for themselves or others.
• They are unlikely to be caught violating speed
  limits.
• Speeding Reckless

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A Campaign to Reduce Speeding

• It is no surprise that most anti-speeding
  messages are ignored.
• We need to convince drivers they are vulnerable
• We need to change the social norms regarding
  speeding.
• More effective enforcement would work, but
• Manpower intensive
• Must be long-term

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A Campaign to Reduce Speeding

• A successful campaign will
• Convince drivers of the dangers of speeding.
• Long before it becomes reckless
• Demonstrate the benefits.
• Show that reducing speed is easy.
• Show that other people agree.
• Messages delivered by peers, family members,
  kids.

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A Campaign to Reduce Speeding

• Take Five and Arrive Alive
• Convince target audience that reducing speed by 5
  kph can greatly improve traffic safety
• Strategy Mass media campaign
• Encourage drivers to reduce their driving speed
  by 5 kph, both on and off base, and allow an
  extra five minutes to reach their destination.
• Strategy TV, Radio spots How fast are you
  driving right now?

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A Campaign to Reduce Speeding
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Summary

• Changes in driving behavior are needed to further
  reduce mishap rates.
• Driving behavior is governed by social norms.
• Campaigns to change driving behavior must
• Be relevant to the audience
• Show that change is easy
• Show that change is accepted by peers

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Questions?

• Bill Turnbull
• Navy Region Europe
• Naples, Italy
• William.turnbull_at_eu.navy.mil
• DSN 626-2789
• Comm 39 081 568 2789

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References
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References (2)