Psychology of Driving Lecture 5 2024 PDF

21/08/2024 PSYU3399 – Psychology of Driving DR JULIA IRWIN Honorary Associate School of Psychological Sciences And all these areas of psychology are needed fo...

21/08/2024 PSYU3399 – Psychology of Driving DR JULIA IRWIN Honorary Associate School of Psychological Sciences And all these areas of psychology are needed for understanding driving behaviour as well! 1 Lecture Overview Psychology of driving → Traffic Psychology Why should psychologists study driving? The road safety problem Safe Systems Factors contributing to road crashes Role of human factors contributing to road crashes This material is provided to you as a Macquarie University student for your individual research and study purposes only. You cannot share this material publicly online without permission. Macquarie University is the copyright owner of (or has licence to use) the 2 intellectual property in this material. Legal and/or disciplinary actions may be taken if this material is shared without the University’s written permission. 1  21/08/2024 Why did I become interested in the the psychology of driver behaviour? My research background has been in associative learning - or how rewards and punishments determine the choices we make. One behaviour that interested me was why do people take risks? High payoff? Punishment? We are generally But safe option optimists so often becomes more choose the risky attractive as we age option! 3 Anti gambling ads – same problem – need a reality check on attractiveness of risk “You win some. You lose more” Road safety psychologists want to try and increase the perception that risks don’t pay-off! “Every police car is a mobile RBT” This material is provided to you as a Macquarie University student for your individual research and study purposes only. You cannot share this material publicly online without permission. Macquarie University is the copyright owner of (or has licence to use) the 4 intellectual property in this material. Legal and/or disciplinary actions may be taken if this material is shared without the University’s written permission. 2  21/08/2024 Decisions, decisions when driving Harder decisions are with gap selection 5 Psychologists have been studying/writing about it since 1938! Gibson & Crooks were lamenting that psychologists to date (1938) had only been This material is provided devisingto you as a driving tests, rather Macquarie University student than for your individual research understanding and study purposes only. You cannot share‘skills’ the this material themselves publicly online without permission. Macquarie University is the copyright owner of (or has licence to use) the 6 intellectual property in this material. Legal and/or disciplinary actions may be taken if this material is shared without the University’s written permission. 3  21/08/2024 And defined the field in 1997 26 years later we are now tackling these environmental issues 7 Where does traffic psychology ‘fit’ within the various fields/areas of psychology? Psychology of Driving, is a topic in applied cognition or human factors – it is the interplay between pure and applied psychology. Since Rothengatter’s definition it now goes under the title of Traffic Psychology. While Traffic psychology is primarily related to “the study of the behaviour of road users and the psychological processes underlying that behaviour” (Rothengatter, This material is provided to you 1997, 223) as aabout the relationship between behaviour and accidents. it is also Macquarie UniversitySo student forwill this lecture yourcover a lot of statistics concerning accidents! individual research and study purposes only. You cannot share this material publicly online without permission. Macquarie University is the copyright owner of (or has licence to use) the 8 intellectual property in this material. Legal and/or disciplinary actions may be taken if this material is shared without the University’s written permission. 4  21/08/2024 Traffic Psychology Traffic psychology aims to apply theoretical aspects of psychology in order to improve traffic mobility by helping to develop and apply accident countermeasures. Those theoretical aspects include: Cognition – Attention – Memory – Visual Search…. Decision making Learning Perception Human Factors – organisational psychology Personality Social Psychology Developmental psychology Motivation Biopsychology - pharmacology Health psychology Forensic psychology – legal aspects of driving, traffic law, enforcement of traffic laws etc. 9 So traffic psychology is working towards Gibson and Crook’s (1938) systematic set of concepts …… This material is provided to you as a Macquarie University student for your individual research and study purposes only. You cannot share this material publicly online without permission. Macquarie University is the copyright owner of (or has licence to use) the 10 intellectual property in this material. Legal and/or disciplinary actions may be taken if this material is shared without the University’s written permission. 5  21/08/2024 Conceptual framework of safe driving behaviour illustrating the multi- faceted nature of traffic psychology! Framework – a means of illustrating the connectivity amongst factors their interconnectedness From: Strecher, V.J. et al. (2007) Road Safety Research Report No. 70 Review of Judgement and Decision-making Literature Pertinent to the Development of Traffic Offender Training/ Improvement Programmes (S301Q) Technical Report Department for Transport: London Page 18 11 So the challenge for road safety psychologists… Is to understand why a crash occurred Could it have been prevented? If so How? Could we change to road to make it safer or more forgiving of the kinetic energy in the moving vehicle(s) to This material is provided Could wea enforce the road rules more effectively? you as Macquarie University student Could forwe challenge the optimistic view that drivers your individual research and study holdpurposes about their driving skills? only. You cannot share this material publicly online without permission. Macquarie University is the copyright owner of (or has licence to use) the 12 intellectual property in this material. Legal and/or disciplinary actions may be taken if this material is shared without the University’s written permission. 6  21/08/2024 So the challenge for road safety psychologists… Is to try and increase the perception that risks don’t pay-off! Every police car is a mobile RBT! Challenging when most of our experiences tend to dispute that! (especially if we have judiciously chosen when and where to take the risk of getting caught!) And the challenge for traffic engineers is to design roads to accommodate risky behaviour – but I’ll come to that later. 13 So how much of a problem is driver behaviour in Australia and NSW in particular? This material is provided to you as a Macquarie University student for your individual research and study purposes only. You cannot share this material publicly online without permission. Macquarie University is the copyright owner of (or has licence to use) the 14 intellectual property in this material. Legal and/or disciplinary actions may be taken if this material is shared without the University’s written permission. 7  21/08/2024 Australian Automobile Association Press Release 23rd July 2024 Road toll surges by 11.7%. For NSW it is 23% https://www.aaa.asn.au/newsroom/road-toll-surges-by-11-7/ 15 Putting some numbers to the problem for NSW up to 18th August 2024 (i.e. negative outcome of risky behaviours) NB increase in fatalities This material is provided to you as a Macquarie University student for your individual research and study purposes only. You cannot share this material publicly online without permission. # of road users who have died or sustained life-long serious injuries in NSW. Macquarie University is the copyright https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/roadsafety/statistics owner of (or has licence to use) the 16 intellectual property in this material. Legal and/or disciplinary actions may be taken if this material is shared without the University’s written permission. 8  21/08/2024 It’s mostly drivers and their passengers Vulnerable road users 17 And mostly male road users Fatality trends by Gender This material is provided to you as a Macquarie University student for your individual research and study purposes only. You cannot share this material publicly online without permission. Female fatality rate isn’t changing Macquarie University is the copyright owner of (or has licence to use) the 18 intellectual property in this material. Legal and/or disciplinary actions may be taken if this material is shared without the University’s written permission. 9  21/08/2024 These NSW figures incorporate all classes of road users for 12 months ending 18 August 2024 Fatal crashes 2024 Fatalities Drivers 181 Increase in fatalities Motorcyclists 62 for all road users Pedestrians 47 Passengers 61 Pedal cyclists 4 Total killed 355 (266 in 2023) 19 Who are the road users dying in Australia? ≥ 65 Men This material is provided to you as a Macquarie University student for your individual researchSameand% study purposes in 2023! only. You cannot share this material publicly online without permission. Macquarie University is the copyright owner of (or has licence to use) the 20 intellectual property in this material. Legal and/or disciplinary actions may be taken if this material is shared without the University’s written permission. 10  21/08/2024 Deaths in regional and remote Australia – big problem https://bitre.gov.au/publications/ongoing/files/Road_Safety_Australia_1117%20INFOGRAPHIC%202%20March%202018.pdf 21 Deaths in regional and remote Australia – big problem Road quality Unpaved shoulders? Wildlife This material is provided to you as a Speed Macquarie University student for your Fatigue individual research and study purposes only. You cannot share this material publicly online without permission. Macquarie University is the copyright owner of (or has licence to use) the 22 intellectual property in this material. Legal and/or disciplinary actions may be taken if this material is shared without the University’s written permission. 11  21/08/2024 Deaths in regional and remote Australia – Speed & run-offs 23 Reversing the positive trend started in 1970 when wearing seat belts became mandatory Fatality rates for 12-month period ending July 2024 This material is provided to you as a Macquarie University student for your individual research and study purposes only. You cannot share this material publicly online without permission. Macquarie University is the copyright owner of (or has licence to use) the 24 intellectual property in this material. Legal and/or disciplinary actions may be taken if this material is shared without the University’s written permission. 12  21/08/2024 Road toll reached peak in the 1970s then seatbelts became mandatory! 25 NSW Department of Transport – has a Road Safety Action Plan - that isn’t going to plan! This material is provided to you as a Macquarie University student for your individual research and study purposes only. You cannot share this material Cut deaths and serious injuries publicly online without permission. by 30% by 2026! Macquarie University is the copyright owner of (or has licence to use) the 26 intellectual property in this material. Legal and/or disciplinary actions may be taken if this material is shared without the University’s written permission. 13  21/08/2024 Why the reversal in the upward trend, why the increase? One reason could be the change in the Type of vehicles being bought and their size SUVs and utes now account for 78.4 %of total sales in 2023 Passenger vehicles: sedans and hatchbacks, comprised just 17.4% of cars sold 27 Top selling vehicles in Australia (The Guardian 04/01/2024). Utes and SUVs! 1.Ford Ranger — Ute - 63.4k 2.Toyota Hilux — Ute - 61.k 3.Isuzu D-Max — Ute - 31.2k 4.Toyota RAV4 — SUV – 29.6k 5.MGZS — SUV - 29.3k 6.Tesla Model Y electric crossover — SUV - 28.8k This material is provided to you 7.Toyota as a — SUV 26.4k Landcruiser Macquarie University8.Mitsubishi student forOutlander your crossover — SUV - 24.3k individual research and studyCX-5 9.Mazda purposes — SUV - 23.1k only. You cannot share this material 10.Hyundai Tucson — SUV - 21.2k publicly online without permission. Macquarie University is the copyright owner of (or has licence to use) the 28 intellectual property in this material. Legal and/or disciplinary actions may be taken if this material is shared without the University’s written permission. 14  21/08/2024 Utes and SUVs design features are problematic for ‘vulnerable road users’ There is an increase in aggressivity in their design What does aggressivity mean? Aggressivity is a measure of the serious injury risk vehicles pose to other road users (i.e. other drivers, pedestrians, cyclists …. with which they collide). On the other hand: Crashworthiness ratings measure the relative safety of vehicles in preventing severe injury to their own drivers in crashes. The larger vehicle is both more protective it is of its own occupants but more aggressive toward occupants of the other vehicle. 29 The increase in aggressivity. The high fronts on SUVs and large utes could cause blind spots of up to four metres in front of the driver, making them particularly dangerous for children. The higher point of impact means that pedestrians were more likely to suffer head or neck injuries rather than leg injuries, and were also more likely to be knocked down and run over rather than flip onto the bonnet. This material is provided to you as a Macquarie University student for your individual research and study purposes Australasian College of Road Safety chief executive Ingrid Johnston only. You cannot share this material publicly online without permission. Macquarie University is the copyright owner of (or has licence to use) the 30 intellectual property in this material. Legal and/or disciplinary actions may be taken if this material is shared without the University’s written permission. 15  21/08/2024 Problem is Lack of visibility for SUV drivers The height of the SUV means that a small child standing in front of or behind an SUV can not be seen This increases the probability of death by 81%. Which is 4X higher than for an adult 31 Vulnerabilty to small and elderly road users Children are eight times more likely to die when struck by a SUV compared to children struck by a passenger car. Passenger cars are underrepresented in fatal pedestrian and pedal-cyclist fatalities. SUVs struck 14.7% of the pedestrians and pedal-cyclists studied, but were involved in 25.4% of the fatalities. This material is provided to you as a Macquarie University student for your individual research and M. & Leonard, D., (2022). Effects of large vehicles on study purposes (Edwards, pedestrian and pedalcyclist injury severity, Journal of Safety Research, only. You cannot share82,this material 275-282, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2022.06.005.) publicly online without permission. Macquarie University is the copyright owner of (or has licence to use) the 32 intellectual property in this material. Legal and/or disciplinary actions may be taken if this material is shared without the University’s written permission. 16  21/08/2024 Pedestrians even less visible to drivers of large vehicles while turning 33 Why is everyone buying truckzillas that are too big for our streets? “It feels This material is provided likeas to you it’sa an arms race – people buy bigger vehicles because it makes them feel safe, but it makes it unsafe for others” Macquarie University student for your individual research and study purposes Ben Rossiter Director of Victoria Walks – advocate for pedestrian safety only. You cannot share this material publicly online without permission. Macquarie University is the copyright owner of (or has licence to use) the 34 intellectual property in this material. Legal and/or disciplinary actions may be taken if this material is shared without the University’s written permission. 17  21/08/2024 So why are people buying these vehicles that consume more petrol and exhale more emissions, damage roads and pose safety threats?? Apart from feeling safer – TAX benefits! They are exempt from Luxury Car Tax (LCT), which applies to essentially all utes. This loophole subsidises these large utes at a cost of $250 million to tax- payers in 2023, while other imported cars valued above $81,000 continue to be subject to the tax. For example: a luxury hybrid sedan worth $133,000 and a ute priced at $138,000 (before on-road costs) After-tax …….. Hybrid ended up costing $11,000 more than the ute, which was exempt!!! Thrower, J., 2024. Luxury Car Tax and the ute loophole - Expensive utes are exempt from Luxury Car Tax,, The Australia Institute. Australia. Retrieved from https://policycommons.net/artifacts/13537217/luxury-car-tax-and-the-ute- loophole/14434994/ on 03 Aug 2024. 35 Aggressivity of popular vehicles This material is provided to you as a Macquarie University student for your individual research and study purposes only. You cannot share this material publicly online without permission. The 2 cars have lowest Macquarie University is the copyright agg scores owner of (or has licence to use) the 36 intellectual property in this material. Legal and/or disciplinary actions may be taken if this material is shared without the University’s written permission. 18  21/08/2024 Back to the road toll - why focus on fatalities? They tell us who are making mistakes, where & when they are making them. Traffic Psychology is about the relationship between behaviour and accidents. Fatalities are the most reliable and detailed source of stats. Because these accidents will incur consequences due to insurance, litigation, etc. The statistics → modelling → allow an understanding of the forces underlying the fatality and injury rates and also allow forecasts of future trends in road safety – or its opposite, death and injury. Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE), (2014). Road Safety – Modelling a Global Phenomenon, Report 141, Canberra ACT. 37 The fatality data allows us to see: Who are most at risk of dying on the roads? What was the immediate cause of the crash? i.e. what behaviour led to the crash? Where do crashes tend to occur? What can we do about it? This material is provided to you as a Macquarie University student for your individual research and study purposes only. You cannot share this material publicly online without permission. Macquarie University is the copyright owner of (or has licence to use) the 38 intellectual property in this material. Legal and/or disciplinary actions may be taken if this material is shared without the University’s written permission. 19  21/08/2024 Age/Inexperience as a Risk Factor: Young drivers Young drivers are particularly at risk during the provisional licence stages and there is an aged-based effect separate to experience. Number of drivers involved in recorded crashes Number of months since licensing 39 Why are young drivers so vulnerable? Lack of experience → poor decision making: 1. Headway time/distance between vehicles too short (