"Drive your security": a project of awareness concerning driving security and of monitoring risk perception in young drivers

Journal title RICERCHE DI PSICOLOGIA
Author/s Tiziano Agostini, Mauro Murgia, Claudio Tonzar
Publishing Year 2013 Issue 2012/1
Language Italian Pages 19 P. 84-101 File size 674 KB
DOI 10.3280/RIP2012-001005
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

Lacking abilities in recognizing dangers (and consequent errors in the evaluation of potential risks) and overestimation of one’s own abilities in coping with dangers are two of the main issues associated with security in driving. For this reason we developed an educational intervention aimed at: 1) increasing the awareness of youths about the dangerousness of certain situations in driving; 2) making the evaluation of potential risks of their behaviors more realistic; 3) showing them the limits of human cognition. The aim was modifying the attitudes of a sample of driving school students, by increasing their awareness about the above mentioned topics. 739 people were involved in this project: their average age was 20.74 years (S.D. 6.74). The 52% were males and the 48% females, the 85% were Italians. Before the educational intervention, participants were asked to fill a questionnaire which included socio-demographic information, experiences and life styles information, a personality test about the sensation seeking, and an attitude scale. This last scale was composed by two subscales regarding the danger in driving and the one’s own cognitive abilities associated with driving (stimuli perception, reaction times, etc.). The attitude scale was administered again after the educational intervention, in order to compare the values obtained before and after the intervention and, consequently, evaluate its efficacy. Results showed a statistically significant change in participants’ attitude. In particular, the perception of danger associated with some "at-risk" behaviors increased after the intervention. At the same time, the perception of cognitive efficiency and efficacy decreased, and participant achieved a major awareness of their own motor-perceptual limits related to driving skills.

Keywords: Traffic psychology, risk perception, perception and action, driving.

  1. Aron, E.N., & Aron, A. (1997). Sensory-Processing Sensitivity and Its Relation to Introversion and Emotionality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 345-368. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.73.2.345
  2. Bellantone, R. (2012). Pericoli in strada: prevenirli si può. Mobility, 1, 44-45.
  3. Deery, H.A. (1999). Hazard and risk perception among young novice drivers. Journal of Safety Research, 30, 225-236. DOI: 10.1016/50022-4375(99)0018-3
  4. Dorfer, M. (2003). La psicologia del traffico: una breve descrizione. In L. Carli e C. Tonzar (a cura di) Psicologia e nuove professionalità (pp. 223-226). Napoli: Liguori
  5. Dorfer, M. (2005) Psicologia del traffico e ASL: l’esperienza di Bolzano. In P. Sardi e L. Lisa (a cura di) Lo psicologo del traffico in Italia e in Europa (pp. 133-142). Roma: Carocci
  6. Engström, I., Gregersen, N.P., Hernetkoski, K., Keskinen, E., & Nyberg, A. (2003). Young novice drivers, driver education and training. Linköping: Swedian National Road and Transport Research Institute
  7. European Commission (2007). SUPREME. Summary and publication of best Practices in Road safety in the Eu Member States, http://ec.europa.eu/transport/ supreme/index_en.htm
  8. Finn, P., & Bragg, B.W.E. (1986). Perception of risk of a crash by young and older drivers. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 18, 289-298. DOI: 10.1016/001-4575(86)90043-6
  9. Hatakka, M., Keskinen E., Glad, A., & Hernetkoski, K., (2002). From control of the vehicle to personal self-control; broadening the perspectives to driver education. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 5, 201-215. DOI: 10.1016/s136-8478(02)0018-9
  10. ISTAT, (2011). La situazione del paese nel 2010. Roma: Istituto Nazionale di Statistica.
  11. Laapotti, S., Keskinen, E., Hatakka, M., Hernetkoski, K., Katila, A., Peräaho, M., & Salo, I. (2006). Driving Circumstances and Accidents Among Novice Drivers. Traffic Injury Prevention, 7, 232-237. DOI: 10.1080/153895080600668537
  12. Machin, M.A., & Sankey, K.S. (2008) Relationships between young drivers’ personality characteristics, risk perceptions, and driving behavior. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 40, 541-547. DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2007.08.010
  13. Rothman, A.J., Bartels, R.D., Wlaschin J., & Salovey, P. (2006). The Strategic Use of Gain- and Loss-Framed Messages to Promote Healthy Behavior: How Theory Can Inform Practice. Journal of Communication, 56, 202-220. DOI: 10.1111/j1460-2466.2066.00290
  14. Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1981). The framing of decision and the psycholology of choice. Science, 211, 453-458.
  15. Twisk, M.A., & Stacey, C. (2007). Trends in young driver risk and countermeasures in European countries. Journal of Safety Research, 38, 245–257. DOI: 10.1016/j.ssr.2007.03.006
  16. Vassallo, S., Smart, D., Sanson, A., Harrison, W., Harris, A., Cockfield, S., & McIntyre, A. (2007). Risky driving among young Australian drivers: trends, precursors and correlates. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 39, 444-458. DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2006.04.001
  17. Zuckerman, M. (1979). Sensation seeking: beyond the optimal level of arousal. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Tiziano Agostini, Mauro Murgia, Claudio Tonzar, "Guida la tua sicurezza": un progetto di sensibilizzazione alla sicurezza stradale e di monitoraggio della percezione del rischio nei giovani conducenti in "RICERCHE DI PSICOLOGIA " 1/2012, pp 84-101, DOI: 10.3280/RIP2012-001005