Driving Habits Research Articles

Hazard Perception in Visually Impaired Drivers Who Use Bioptic Telescopes.

Bioptic telescopic spectacles can allow individuals with central vision impairment to obtain or maintain driving privileges. The purpose of this study was to (1) compare hazard perception ability among bioptic drivers and traditionally licensed controls, (2) assess the impact of bioptic telescopic spectacles on hazard perception in drivers with vision impairment, and (3) analyze the relationships among vision and hazard detection in bioptic drivers. Visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and visual field were measured for each participant. All drivers completed the Driving Habits Questionnaire. Hazard perception testing was conducted using commercially available first-person video driving clips. Subjects signaled when they could first identify a traffic hazard requiring a change of speed or direction. Bioptic drivers were tested with and without their bioptic telescopes in alternating blocks. Hazard detection times for each clip were converted to z-scores, converted back to seconds using the average response time across all videos, and then compared among conditions. Twenty-one bioptic drivers and 21 normally sighted controls participated in the study. The hazard response time of bioptic drivers was improved when able to use the telescope (5.4 ± 1.4 seconds vs 6.3 ± 1.8 seconds without telescope); however, it remained significantly longer than for controls (4.0 ± 1.4 seconds). Poorer visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and superior visual field sensitivity loss were related to longer hazard response times. Drivers with central vision loss had improved hazard response times with the use of bioptic telescopic spectacles, although their responses were still slower than normally sighted control drivers. The use of a bioptic telescope by licensed, visually impaired drivers improves their hazard detection speed on a video-based task, lending support to their use on the road.

The family climate for road safety scale in young Chinese drivers: An analysis of reliability and validity

Since the original version of the Family Climate for Road Safety Scale (FCRSS) was released in 2013, many studies have used this scale to measure young drivers' perception of family value for safe driving in countries around the world. The goals of this paper were to adapt the FCRSS to Chinese culture and language, examine its relationships to sociodemographic characteristics and self-reported traffic accidents, and compare young Chinese drivers' perceptions of Family Climate for Road Safety (FCRS) to those reported by young drivers from other countries. A sample of 864 young Chinese drivers participated in this study and completed a four-part questionnaire: FCRSS, Reckless Driving Habits Scale (RDHS), DULA Dangerous Driving Index (DDDI), and sociodemographic characteristics and traffic accidents. A total of four valuable conclusions were drawn by analyzing these data. Firstly, a 7-factor 54-item Chinese version of the FCRSS had acceptable reliability and validity. Secondly, significant gender, age, educational level, and driving experience differences in the perception of the FCRS were found. The drivers who scored higher on the perception of the FCRS were female, younger, better-educated, and less experienced in driving. Thirdly, young drivers who were prone to traffic accidents showed lower levels of perception of the FCRS. Fourthly, the propensity for perception of the FCRS in China was different from that reported by young drivers in most other countries. These findings showed that the Chinese version of the FCRSS is an instrument with practical usefulness and real-world significance.

Adaptation and validity of the reckless driving habits scale in young Chinese drivers

The aims of the present study were to adapt the Reckless Driving Habits Scale (RDHS, Taubman-Ben-Ari et al., 2004) to a sample of young Chinese drivers and to examine its relationships with personality traits and traffic accidents. Four hundred fifty young drivers aged 18–25 years agreed to participate in this study and completed questionnaires assessing their reckless driving behaviours, personality traits (trait anger, sensation seeking, altruism and normlessness) and social desirability. The results of an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) revealed a 10-item scale with satisfactory reliability (0.889). The validity of the scale was supported by the significant correlations between reckless driving behaviours and personality traits. The drivers who scored higher on reckless driving behaviours were male and younger. This study also found that reckless driving behaviours can significantly predict young drivers’ violation involvement in the previous 12 months and in the overall driving period since they obtained their driving licences after controlling for social desirability and demographic variables. These findings show that the Chinese version of the RDHS is a reliable, valid and highly useful instrument.

Retracted: Travel Time Estimation by Learning Driving Habits and Traffic Conditions

Retracted: Travel Time Estimation by Learning Driving Habits and Traffic Conditions

Travel Time Estimation by Learning Driving Habits and Traffic Conditions

Travel time estimation (TTE) is widely applied for ride dispatching, ride-hailing, and route navigation. There are many factors affecting the travel time of a driver on a given trajectory, including the distance, road type, driving habits, traffic congestion, etc. Existing works fail to model the complex relationships of these factors for TTE. To fill this gap, in this paper, we first analyze how these factors work together in determining the travel time. In particular, the travel time depends on the distance and driving speed on each road segment of the trajectory, where the driving speed depends on the driving habits and the environment, including the static factors like the road type (highway or byway) and speed limit and the dynamic factor like the time of the day and congestion. Among these factors, driving habits and traffic conditions (e.g., jam) are the most difficult ones to model. Second, we propose to learn the driving habits of each driver via meta-learning and estimate the conditions based on the current and historical traffic conditions (via recurrent neural networks) of this road and its connected road segments (via graph convolutional neural network). The experimental results on two real taxi trajectory datasets show that our approach outperforms three state-of-the-art methods significantly.

Politeness as a Nonverbal Communication Behavior: An Investigation into Driving Habits in Asia

Politeness is mainly investigated in verbal and written communicative encounters. This study novelistically examines politeness and politic behavior as a nonverbal communicative event concerning driving habits in Asia. Politeness is investigated based on four variables that are the country of origin, gender, age, and level of education. The novel framework is based on Brown and Levinson’s (1987) politeness theory. This study revealed that Asian drivers use deference, hedges, and indirectness to minimize imposition while driving. The study showed that Hong Konger, Singaporean and Malaysian drivers are the most polite in Asia. This study also revealed that Hong Konger female drivers and Malaysian male drivers are the most polite in Asia concerning giving signals before changing lanes. It also revealed that Malaysian female drivers and Singaporean male drivers are the most polite in Asia concerning following traffic signs and speed limits. The study also found that Malaysian, Indonesian, Thai, Indian, Filippo, and Singaporean male drivers are more polite than their female counterparts with respect to following signs, while Hong Konger, Singaporean, and Taiwanese female drivers are more polite than their male counterparts pertaining to giving signals before changing lanes. It is also apparent that Malaysian, Chinese, Thai, Indian, Sri Lankan, Nepali, Pakistani, and Filipino male drivers are more polite than their female counterparts pertaining to giving signals before changing lanes. This study also established that old drivers are more polite than young drivers and old female drivers are more polite than old male drivers. In reference to the level of education, the study revealed a positive correlation between politic driving behavior and high level of education. Interestingly, highly educated male drivers are more polite than highly educated female drivers in Asia.

Predicting Autonomous Shuttle Acceptance in Older Drivers Based on Technology Readiness/Use/Barriers, Life Space, Driving Habits, and Cognition

Shared autonomous vehicle services (i. e., automated shuttles, AS) are being deployed globally and may improve older adults (>65 years old) mobility, independence, and participation in the community. However, AS must be user friendly and provide safety benefits if older drivers are to accept and adopt this technology. Current potential barriers to their acceptance of AS include a lack of trust in the systems and hesitation to adopt emerging technology. Technology readiness, perceived ease of use, perceived barriers, and intention to use the technology, are particularly important constructs to consider in older adults' acceptance and adoption practices of AS. Likewise, person factors, i.e., age, life space mobility, driving habits, and cognition predict driving safety among older drivers. However, we are not sure if and how these factors may also predict older adults' intention to use the AS. In the current study, we examined responses from 104 older drivers (Mage = 74.3, SDage = 5.9) who completed the Automated Vehicle User Perception Survey (AVUPS) before and after riding in an on-road automated shuttle (EasyMile EZ10). The study participants also provided information through the Technology Readiness Index, Technology Acceptance Measure, Life Space Questionnaire, Driving Habits Questionnaire, Trail-making Test Part A and Part B (TMT A and TMT B). Older drivers' age, cognitive scores (i.e., TMT B), driving habits (i.e., crashes and/or citations, exposure, and difficulty of driving) and life space (i.e., how far older adults venture from their primary dwelling) were entered into four models to predict their acceptance of AVs—operationalized according to the subscales (i.e., intention to use, perceived barriers, and well-being) and the total acceptance score of the AVUPS. Next, a partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) elucidated the relationships between, technology readiness, perceived ease of use, barriers to AV acceptance, life space, crashes and/or citations, driving exposure, driving difficulty, cognition, and intention to use AS. The regression models indicated that neither age nor cognition (TMT B) significantly predicted older drivers' perceptions of AVs; but their self-reported driving difficulty (p = 0.019) predicted their intention to use AVs: R2 = 6.18%, F (2,101) = 4.554, p = 0.040. Therefore, intention to use was the dependent variable in the subsequent PLS-SEM. Findings from the PLS-SEM (R2 = 0.467) indicated the only statistically significant predictors of intention to use were technology readiness (β = 0.247, CI = 0.087-0.411) and barriers to AV acceptance (β = −0.504, CI = 0.285-0.692). These novel findings provide evidence suggesting that technology readiness and barriers must be better understood if older drivers are to accept and adopt AS.

The Prevalence of Risky Driving Habits in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Road traffic crashes represent a substantial global public health issue. In Saudi Arabia, which is the focus area of this research, road traffic crashes kill over 130,000 people annually, accounting for almost 5% of deaths in that country. A cross-sectional study with 316 participants holding a valid Saudi driver’s license was conducted via the internet from December 2019 to March 2020 to collect information about the prevalence of risky driving habits among Saudi drivers. The sample was predominantly men and aged between 20 and 39, which is representative of the population of drivers in Saudi Arabia. Drivers generally reported engaging in safe behaviors, although they did state that they drove above the legal speed limit, drove aggressively around slow drivers, and became distracted while driving with some frequency. Multivariate analyses suggested men took more risks than women and younger drivers took more risks than older ones. We conclude that the behavior among drivers in Saudi Arabia generally matches those in other cultures and countries, with men and young adults taking the most risks while driving. Preventative strategies should be developed and implemented in Saudi Arabia.

A Novel Method of Developing Driving Cycle for Electric Vehicles to Evaluate the Private Driving Habits

As one of important implications on electric vehicles, driving cycles are recognized as essential components for evaluating the comprehensive performances and they have drawn much attention for research. Currently, driving cycles are constructed specifiedly in international standards based on local traffic conditions. However, without consideration of the private driving habits, unproper cycles lead to the imprecision on predicting the remaining useful life or estimating states. Herein, a novel methodology based on Markov chain and Monte Carlo method is developed to extract the personal driving characteristics as the elements of divided kinematic fragments. Principal component analysis is adopted to address the high-dimensional parameter vector, and cluster is used to classify the kinematic fragments. The statistics analysis demonstrates that the processed database exhibits great consistency with our developed driving cycle compared against original database, where temperature, state-of-charge and consistency are utilized to describe the personal patterns. Moreover, by using the operational driving data, the developed driving cycle is comparable against other driving cycles, which exhibits good performance. Overall, the presented driving cycle of electric vehicle can be considered as an effective way in evaluating the private driving habits, predicting the battery states and other related applications. The method may be promoted for future better energy management on electric vehicles owing to the promotion of connected and autonomous vehicles.

Anthropometric characteristics and traffic accident circumstances of patients with isolated whiplash injury in University Clinical Hospital Mostar.

Aim To investigate anthropometric characteristics and traffic accident circumstances of subjects with isolated whiplash injury. Methods This cross sectional study involved 75 subjects from traffic accidents with isolated whiplash injury classified by Quebec Task Force (QTF). Anthropometric data were collected as well as claims about circumstances of traffic accidents. Results Distribution of 1st (28; 37.3%), 2nd (25; 33.3%) and 3rd (22; 29.3%) grade of whiplash injury was almost equal. Females had smaller anthropometric measurements than males; neck circumference was the most significant difference between males and females in the context of whiplash injury. The most frequent collision mechanism was impact to front (26; 34.7%) or to rear end (26; 34.7%) of a small passenger's car. Assertions of participants were that their car damage was significant (37; 49.2%) or total (24; 32%). A total of 38 (50.7%) participants claimed that they were not wearing safety belt and 52 (69.3%) did not find themselves responsible for accident. Conclusion Driving habits of our participants facilitate incidence of whiplash injuries, especially in vulnerable groups such as women and elderly.

Executive Dysfunctions Predict Self-Restricted Driving Habits in Elderly People with or without Alzheimer's Dementia.

Introduction The purpose of this study was to elucidate the impact of specific cognitive functions on self-restricted driving habits in healthy elderly drivers and patients suffering from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's dementia (AD). Method Our study population included 35 cognitively healthy controls, 10 MCI patients, and 16 patients with AD. All participants completed a neuropsychological examination and a self-reported questionnaire assessing driving habits and patterns. Results In challenging driving conditions, patients with MCI or AD showed significantly more driving self-restriction than healthy subjects (effect size d=1.06, p=0.007). Ordinal regression analysis across the entire group revealed that deficits in executive functions and reaction had a higher impact on driving restriction (p=0.002) than deficits in memory functions (p=0.570). Additionally, our data showed that 40% of patients with mild to moderate AD still drive in challenging conditions. Discussion Our results illustrate that elderly individuals use self-imposed driving restrictions as compensatory strategies. These restrictions increase with cognitive decline mainly in the field of executive functions, but they do not change once patients convert from MCI to AD.

Two single-piece acrylic intraocular lens choices and their effect on patient-reported driving habits

To determine whether intraocular lens (IOL) type affects patient driving habits 6months to 5years after cataract surgery, and to determine whether there were differences in self-reported driving habits between patients who received 1 of 2 IOLs. John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Retrospective case series. Patients completed a telephone-administered Driving Habits Questionnaire (DHQ) 6months to 5years afterhaving bilateral cataract surgery with a single-piece hydrophobic acrylic IOL, SN60WF (Group 1) or ZCB00 IOL (Group 2), in both eyes. The study comprised 260 patients (130 in each IOL group). Of these, 117 in Group 1 and 114 in Group 2 were still active drivers. The DHQ response differences for each IOL group did not reach statistical significance, except for self-rated quality of driving and difficulties with driving at night. Forthese significant differences, contradictory results were found. Patients with either of the monofocal IOLs had similar self-reported driving habits after bilateral cataract surgery. The choice of IOL did not affect patients' postoperative driving habits.

Vision and driving status of older Australians with cataract: an investigation of public hospital waiting lists

BackgroundAlthough cataract surgery can restore sight, lengthy waiting times are common in public hospitals in Australia. We investigated the driving status of older people during their surgical waiting period.MethodsBaseline, cross‐sectional data from two prospective cohort studies of patients aged 50-years and older on Australian public hospital cataract surgery waiting lists were analysed. Participants underwent assessment of vision and completed the Driving Habits Questionnaire. The vision status was compared between current drivers and former drivers.ResultsParticipants (n = 442) were on average 73 ± 8-years of age and approximately half were women (229/442, 52 per cent). Habitual vision was 6/12+2 on average (0.26 ± 0.21 logMAR). There were 263 (60 per cent) current drivers, 110 (25 per cent) former drivers and 69 participants (16 per cent) who had never driven. Among the current drivers, 82/263 (31 per cent) failed visual acuity requirements for an unconditional drivers’ license (6/12 acuity with one or both eyes). The former drivers had worse visual acuity than the current drivers (between group difference 0.12 ± 0.20 logMAR, p < 0.0001) and worse contrast sensitivity (between group difference −0.14 ± 0.22 log units, p < 0.0001). Both high contrast visual acuity and contrast sensitivity were independently associated with still driving. More than half (140/263, 53 per cent) of the drivers believed that their cataract had affected their driving and 23 current drivers (nine per cent) reported a crash in the last 12-months.ConclusionWe report on the level of visual impairment among older drivers waiting for cataract surgery. Approximately one‐third did not meet the required visual acuity standard for driving and hence would require further ophthalmic assessment and a conditional license to continue to drive. Approximately one‐quarter of the surgical candidates were no longer driving and this was associated with greater visual impairment. These findings support a need for timely and appropriately prioritised access to cataract surgical services.

Self-rated confidence and on-road driving performance among older adults: Autoévaluation de la confiance et de la performance au volant chez les personnes âgées.

Driver confidence can be measured through concepts such as driving frequency, situational avoidance, and self-perceptions. However, it is not clear how well confidence aligns with actual driving performance. We examined the relationship between subjective measures of confidence in driving ability and on-road performance. We report findings from two studies. The first compared scores from the Older and Wiser Driver Questionnaire to an on-road driving evaluation. The second looked at the Day and Night Driving Comfort Scales and Driving Habits and Intentions Questionnaire in relation to an on-road driving evaluation. No measures of confidence in driving ability were related to on-road driving performance. Confidence in driving ability bears little relationship to on-road performance. Future research should examine approaches to foster a better match between self-assessments and actual abilities among drivers.

The value of self-report measures as indicators of driving behaviors among young drivers

Although much of the knowledge in transportation psychology has been gained by means of self-report measures, there is still a dispute regarding the usefulness and validity of such instruments. This series of two studies employed multivariate statistical models to examine associations between self-report and objective measures in two samples of young drivers. Study 1 (n=151) compared scores on the Multidimensional Driving Style Inventory (MDSI), a self-report questionnaire tapping four broad driving styles, with the naturalistic driving recorded by an in-vehicle data recorder (IVDR). Study 2 (n=80) compared responses to the Reckless Driving Habits Scale, assessing the frequency with which drivers commit a set of risky behaviors, with driving measures collected by a simulator. This study also examined the personality trait of sensation seeking, as well as gender and driving experience. In Study 1, the analysis revealed positive associations between high scores on the risky and hostile driving styles measured by the MDSI and risky behaviors measured by the IVDR, as well as inverse correlations between the latter and high MDSI scores on the anxious and careful driving styles. Similarly, in Study 2 associations were found between the self-reported frequency of reckless driving habits and several risky behaviors measured by the driving simulator. In addition, risky behaviors correlated with the sociodemographic variables and sensation seeking. The two studies therefore show that self-report measures are reliable tools for assessing driving behaviors for purposes of research, evaluation, and intervention.

Sensitivity and specificity of the safe driving behavior measure and the driving habits questionnaire for older self-drivers.

[Purpose] To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the Safe Driving Behavior Measure and the Driving Habits Questionnaire in community-dwelling older self-drivers. [Subjects and Methods] Forty-five older participated in this study, to measure the Safe Driving Behavior Measure and the Driving Habits Questionnaire. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated along with cut-off values and overall accuracy of each measure as determined by the participants operating characteristic curve and the area under the curve. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was employed to identify predictors of driving abilities. [Results] The sensitivities were 0.538 for Safe Driving Behavior Measure, and 0.577, 0.423, and 0.615 for the difficulty, crash and citations, and driving space on domains of the Driving Habits Questionnaire, respectively. The specificities of the person-vehicle domain, person-environment domain, and person-vehicle-environment domain of the Safe Driving Behavior Measure were 0.474, 0.526, and 0.421, respectively, while the Driving Habits Questionnaire domains, the specificities of difficulty, crash and citations, and driving space were 0.526, 0.211, and 0.421, respectively. [Conclusion] The results of this study suggest that factors related to the accident history of older self-drivers were not well-explained, although the Safe Driving Behavior Measure and Driving Habits Questionnaire domains have the potential to determine driving-related accident history.

Does IOL choice impact on Driving Performance?

SummaryPurposeDoes the IOL implanted at cataract surgery affects the driving habits and crash risk of patients.MethodsRetrospective analysis of patients who met the visual requirements for a drivers license and had bilateral implantation of the same lens. The patients had at least 2 years of follow‐up. Two groups of patients were identified; each with one of two types of acrylic IOLs. Both groups were given the Driving Habits Questionnaire, by a single investigator.Results90 patients participated; 51 had acrylic IOL type A and 39 had acrylic IOL type B. The demographics were similar for age, sex, diabetes, glaucoma and IOL power implanted. Group A was more likely to have road traffic accidents (P = 0.066) and less likely to drive at the same speed or faster than general flow of traffic (P = 0.094). Group A to be less likely to have travelled beyond their immediate neighbourhood, to be less likely to rate their quality of driving at average or above and to be more likely to have difficulty driving at night; but this did not reach significance.ConclusionsAt 2 years postoperatively, the choice of IOL implanted at the time of cataract surgery may have an impact on driving habit and crash risk.

Test-retest reliability of the driving habits questionnaire in older self-driving adults.

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the test-retest reliability of the Driving Habits Questionnaire in community-dwelling older self-drivers. [Subjects and Methods] Seventy-four participants were recruited by convenience sampling from local rehabilitation centers. This was a cross-sectional study design that used two clinical measures: the Driving Habits Questionnaire and Mini-mental State Examination. To examine the test-retest reliability of the Driving Habits Questionnaire, the clinical tool was measured twice, five days apart. [Results] The Driving Habits Questionnaire showed good reliability for older community-dwelling self-drivers. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the four domains of dependence (0.572), difficulty (0.871), crashes and citations (0.689), and driving space (0.961) of the Driving Habits Questionnaire indicated good or high internal consistency. Driving difficulty correlated significantly with self-reported crashes and citations and driving space. [Conclusion] The results of this study suggest that the Driving Habits Questionnaire is a reliable measure of self-reported interview-based driving behavior in the community-dwelling elderly.

Using the Extended Parallel Process Model to Understand Texting While Driving and Guide Communication Campaigns Against It

Driving habits are changing, yet studies show that texting while driving remains widespread, leading to numerous accidents and deaths. This article proposes using the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) to understand texting while driving and to guide communication campaigns against distracted driving. This article also identifies, presents, and analyzes, in terms of their fit with EPPM, 11 campaigns that are designed to persuade individuals to abstain from texting while driving. Finally, this article presents recommendations to guide and improve future initiatives.

A Model to Assess the Benefits of an After-Market Hybridization Kit based on Realistic Driving Habits and Charging Infrastructure

A Model to Assess the Benefits of an After-Market Hybridization Kit based on Realistic Driving Habits and Charging Infrastructure