Committing driving violations: An observational study comparing city, town and village

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2009.03.006Get rights and content

Abstract

Introduction

This article compares observed driving behavior in a city, a town, and a village.

Method

Unobtrusive observations were made at intersections in each residential type. Five violation types were observed: (a) not wearing a seat belt (seat belt violation); (b) not using a safety seat for a child (safety seat violation for children); (c) not using a speaker while speaking on the phone (on-phone violation); (d) failing to comply with a ‘give way’ sign (‘give way’ sign violation); and (e) stopping in an undesignated area (undesignated stop violation). It was expected that in accordance with the anonymity hypothesis that the bigger residential areas' rate of traffic violations would be higher. The effects of the residential type, drivers' gender, and age were assessed using the multiple regression model. The stepwise method of evaluation was employed. The model converged on step 3 (Adjusted R square = 0.039). Residential type and gender contributed significantly to the model. Results: Consistent with prior research, male drivers committed more violations than female drivers. Chi-square analyses were used to test the distribution of violations by the settlement types. Overall, more drivers committed violations in the two small residential areas than in the city, with 30% of city drivers, 43% of town drivers, and 51% of village drivers committing at least one violation (χ2 (2) = 37.65, p < 0.001). Moreover, in the town and the village, a combination of one or more violations was committed more often than in the city (χ2 (1) = 34.645, p < 0.001). Accordingly, more drivers committed violations in the two small settlements (48.4%) than in the city (30.6%). Possible explanations for the observed results were provided in the Discussion section.

Impact on Industry

The conclusions of this paper are that drivers in small villages tend to disobey traffic laws. Therefore, efforts have to be made in companies to take this issue in consideration while running fleets in companies located in small places far from the center.

Introduction

Many factors related to infrastructure and driver's characteristics interact to influence driving behavior (Abdel-Aty & Abdelwahab, 2000). Some of these factors have been the subject of extensive research (Ferguson, Leaf, Williams, & Preusser, 1996). Individual demographic characteristics, such as gender and age, were strongly implicated in affecting driving, where younger males were found to be associated with more risky driving preferences (Abdel-Aty and Abdelwahab, 2000, Ferguson et al., 1996, Miaou and Lum, 1993, Rosenbloom and Wolf, 2002a, Yagil, 1998). Personality factors, especially Sensation Seeking and Self Image were reported to influence individuals’ on-road behavior and risk perception (Rosenbloom, 2003a, Rosenbloom, 2003b, Rosenbloom and Wolf, 2002b, Schreer, 2002, Sommer and Baumeister, 2002, Stucke, 2001). Other studies have implicated immediate environmental (road congestion) and infrastructural factors in affecting driving behavior (Abdel-Aty and Abdelwahab, 2000, Hebert Martinez and Porter, 2004, Hennessy and Wiesenthal, 2001, Hennessy and Wiesenthal, 2002, Lajunen et al., 1999).

In addition, driving behavior is determined by a wide range of interactions between private and public behavior. The driver's decision making processes may be affected, explicitly or implicitly, by particular social feedback with which s/he is likely to encounter. Ellison, Govern, Petri, and Figler (1995) showed that a driver's anonymity may be a contributing factor for increased aggressive behavior. In Ellison et al.'s study, the experimenters checked the reaction of drivers (honking behavior) to a planted car that failed to proceed when the traffic light changed. The experimenters found that drivers who enjoyed anonymity (riding in covered cars) honked significantly sooner, more frequently, and for longer durations than drivers in convertible cars.

Zimbardo (1969) argued that anonymity may produce a deindividuated state, which is accompanied by the loss of self-awareness (Diener, 1980). Other studies demonstrated that anonymous participants may be more readily involved in aggressive and punitive behavior (Diener et al., 1976, Ellison et al., 1995, Rehm et al., 1987).

Specific places may provide greater anonymity for drivers. A cross-sectional study of U.S. cities showed that the greater city size may contribute to the elevated crime rate by allowing greater anonymity for would-be offenders (Jackson, 1984). Another meta-study conducted by Sadalla (1978) reveals that the size of the urban center is related, inter alia, to such behavior variables as anonymity, deindividuation, and deviance.

In accordance with the anonymity theory, it is expected that drivers in big cities exhibit more deviant and less careful driving behavior (i.e., they commit more traffic violations than drivers in smaller areas do).

The present study aims to compare actual driving behavior in three residential types in Israel: Two cities (Tel Aviv and Haifa), two towns, and two villages (with around 300,000, 3,000, and 800 inhabitants respectively).

Five violation types were observed: (a) not wearing a seat belt (seat belt violation); (b) not using a safety seat for a child (safety seat violation for children); (c) not using a speaker while speaking on the phone (on-phone violation); (d) failing to comply with a 'give way' sign ('give way' sign violation); and (e) stopping in an undesignated area (undesignated stop violation).

Effects of age and gender on driving behavior served as another focus of the present study, since the propensity for risky driving was consistently found to be dependent on these characteristics (Rosenbloom, 2003a, Rosenbloom and Wolf, 2002a, Yagil, 1998). In a study of the principal arterial that connects the east and west coasts of Central Florida, differential accident causes were found for older drivers compared to younger and middle-aged drivers, and for females compared with males (Abdel-Aty & Abdelwahab, 2000). A comparison of the different age groups revealed that heavy traffic volume affects the driving performance of younger and older drivers more than middle-aged drivers. Another factor that was found to influence driving performance differentially was speed. There was a rise in the probability of accident occurrence as the estimated speed of the accident increased for both young and middle-aged drivers, but not for older drivers. Speeding was also found to affect male and female drivers differently, so that the likelihood of being involved in an accident increased for male drivers. This tendency, however, was not found for female drivers.

Overall, the comparisons between male and female drivers, as well as comparisons between younger and older drivers, show that on the road, males are less cautious than females and younger drivers are generally less cautious than older drivers (Abdel-Aty and Abdelwahab, 2000, Ferguson et al., 1996, Rosenbloom and Wolf, 2002b, Williams, 1996, Yagil, 1998). Specifically, these studies showed that male drivers were the most at risk on-road population. Thus, our prediction was that there would be more violations in the male population than in the female population of drivers, irrespective of the residential type.

An observational approach, rather than the experimental approach, which could perhaps support more control of several variables involved in the study, was chosen to test the study's prediction due to our sincere interest in a real world setting. According to our experience with real world settings (e.g., Rosenbloom and Wolf, 2002a, Rosenbloom and Wolf, 2002b, Rosenbloom et al., 2004, Rosenbloom, 2006a, Rosenbloom, 2006b) we are aware of the disadvantages of the observational approach but still found it more suitable to measure everyday life road behavior.

Section snippets

Location and Times

Three levels of residential size were the independent variables of the study (two villages, two towns, and two cities). The areas were chosen for the study by the criterion of their type (rural/urban) and size (village/town/city). The cities chosen were Tel Aviv (390,000 citizens) and Haifa (265,000 citizens). The towns chosen were each with about 3,100 citizens and the villages chosen were with about 800 citizens. The towns were nearer to the country center than the villages. More details

Descriptive statistics

Overall, 856 (80.3%) drivers committed one or more violations. Of those who committed violations, the majority (91.3%) committed only one violation. The single most common violation was “not complying to a 'give way' sign” (25.7%), this was followed by a seat belt violation (10.7%), on-phone violation (4.1%), safety seat violation for children (1.8%), and undesignated stop violation (1.6%).

Multiple linear regression analysis

The effects of the residential type and drivers’ gender and age were assessed using the multiple

Discussion

The present study sought to characterize risky driving behavior in different residential types by comparing driving behavior in a village, a town, and a city and by observing five categories of violations punishable under Israeli law by means of direct and unobtrusive observation. An assessment of driving behavior was attempted on roads with similar speed limits and road conditions, located in three different types of residential areas: city, town, and village.

Overall, more drivers committed

Practical implications

It is important to increase the presence of the police, especially in small residential areas, in order to raise the drivers' perceived probability of police enforcement, which may improve compliance with the traffic rules (Shinar & McKnight, 1985).

In addition, it is recommended to work with the media to explain and educate the public on the importance of not breaking traffic rules even in places where they feel very safe. This may help to change drivers’ attitudes regarding the dangers of

Tova Rosenbloom

  • BA in Psychology, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-gan, Israel

  • MA in Psychology, Tel Aviv Univ., Israel

  • PhD (2001) in Criminology, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-gan, Israel

  • Head of Phenix Road Safety Studies, Interdisciplinary Studies of Social Sciences, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-gan, Israel. Research interest: Road safety and sensation seeking

First page preview

First page preview
Click to open first page preview

References (42)

  • MiaouS.-P. et al.

    Modeling vehicle accidents and highway geometric design relationships

    Accident Analysis & Prevention

    (1993)
  • RosenbloomT.

    Sensation seeking and risk taking in mortality salience

    Personality and Individual Differences

    (2003)
  • RosenbloomT.

    Driving performance while using cell phones: An observational study

    Journal of Safety Research

    (2006)
  • RosenbloomT. et al.

    Sensation seeking and detection of risky road signals: a developmental perspective

    Accident Analysis and Prevention

    (2002)
  • RosenbloomT. et al.

    Signal detection in conditions of everyday life traffic dilemmas

    Accident Analysis and Prevention

    (2002)
  • RosenbloomT. et al.

    For heaven's sake keep the rules: Pedestrians’ behavior at intersections in ultra-orthodox and secular cities

    Transportation Research: Part F

    (2004)
  • RosenbloomT. et al.

    Women drivers' behavior in well-known versus less familiar locations

    Journal of Safety Research

    (2007)
  • SantosJ. et al.

    The interaction between driving and in-vehicle information systems: Comparison of results from laboratory, simulator and real-world studies

    Transportation research Part F

    (2005)
  • YagilD.

    Gender and age differences in attitudes toward traffic laws and traffic violations

    Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behavior

    (1998)
  • DienerE.

    Deindividuation: The absence of self-awareness and self-regulation in group members

  • DienerE. et al.

    Effects of deindividuation variables on stealing among Halloween trick-or-treaters

    Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

    (1976)
  • Cited by (17)

    • Observational Field Studies in Traffic Psychology

      2021, International Encyclopedia of Transportation: Volume 1-7
    • Reducing traffic violations in minority localities: Designing a traffic enforcement program through a public participation process

      2018, Accident Analysis and Prevention
      Citation Excerpt :

      The observations were designed to monitor drivers’ and passengers’ behavior and to estimate the rate of traffic violations in each locality. Such systematic observations are a well-established tool for studying crime and disorder of various types, including traffic violations (see, e.g., Decina et al., 1994; Braga et al., 1999; Hakkert et al., 2001; Vivoda et al., 2004; Rosenbloom et al., 2009; Walter et al., 2011; Coughenour et al., 2017). In the current study, the systematic field observations were conducted in each locality over five working days in each of two waves, one before and one right after the intervention, for a total of 40 observation days.

    • An empirical analysis of the characteristics of drivers who are ticketed for traffic offences

      2018, Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour
      Citation Excerpt :

      For example, 94% of the respondents studied by Sansone et al. (2011) reported receiving up to seven citations over a lifetime. Field observations in Israel found that 80% of the drivers observed committed one or more violations over a month (the violations measured included nonuse of safety restraints, using a phone without a hands-free speaker, and failure to yield the right of way) (Rosenbloom, Ben-Eliyahu, Nemrodov, Biegel, & Perlman, 2009). Similarly, in a survey of a nationally representative sample of drivers in the United States, about 75% reported speeding – the most common traffic violation – in the past month (Royal, 2004; Sivak et al., 2007).

    • Risk factors in road crossing among elderly pedestrians and readiness to adopt safe behavior in socio-economic comparison

      2016, Accident Analysis and Prevention
      Citation Excerpt :

      They found that ultra orthodox elderly break the road crossing laws much more than secular elderly do. Geographic differences imply also on road users so people in small and rural settlements break the traffic laws much more than people in big and central cities (Rosenbloom et al., 2009). Also Factor et al., 2007 indicated that driving culture changes according to the living area and location.

    • A framework for child safety and health management by analogy to occupational safety and health management

      2014, Safety Science
      Citation Excerpt :

      With this definition, it is clear that a child until the age of 18 years will be vulnerable to various hazards, and a systematic approach to the issue on different management levels is indispensable. Although the literature is rich in child safety, most papers have a limited focus on some aspects of child safety such as child safety seats, car seat restraints, seat belt use of children, other issues in road safety including pedestrian safety and bicycle safety, falling from high chair, child abuse and maltreatment, teenage driving, seat belt use of teenagers and peer influence among teenage drivers (Abdel-Aty et al., 2007; Brixey et al., 2010; Brown et al., 2009; Chen et al., 2006; Curry et al., 2011; Eby and Kostyniuk, 1999; Goldman, 2007; Kim et al., 2009; Kiss et al., 2010; Lam, 2001; Landsman and Hartley, 2007; Lund, 2005; Mayrose and Priya, 2008; Nichols et al., 2005; Olsen et al., 2010; Rosenbloom et al., 2009; Rowling, 1999; Simons-Morton et al., 2012; Snowdon et al., 2009; Turner et al., 2005; Wagenaar, 1985; Will and Geller, 2004; Williams et al., 1997, 2007). Other topics including ergonomic considerations for child safety in public places, logistic considerations such as storage of caustic substances, and investment planning for child safety have also been discussed (Beirens et al., 2006; Roderick, 2004; Bas, 2011).

    View all citing articles on Scopus

    Tova Rosenbloom

    • BA in Psychology, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-gan, Israel

    • MA in Psychology, Tel Aviv Univ., Israel

    • PhD (2001) in Criminology, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-gan, Israel

    • Head of Phenix Road Safety Studies, Interdisciplinary Studies of Social Sciences, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-gan, Israel. Research interest: Road safety and sensation seeking

    Amotz Perlman

    • BA in Behavioral Sciences, Ben Gurion Univ. of the Negev, Israel

    • MA in Cognitive Psychology, Ben Gurion Univ. of the Negev, Israel

    • PhD (2006) in Cognitive Psychology, Ben Gurion Univ. of the Negev, Israel

    • Post Doc at the Industrial Engineering and Management Department, Ben Gurion Univ. of the Negev, Israel

    • Post Doc. at Swansea University, UK

    • Researcher at the Phenix Road Safety Studies, Interdisciplinary Studies of Social Sciences, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-gan, Israel

    • Research interests: Automaticity; Road Safety

    Ariela Beigel

    • B.A. in Criminology and Information Science, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel

    • M.A. in Criminology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel

    • PhD student, Criminology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel

    • Researcher in the Research Institute of Human Factors in Road Safety, College of Management

    • Interest in polygraph systems; road safety

    Dan Nemrodov

    • BA in Psychology, Tel Aviv Univ., Israel

    • MA in Psychology, Tel Aviv Univ., Israel

    • PhD student at Bar Ilan University Center of Neuroscience.

    • Interest field: Neural basis of perception and cognitive processes. He is also involved in study of transportational psychology and road safety.

    Adar Ben-Eliyahu

    • BA in Psychology, Tel Aviv University, Israel

    • MA in Experimental Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Israel

    • Current PhD student at Duke University, North Carolina, USA

    • Was a researcher at Research Institute of Human Factors in Road Safety, College of Management

    • Current fields of interest include achievement motivation, self-regulation, and drop-out prevention.

    View full text