Reckless and Anxious Drivers - Some Initial Parameters (From Israel Studies in Criminology, P 131-155, 1979, S Giora Shoham and Anthony Grahame, ed. - See NCJ-74408)

• NCJ Number: 74411
• Author(s): S G Shoham; G Rahav; J Blau; N Kaplinsky; R Markovsky; Y Shaked; Y Stein; L Weissbrod; B Wolf
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 19 pages
• Grant Number(s): 606427000140
• Sponsoring Agency: Israel Ministry of Transportation
• Sale Source: Turtledove Publishing
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: Israel

Annotation

Samples of bus drivers and military drivers were used in a study designed to identify types of drivers prone to accidents.

Abstract

Earlier research led to the hypothesis that some persons have personality traits which make them unfit to drive. These traits are anxiety, inadequate perception of danger, and inability to internalize danger. A total of 120 professional drivers participated in the study. Of the 59 bus drivers, 28 had been convicted of at least one traffic offense, while 31 were classified as nonoffenders. Among the Army drivers, 31 were classified as offenders, while 30 were classified as nonoffenders. The nonoffenders served as the control group. Questionnaires that had been previously validated in a study of military drivers were administered to the subjects to test the depth of traffic norm internalization, risk-taking, and the level of anxiety. The learning ability of the drivers was tested by use of the Stepping Stone Maze. The Petrie Test was used to distinguish between the reckless driver and the anxious driver by distinguishing between those who augment the intensity and volume of incoming stimuli and those who reduce it. The study's dependent variable was the number of offenses registered in the drivers' files. Results showed that offenders internalize traffic norms to a lower level than nonoffenders. A low positive correlation was found between the internalization of norms and anxiety. There was a marked negative correlation between the internalization of norms and risk-taking. These findings indicate that traffic law violators have a profile similar to that of law violators. Thus, the state of mind of traffic violators is more similar to the wilful mens rea attributed to the criminal than to the negligent state of mind and usually attributed to traffic offenders. Data supported the hypothesis that there were essentially two types of drivers: reckless and anxious. Findings also supported the conclusion that the reckless driver is sanction oriented, which may have implications for the enforcement of traffic laws. Data tables, graphs, and 10 references are included; sample questionnaires are appended.