ESRA: E-Survey of Road Users’ Attitudes – Analysis of Safety Indicators and Predictors of Distracted Driving Behaviour

Abstract

Background. Driving is a complex, goal-directed task with high perceptual, cognitive, and motor demands. Especially cell-phones and in-vehicle technologies increase driving complexity since they create dual-tasking situations behind the wheel. Distracted driving implies that attention, required for safe driving, diverts toward another competing activity, which may cause failures in hazard detection, information processing, vehicle control, etc. Objectives. The current study investigated distracted driving related to mobile-phone use. It aimed to identify a priority problem group and model the determinants of their distracted driving behaviour. Method. The data was collected by the ESRA project (E-Survey of Road Users’ Attitudes; Torfs et al., 2016; Trigoso et al., 2016). Data was collected in 2015 and 2016, using an internet based self-administered cross-sectional questionnaire from a sample of adults in 25 countries (e.g., Austria, Italy, Belgium, etc.). The total number of reported respondents was 26,643, of which 15,642 were regular car drivers. Four target behaviours related to the mobile-phone use while driving were examined: (1) handheld use (2) hands-free use (3) read text message or email (4) send text message or email. Results. “Young male drivers” were the identified problem group. Hands-free-phone use was the most prevalent mobile-phone use behaviour while driving. Relevant predictors were (specific terms between brackets): gender (males), education (middle aged drivers), higher exposure (young and middle aged), higher acceptability (low for hands-free use), attitudes (young), and support for traffic safety policy measures (old). These results can inspire policy-makers and legislation for priority-setting regarding distracted driving, especially for “young male drivers”.