Silent, Unsafe...and Underestimated?. Exploring the relationships between life stress and safety issues among spanish drivers

Almost all the recent studies addressing road safety from the approach of human factors agree that stress is one of the most considerable (but underestimated) threats for safe driving. However, evidence on the relationship between stressful life events and driver performance remains scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to assess life stress-related perceptions of Spanish drivers, as well as exploring their relationships with self-reported driving performance, decision-making and other road safety-related issues. Methods: This cross-sectional research analysed the information gathered from a nationwide sample of n=840 Spanish drivers responding to an electronic survey on psychosocial issues, stress-related factors and driving issues. The results show that a high percentage (75%) consider that stress may impair their driving performance, while 76.9% of drivers report having experienced at least one major stressful life event during the last year. Despite this relatively high awareness of the negative role of stress and its associated factors for driving safety, this study found that drivers tend to 'ignore the alarm signals', as they often reported keeping driving, even when noticing their driving fitness and performance might be impaired by stress-related factors. This study highlights the need to create and apply interventions aimed at informing and training drivers to identify, manage and cope with stress from different spheres, including stressful life events, as a means of potentially improving their driving safety habits and outcome

Is safety in the eye of the beholder? Discrepancies between self-reported and proxied data on road safety behaviors-A systematic review

Recent studies have problematized on the lack of agreement between self-reported and proxied data in the field of road safety-related behaviors. Overall, and although these studies are still scarce, most of them suggest that the way we perceive our own road behavior is systematically different from the perspective from which we perceive others' behavior, and vice versa. The aim of this review paper was to target the number and type of studies that have researched the behavioral perceptions of different groups of road users, contrasting self-reported behavioral data with those reported by other users (proxied), and their outcomes. This systematic review followed the PRISMA methodology, which allows for the identification of relevant articles based on the research term. A total number of 222 indexed articles were filtered, and a final selection of 19 articles directly addressing the issue was obtained. Search strategies were developed and conducted in MEDLINE, WOS, Scopus and APA databases. It is remarkable how road users perceive themselves as behaviorally 'safer' than the rest of road users in what concerns the knowledge of traffic norms and their on-road performance. In addition, and regardless of the type of user used as a source, self-reported data suggest their perceived likelihood to suffer a traffic crash is lesser if compared to any other user. On the other hand, proxied reports tend to undervalue third users' performance, and to perceive riskier behaviors and crash-related risks among them. The outputs of this systematic review support the idea that the perception of road users' behavior and its related risks substantially differ according to the source. It is also necessary to increase the number, coverage and rigor of studies on this matter, perhaps through complementary and mixed measures, in order to properly understand and face the bias on road users' risk-related behaviors

More than just 'stressful'? Testing the mediating role of fatigue on the relationship between job stress and occupational crashes of long-haul truck drivers

Introduction: Recent evidence consistently highlights the adverse work environment of long-haul professional drivers, whose task structure typically involves the performance of extensive shifts, driving under stressful working conditions. In this regard, job stress and fatigue - that are highly prevalent in this workforce - seem to play a crucial role in explaining this group's negative traffic safety outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess whether work-related fatigue is a mechanism that mediates the relationship between job stress, health indicators and occupational traffic crashes of long-haul truck drivers (LHTD). Methods: The data used in this study were collected from 521 Spanish long-haul truck drivers (97% males) from all 17 regions of Spain, with a mean age of 47 years. Results: Utilizing structural equation models (SEM), it was found that work-traffic crashes of long-haul truck drivers could be explained through work-related fatigue that exerts a full mediation between job stress (job strain), health-related factors and traffic crashes suffered during the previous two years. Discussion: Overall, the findings of this research support that a) stressful working conditions and health issues of drivers have significant effects on traffic crashes, and b) fatigue is a mechanism relating stress-related factors and work-traffic crashes of long-haul drivers. This study highlights the need of stress- and fatigue-management policies and interventions, in order to reduce the crash risk of long-haul truck drivers

Citizens' Perceptions in Relation to Transport Systems and Infrastructures: A Nationwide Study in the Dominican Republic

One of the challenges currently faced by emerging countries is to get their citizens to decide to use sustainable transport for their regular trips, in order to reduce the current vehicular pollution rates. The objective of this descriptive research is to examine the perceptions of Dominicans regarding the state of the country's transport systems and road infrastructure. For this purpose, a nationwide survey procedure was performed. This cross-sectional research used the data retrieved from a sample of 1260 citizens aged over 18, proportional in gender, age, habitat, and province of the Dominican Republic. The results showed how Dominicans believe that, compared to other road features, pedestrian roads and public transport vehicles remain in a very poor condition. Further, citizens report to be more interested about the improvement of road infrastructures than in the implementation of any other set of measures performed to promote sustainable road mobility, including those related with alternative transport means. Finally, this study claims for the need of fostering educational, communicative and participative actions and measures aimed at increasing the value given to sustainable transportation, and the relevance of integrate potential structural and vehicular improvements with those related to human behavior in mobilit

Comparing Job Stress, Burnout, Health and Traffic Crashes of Urban Bus and BRT Drivers

Professional driving is a very demanding task. According to the recent scientific evidence, Bus drivers tend to report high levels of occupational stress, burnout and occupational traffic accidents. With the implementation of new transportation modes, some substantial benefits and adverse circumstances for public transport operators have been documented. BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) systems have been implemented in different cities worldwide as an efficient alternative to fulfill difficulties and limitations related to traditional Urban Bus systems. However, in order to compare the efficiency of different public transport modes, it is important to assess, in addition to objective indicators, the incidence of psychosocial factors and other work-related issues over its operators. Aim: The aim of this study was to compare job stress, burnout, health indicators and traffic accidents suffered between two samples of professional bus drivers: Urban/City Bus and BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) drivers. Methods: The study sample was composed by 361 Colombian male Bus drivers with a meanage of 41.46 years, 222 of them working in Urban Bus companies, and 139 in BRT companies. It was designed a questionnaire composed by four sections: a) demographics and accident rates, b) job stress, c) burnout, and d) health indicators. Results: Significant differences were found between urban and BRT drivers for the case of different work-related variables, i.e., occupational stress, burnout and traffic accident rates, being these results more adverse, in all cases, for Urban Bus operators. Furthermore, both BRT and urban bus drivers reported elevated prevalence of adverse health habits and results. Conclusions: This study showed that the prevalence of work-related stress and burnout are significantly elevated among Colombian bus drivers. In addition, it was found that the bus drivers' job stress is related to burnout indicators. Comparatively, BRT drivers tend to present better outcomes in terms of occupational stress, burnout and occupational accidents than Urban Bus operators. The intervention on these factors represent a potentially successful alternative for the prevention of occupational traffic accidents and negative health outcomes in Bus drivers

Are Traffic Announcements Really Effective? A Systematic Review of Evaluations of Crash-Prevention Communication Campaigns

Communication campaigns are commonly used in the traffic and road safety sector to raise public awareness of the importance of avoiding risky road user attitudes and behaviors. Surprisingly few of these communication campaigns evaluate their effectiveness in a formal and comprehensive manner. The core aim of the present systematic review is to identify the type of studies that evaluate the effectiveness of campaigns in this sector, in order to identify and contrast their main findings. This systematic review followed the PRISMA methodology, by means of which the relevant articles based on the search term were identified. A total of 613 indexed articles were filtered, and a final set of 27 articles directly addressing the issue was analyzed. Search strategies were developed and conducted in WOS, Scopus, NCBI, Google Scholar and APA databases. The selected articles point out that, although advertisements alone have a certain positive effect, their effectiveness is substantially increased if they are accompanied by other preventive measures such as legislation or road safety education. In any case, more evaluations of traffic campaigns are needed to identify which techniques are effective and which are not, and which should therefore be replaced by new methods of behavior modification in future communication campaigns

Knowledge of the concepts of 'black spot', 'grey spot' and 'high accident concentration sections' among drivers

One of the major problems related to road injuries and deaths are the presence of Black Spots. This problem has received a growing amount of attention from road managers thorough last decades, taking into account its importance for the safety of road users. In fact, knowledge about these strategic areas among drivers seems to be quite important, since this conceptualization may affect their behavior and assumed risks on the road. The main objective of this research was to assess the knowledge that drivers have on the concept of black spot and other closely related terms: 'grey spot' and 'high accident concentration sections'. For this study, it was used a random sample of 200 drivers from the province of Valencia (Spain), between 18 and 64 years of age. Through data analysis it was found that, while most of drivers does know the concept of black spot properly (87.5% of them), this trend is not stable when knowledge of related concepts is assessed. In regard to the further technical terms addressed by this study (grey spot and high accident concentration sections), there is an elevated relative percentage of drivers who have very biased misconceptions about these concepts. With respect to the 'grey spots', in which knowledge barely reached 13% of the driving population, unfamiliarity rate increased significantly. As conclusion, in regard to the concept of 'high accident concentration sections', it was found that it is a really misunderstood, relativized and biased concept among population of drivers and, furthermore, in general, unknown to most of road users. Finally, it has been suggested that the public administrations should work to increase this knowledge, as it would allow drivers to adopt more cautious behavior when confronted with this potentially dangerous sections throughout their routes

Consistency between the subjective perception of feeling indisposed, the decision to drive and driving performance

Drivers' health and fitness are essential issues in order to predict traffic crashes, taking into account that these characteristics are essential to perform this task correctly and safety. The purpose of this research was to analyze the frequency in which drivers who feel physically or emotionally unable to drive decide to perform this task, or not, under states of indisposition, as well as the perception of the effect that this indisposition had on driving. This cross-sectional study used a total sample of n=1200 (666 [56%] men and 534 [44%] women) Spanish drivers, who answered a questionnaire designed to collect data about their psychosocial characteristics, driving habits and perceptions about their driving performance and safety behaviors related with physical and mental health. The main selection criteria were to be in possession of any type of driving license for vehicles other than motorcycles and to drive frequently. The results showed that 62.5% of the participants that were not in perfect con- ditions to drive at times decided not to drive and 37.5% decided to use the vehicle. Furthermore, 16.5% of the starting sample experienced inappropriate psychophysical conditions while driving. In the group of drivers who decided to use the vehicle, 46.9% admitted that their driving was affected. It was determined that there is a substantial lack of correspondence between driver's perceptions and behaviors with respect to the impact of health conditions on crash risk, and a growing need to raise people's awareness regarding this fact. A large number of drivers continue driving even when they are not in condition to do so, which is clearly a risky behavior. It seems necessary to implement preventive actions and measures oriented to raise appropriate public awareness about the risks derived from driving under an altered physical or emotional stat

Speed and road accidents: behaviors, motives, and assessment of the effectiveness of penalties for speeding

When dealing with the duality of mobility and safety, speed is one of the main factors causing deaths, so this is the reason why speed is one of the most studied topics related to road safety. The main objective of this research was to identify the aspects that modulate the speed-accidents relation. Specifically, the frequency and reasons why drivers speed. On the other hand, it was also considered the perception of drivers regarding the probability of penalty, the penalties imposed, and their severity. Finally, drivers¿ opinion on the effectiveness of such penalty in order to change speeding behavior was also studied. A sample of 1,100 Spanish drivers over 14 years old and having any kind of driving license was used. The results showed that approximately the third part of drivers always or sometimes sped. Among the specific reasons, the hurry, not having noticed, that the limits are too low or that the conditions allow doing so were the most frequent. Likewise, drivers considered as limited the probability of being caught. Finally, more than half of the drivers considered that the penalty they received was appropriate. Moreover, half of the drivers that received a penalty claimed that they changed their speeding habits as a result of such penalty. Drivers who speed are completely aware of the fact that they are breaking the traffic rules. Their speeding behavior is intentional in 80% of the cases. They are not aware of the risks of speeding since they justified their behavior by saying the speed limits are too low, the conditions on the roads allow doing so, or that it was a habit

Smoking while Driving: Frequency, Motives, Perceived Risk and Punishment

When dealing with the duality of traffic accidents and road safety, smoking while driving is one of the factors that, despite the social beliefs and/or misconceptions, causes a large number of injuries and deaths worldwide. Although smoking is a well-known harmful behavior for people's health, it affects health and safety in many ways, perhaps more than some segments of the population can imagine. This is the specific case of drivers. The main objective of this study was to describe the behavioral and representational aspects of drivers that modulate the smoking-accidents relation. Specifically, it focuses in the frequency and reasons why drivers smoke while driving. On the other hand, it was also considered the perception of drivers regarding the probability of penalty, the penalties imposed, and their severity. Finally, drivers' opinion on the effectiveness of such penalty in order to change this behavior was also studied. A sample of 1100 Spanish drivers was obtained from a national sampling process. The results showed that approximately the 11% of drivers circulate regularly smoking. Among the specific reasons, the most common is that constitutes a habit of the interviewed driver. Regarding punishment, drivers considered as limited the probability of being caught. Moreover, there has been no respondents who have been fined for this behavior while driving. In general, it seems that drivers are aware of the risk implied by this behavior. However, there are very few drivers who value this as a high-risk behavior. This agrees with the respondents' opinion that it is, in other words, driving under a low sense of responsibility. This, it results logical that the sanction that the respondents believe more appropriate for the behavior of smoking while driving is an economic penalty. As a conclusion, it has been remarked that there is a clear lack of correspondence between the risk perceived in this misbehavior and the frequency and motives argued to perform it while driving. It is worth mentioning that it makes important to improve the awareness and monitoring of this behavior among Spanish drivers as a manner to, first, promote healthy habits among key sectors of population, and, second, to prevent potential road crasher related to the psychomotor impairments that this behavior implies on driving performance