Adolescent Road Behaviour

Risky road behaviour among adolescents increases with age; with boys reporting more aberrant behaviour than girls (West et al., 1998). In a UK survey of 4,000 11-14 year olds from the inner city, 25% reported that they had been pushed into the road by a friend; 49% admitted using their mobile phones for texting whilst crossing the road; 13% said they wore reflectors; and only 15% admitted that they wore helmets whilst cycling (BRAKE, 2004). These figures can be considered quite high and draw attention to the problems of risky adolescent behaviours on the road.

In a survey of 1027 accident-involved children aged 7-15 years old West et al. (1998) found that self-reported risky road behaviour was closely linked to traffic accident involvement as pedestrians or cyclists. They asked children two questions “Do you cross the road without looking?” and “Do you run into the road without looking?”. Their results showed that engagement in these risky behaviours increased with age and that boys reported engaging in more risky behaviour on the roads than females. They also found that adolescents who frequently reported engaging in unsafe behaviours on the road failed to report engaging in safe behaviours as often as they should.

Elliott and Baughan (2004) developed the Adolescent Road User Behaviour Questionnaire (ARBQ) in an attempt to classify adolescent aberrant road behaviours. The ARBQ consists of aberrant behaviour items that measure behaviour on three levels („Unsafe Road Crossing Behaviour‟, „Dangerous Playing in the Road‟ and „Planned Protective Behaviour on the Road‟) and were developed from information on a database containing qualitative descriptions of road accidents involving children, as well as focus groups. Elliott and Baughan (2004) surveyed 2,433 11-16 year olds and found that 13-14 year olds and 15-16 year olds engaged in unsafe road crossing behaviours and less planned protective behaviours compared to the 11-12 year olds. The 13-14 year olds also reported carrying out more dangerous play in the road behaviours than 15-16 year olds.

Simpson and Beirness (1993) addressed the possibility of a link between personality, adolescent attitudes and future driver behaviour (in particular accident involvement). They questioned 1,273 Grade 9 and 10 Canadian high-school students to determine whether or not information collected could predict future traffic accident involvement. Approximately 14% of the students had a driver's licence at the start of the study, but at the time of the follow up study three years later, 96% were licensed drivers. Several personal characteristics were found to be predictors of future accident involvement. Those with greater accident likelihood showed fewer adherences to traditional social values regarding school and religious worship and had greater tolerance for deviance. Those who were accident-involved showed more liberal attitudes towards alcohol use, and drank regularly in large quantities. They also reported engaging in more risky driving behaviour practices such as drink-driving, drug- driving and/or failure to use seat belts.

There is, therefore, a need to understand why adolescent road users are at particularly high- risk of road traffic accidents and whether or not their behaviour carries over into future driving behaviour. Although a few studies have been conducted to look at the attitudes of pre-drivers towards driving, the studies that currently exist in the driving domain have failed to take into account the direct effects of past road behaviour on future driving behaviour. In health psychology, however, evidence has been presented to show links between past behaviour and future behaviour (Triandis, 1977; Bagozzi, 1981). Several studies have also found a link between past behaviour and attitudes as well as between past behaviour and intentions (Bagozzi, 1981; Bagozzi, Baumgartner & Yi, 1992; Bentler & Speckart, 1979, 1981; Conner & Armitage, 1998; Ouellette & Wood, 1998).

Bentler and Speckart (1979, 1981) believed that the attitude-behaviour relationship explained by the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) could be further improved by incorporating the influence of past behaviour on subsequent behaviour (Figure 3.6). Their premise was that as well as attitudes and subjective norms, previous behaviour has a direct influence on intentions and subsequent behaviour. In three studies Bentler and Speckart found that past behaviour and attitudes both had direct positive influences on subsequent behaviour: ―for this sample it is apparent that attitudes and past behaviour, or some other factor(s) linearly related to these antecedents, are contributing strongly to the occurrence of behaviour without the regulation of intentions‖ (Bentler & Speckart, 1979, 1981). The addition of prior behaviour according to their model would thus facilitate the prediction of future behaviour.

Several researchers have supported Bentler and Speckart‟s model and found it to be capable of accounting for the effects of extraneous variables on intentions (Budd et al., 1984; Fredricks & Dossett, 1983). Budd et al. (1984) found that by adding a past behaviour component to the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TRA‟s successor) the model‟s ability to predict subsequent behaviour (in this instance intention to wear seat belts) was improved by a further 7-9%. This effect size was shown to vary from behaviour to behaviour. In a review of the literature on past behaviour-behaviour relationships, Sutton (1994) suggested that past behaviour may be a good predictor of future behaviour.

Figure 3.6 – A Model of the Attitude-Behaviour Relationship Incorporating Previous Behaviour (Bentler & Speckart, 1979).

In the TPB and TRA models, attitudes influence behaviour indirectly through intentions. However, Bagozzi (1981) found that the attitude-intention relationship is attenuated when past behaviour is incorporated into the model. The inclusion of past behaviour into both of these models therefore lessens the impact of intentions on behaviour. As Bagozzi (1981)

stated, ―..as habit increases, the performance of the behaviour becomes less one of a rational evaluation of the consequences of the act and more one of a learned response”. In light of this pre-driving behaviour should, in theory, reflect future driving behaviour over and above intentions.

Waylen and McKenna (2002abc, 2008) conducted a number of studies on pre-driving adolescents to determine whether or not associations found between risky road behaviour and individual characteristics such as sensation seeking and deviance are the result of driver behaviour or intrinsic to the individuals. Their results showed that risk-taking characteristics typically found in drivers (such as affinity for speed, driving violations, anti-social behaviour and sensation seeking) are also present in pre-drivers. For example, adolescents who reported engaging in anti-social behaviour (such as leaving a shop without paying for goods or riding on public transport without a ticket) were more likely to condone violations (such as crossing a junction when the traffic lights have turned red or ignoring speed limits late at night or early in the morning) and enjoy speed. Adolescents who reported a desire for novel/thrilling experiences reported that they enjoyed fast speeds and/or found driving violations to be acceptable. These findings support the existence of associations between risky road behaviour and individual characteristics that are intrinsic. Waylen and McKenna‟s findings also showed that gender differences typically observed in drivers could also be seen in pre- drivers; pre-driving males reported more frequent displays of sensation seeking, anti-social and competitive behaviours. They concluded that gender differences among drivers can be explained by pre-existing differences in individual characteristics.

Harré et al. (2000) examined the effects of age, gender and experience on adolescent attitudes towards high-risk driving behaviour. As there were no significant differences between the attitudes held by drivers and non-drivers, they concluded that experience does not affect attitudes towards driving behaviour. They also reported gender differences in attitudes, with males displaying riskier attitudes towards driving.

Unlike Waylen and McKenna (2002abc, 2008) who looked at reflections of risky driving characteristics in a group of pre-drivers, the research presented in this thesis explores direct links between a large group of individuals‟ past pre-driving road behaviour and their future behaviour as drivers. The main hypothesis being tested is that pre-drivers who report displaying dangerous road behaviour and positive (high-risk) attitudes towards driving violations are more likely to report engagement in dangerous driving behaviour in the future.

Should the null hypothesis be rejected it would provide road safety professionals with useful information about how to tackle the young driver problem and when to start (such as before driver training and licensure).

Ajzen who devised the Theory of Planned Behaviour has stated on numerous occasions that it serves no useful purpose to include past behaviour in causal models of behaviour change (Ajzen, 1987; Beck & Ajzen, 1991). Should this be reflected in the results from this thesis, Ajzen‟s views regarding its lack of purpose in the TPB would be confirmed, and road safety professionals would be provided with useful information about driver education. For example, it would inform them that road safety education and efforts to encourage safer attitudes on the roads among pre-driving adolescents may not have a very big effect on their future driving behaviour. Further it would confirm that driver behaviour interventions would be better targeted at those who are already driving.

Understanding the factors that contribute to adolescents‟ high crash rates is important in developing interventions to reduce their risk. In view of the fact that performance becomes more learnt than rational as habits increase, past behaviour could therefore reduce the impact of interventions on behaviour (Bagozzi, 1981; Triandis, 1977). In terms of applying this to driving behaviour and to reducing the prevalence of risky behaviour, if young people are encouraged to want to be safe on the roads and ultimately behave in a safe manner then they will be less likely to engage in risky driving behaviour in the future.

3.11 Chapter Conclusions

This chapter has highlighted the extent of the global young driver problem and the association between risk-taking and accident-involvement. The number of factors that influence risk- taking are vast and range from adolescents‟ unrealistic optimism about encountering hazardous events, over-confidence in driving skills, lack of driving experience, an inability to anticipate risky situations, through to the influence of hormones. Social factors also influence driving behaviour to a large extent, for example factors such as peer-pressure, media influence, lack of organisational and institutional ties (such as membership to a church or football club). Past behaviour also plays a role, with young people continuing to engage in high-risk behaviours out of habit but also because they engage in other high-risk behaviour (such as drinking or smoking, as described in the Problem Behaviour Theory). Aspects of an individual‟s personality also have an impact on their manifestation of risk-taking tendencies,

with some individuals‟ deliberately choosing to engage in risk-taking in order to satisfy their sensation seeking tendencies.

The next chapter is the final section of the Literature Review and looks at external influences on drivers such as parents and passengers and the effects of driving whilst under the influence of drugs and alcohol.