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Abstract
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OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the prevalence of observable distractions while driving and the effect of drivers' characteristics and time-related variables on their prevalence.
METHODS: Using roadside observation two independent observers collected data at four randomly selected locations in St Albans (UK).
RESULTS: Of the 10,984 drivers observed, 16.8% were engaged in a secondary task, with talking to passengers being the most common distraction (8.8%), followed by smoking (1.9%) and talking on a hands-free mobile phone (1.7%). An additional 1.0% were observed talking on a handheld phone, while the rest of the distractions (e.g., texting, drinking) were recorded in less than 1% of the drivers observed. Gender-related differences were found for a number of different distractions (i.e., talking to passengers, drinking, and handheld mobile phone conversations), but age emerged as a significant predictor for most secondary tasks, including: talking to passengers, smoking, hands-free mobile phone use, handheld mobile phone use, texting/keying numbers, drinking and engagement in any type of distraction (all distractions combined). The overall pattern for age was that middle-age and older drivers were less likely to be distracted than younger drivers.
CONCLUSIONS: This work provides further evidence of the relatively high rate of distracted driving in the UK. The findings clearly indicate that younger drivers are more likely to drive distracted, which probably contributes to their higher crash rates.
Keywords: Driver distraction;
Language: en |