Young drivers’ perceptions of risk and difficulty: Day versus night
•Young drivers varying in experience and age rated videos for risk and difficulty.•Ratings were higher for night-time videos than daytime ones.•Ratings appeared to be influenced by the required rate of information processing.•Risk and difficulty were highly correlated but empirically distinct variab...
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| Published in: | Accident analysis and prevention 2020-11, Vol.147, p.105753-105753, Article 105753 |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | eng |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | •Young drivers varying in experience and age rated videos for risk and difficulty.•Ratings were higher for night-time videos than daytime ones.•Ratings appeared to be influenced by the required rate of information processing.•Risk and difficulty were highly correlated but empirically distinct variables.•Neither driving experience nor age affected ratings.
Inexperienced drivers have a higher crash risk than others, particularly at night when drivers of all ages are at increased risk, but there has been little if any research on day-night differences in drivers’ perceptions of risk and difficulty. Also, previous research on determinants of risk and difficulty ratings has focused largely on effects of vehicle speed, and researchers have identified a need to look more broadly at how ratings are affected by the complexity of depicted road-traffic situations.
This study addressed those issues, using an exploratory approach entailing both quantitative and qualitative analyses. The 62 participants (28 females, 34 males) were grouped according to level of driving experience and age (16–30 years). Determinants of ratings were investigated using 6 day-night pairs of video clips at 6 different locations, plus 2 night-only clips at 2 other locations (14 clips in all). Depicted driving situations varied naturalistically in complexity as well as speed. They were presented in random orders twice to each participant, who used a slider to rate each clip continuously, once for risk and once for difficulty in balanced order.
Consistent with previous evidence, there were no significant differences in ratings between participant groups. Ratings of risk and difficulty were highly correlated, as expected, but Rasch analysis confirmed that they reflected empirically different constructs. Ratings were significantly higher for night than day. They also differed significantly between locations, with vehicle speed not being their main determinant. Further, there were significant differences between locations in the relationship between risk and difficulty ratings, suggesting that participants’ interpretations of ‘risk’ and ‘difficulty’ varied between locations. Qualitative analysis of rating patterns in relation to video clip content utilised constructs drawn from information theory and research on human information processing. It was concluded that more systematic research is required to investigate effects on ratings of variables determining the amount of information drivers must pr |
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| ISSN: | 0001-4575 1879-2057 |