Luis Montoro

Work Environment, Stress, and Driving Anger: A Structural Equation Model for Predicting Traffic Sanctions of Public Transport Drivers

Public transport is an effective and sustainable alternative to private vehicle usage, also helping to reduce the environmental impact of driving. However, the work environment of public transport operators is full of adverse conditions, which, together with their high mileage, may increase the occurrence of negative safety outcomes such as traffic accidents, often preceded by risky road behaviors enhanced by stress, anger, and difficult operating conditions. The aims of this study were, first, to determine the association between work-related psychosocial factors and individual characteristics of public transport drivers and the rate of traffic sanctions they are subject to; and second, to assess the mediation of driving anger in this relationship. A sample of professional drivers (57.4% city bus, 17.6% taxi, and 25% inter-urban bus male operators) was used for this cross-sectional study, responding to a five-section survey including demographic data and driving-related factors, psychosocial work factors including job stress, driving stress, risk predisposition, and driving anger. The results of this study showed significant associations between work-related factors: measures of stress and self-reported rates of traffic fines. Second, it was found that driving anger mediates the associations between driving stress, risk predisposition, and traffic sanctions; and partially mediates the association between driving experience, hourly intensity, and job stress. This study supports the idea that traffic penalties reported by public transport rates are preceded by work-related, personality, and other individual factors that, when combined with driving anger, enhance the occurrence of road misbehavior that may affect overall road safety.

Knowledge, perceived effectiveness and qualification of traffic rules, police supervision, sanctions and justice

Abstract Road safety is a complex process that not only depends on technical and environmental improvements, but in a major part from human factors. In this sense, recent empirical studies have remarked the need to study the interaction between subject and laws, at the glance of several elements preceding road behavior. This is the case of attitudes, opinions and perceptions in the field of road safety, factors that influence the interaction with issues such as traffic rules, police supervision, penalties and justice in traffic. The objective of this study was to describe the self-rated knowledge and perceptions regarding traffic norms and its interaction with road safety among drivers. For this study, a sample of 1,100 Spanish drivers was obtained from a national sampling process. The results showed that the clear majority of drivers consider they know in a sufficient manner the traffic norms, and consider them as effective. Concerning police supervision, almost 70% of them consider that it is effective, but generally assumes that traffic agents prefer to be located in strategical places to catch offenders, rather than in really dangerous places. Regarding sanctions, drivers conceived the punishment to road offenders principally as educational and tax-collection measures. Finally, the general assessment of justice in traffic provided by Spanish drivers has shown a regular-low valuation degree. The obtained results invite to discuss about the interaction between traffic norms and road user, with the aim of promoting a positive law enforcement as a manner to build road safety culture.

Motivational and Emotional Aspects Involved in Driving

It is evident that individuals display different behaviors when driving and especially when involved in accidents. These differences seem to be related in various ways to physical, mental and socio-environmental characteristics of the driver. It is also known that a wide range of situational variables that are all too common in our daily lives, such as fatigue, use of drugs, alcohol or certain medication; sleepiness and transitory behavioral alterations such as stress or anxiety, have a negative influence on driving.

Job strain in public transport drivers: Data to assess the relationship between demand-control model indicators, traffic accidents and sanctions

This Data in Brief (DiB) article examines the association between the Job Demand-Control (JDC) model of stress and traffic safety outcomes (accidents and sanctions) in public transport drivers (n = 780). The data was collected using a structured self-administrable questionnaire composed of measurements of work stress (Job Content Questionnaire), and demographics (professional driving experience, hours and days working/driving per week). The data contains 4 parts: descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations between the study variables, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Post-Hoc comparisons between drivers classified different quadrants of the JDC model. For further information, it is convenient to read the full article entitled “Working conditions, job strain and traffic safety among three groups of public transport drivers”, published in Safety and Health at Work (SHAW) [1] (Useche et al., 2018).

Distraction of cyclists: how does it influence their risky behaviors and traffic crashes?

Background Undisputedly, traffic crashes constitute a public health concern whose impact and importance have been increasing during the past few decades. Specifically, road safety data have systematically shown how cyclists are highly vulnerable to suffering traffic crashes and severe injuries derived from them. Furthermore, although the empirical evidence is still very limited in this regard, in addition to other human factors involved in cycling crashes, distractions while cycling appear to be a major contributor to the road risk of cyclists. Objectives The main objectives of this study were, first, to explore the prevalence and trends of cycling distractions within an international sample of bike users, and second, to determine the influence of such distractions on road crashes suffered by cyclists, simultaneously considering the explanatory role of risky behaviors (errors and traffic violations) as potentially mediating variables between cycling distractions and traffic crashes. Methods For this cross-sectional study, we analyzed the data obtained from 1,064 cyclists—61.2% male and 38.8% female—from 20 different countries, who answered an on-line questionnaire on cycling-related features, habits, behaviors and accidents. Results The prevalence of different cycling distractions oscillated between 34.7% and 83.6%. The most common distractions were those related to the behavior of other users, physical elements of the road, weather conditions and phone calls. Age trends and differences were also found, thus establishing a positive association between age and distractibility during cycling. Furthermore, the effect of distractions on traffic crashes of cyclists was significant when tested together with age, risk perception and risky behaviors on the road. Conclusion The results of this study support the hypotheses that distractions have a major prevalence among bike users, and that they play a significant role in the prediction of the traffic crash rates of cyclists, through the mediation of risky behaviors.