Investigating “Texting while Driving” Behavior at Different Roadway Configurations Using a Driving Simulator Setting

This study investigates the safety impact of distracted driving (texting while driving) for different roadway configurations (intersections, segments, freeways, and roundabouts; urban, suburban, and rural sections; and straight and curved road cross-sections) and various lighting conditions (nighttime and daytime) using a driving simulator. The study took place at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, KY. Fifty participants (30 young adults, 18 to 25 years old; 20 middle-/old age adults, 26 to 70 years old) drove the simulator, for approximately 10 min each. Video recordings and behavior observations (e.g., recording single longest off-road eye glance while texting and driving) were further documented. While texting and driving at the roundabout, significant differences were found between the mean lane positions of the young and middle-/old age groups. Additionally, a slightly higher speed variance for middle-/old age drivers existed while texting and driving on freeways during the daytime compared with their younger counterparts. Comparisons with the safe stopping sight distance revealed potential safety risks for all texting while driving situations for both age groups compared with nontexting situations. On average, participants with a higher distracted-driving crash-risk expended 0.676 more seconds glancing off-road than lower distracted-driving crash-risk participants. Furthermore, on average, lower-risk participants had a 3.99 mph speed standard deviation compared with the 5.34 mph speed standard deviation of higher-risk participants. It should be noted that the top five higher-risk drivers were from the middle/older population, whereas the top five lower-risk drivers were from the younger population.

The role of construal fit in threat appeal to persuade young drivers not to text while driving

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the effect of matching social distance and the concrete/abstract visual presentation of the threats of distracted driving in campaign design. Design/methodology/approach This study conducts a series of 2 (social distance frame: close vs distant) × 2 (visual rhetoric style: literal vs metaphorical) online experiments on the perspective of the construal level theory. Findings This study identified that a fit between social distance and visual rhetoric style of the threat enhances the effect of a social marketing campaign targeting young adults. A message framed in terms of socially proximal entities shows a favorable impact on young drivers’ threat perception and behavioral intention when the visual rhetoric depicts the threats of texting while driving more concrete. On the other hand, more distant social entities in the message show a better impact when the threats are visualized in metaphor. Originality/value This paper enhances the understanding of a threat appeal message design by adding empirical evidence of matching visual rhetoric style and social distance. The findings provide theoretical and practical implications for social marketing campaigns, regarding the strategic tailoring of messages, particularly in public service announcements that discourage texting while driving on young adults.

Acceptance of criteria for health and driver scoring in the general public in Germany

Numerous health insurers offer bonus programmes that score customers’ health behaviour, and car insurers offer telematics tariffs that score driving behaviour. In many countries, however, only a minority of customers participate in these programmes. In a population-representative survey of private households in Germany (N = 2,215), we study the acceptance of the criteria (features) on which the scoring programmes are based: the features for driver scoring (speed, texting while driving, time of driving, area of driving, accelerating and braking behaviour, respectively) and for health scoring (walking distance per day, sleeping hours per night, alcohol consumption, weight, participation in recommended cancer screenings, smoking status). In a second step, we model participants’ acceptance of both programmes with regard to the underlying feature acceptance. We find that insurers in Germany rarely use the features which the participants consider to be the most relevant and justifiable, that is, smoking status for health scoring and smartphone use for driver scoring. Heuristic models (fast-and-frugal trees) show that programme acceptance depends on the acceptance of a few features. These models can help to understand customers’ preferences and to design scoring programmes that are based on scientific evidence regarding behaviours and factors associated with good health and safe driving and are thus more likely to be accepted.

Texting While Driving and Other Use of Digital Technology Leading to Distraction and Risk

Advances in technology have dramatically influenced and changed the world of transportation in countless way. While many improvements have been realized with the help of technology in this area, negative consequences, like distracted driving, continue to be formidable challenges to the public’s safety and health. Studies have demonstrated that mobile phones, built-in navigation systems, and other in-vehicle–related entertainment/information technology (infotainment) have contributed to distracted driving, leading to increased morbidity and mortality, especially among the youth. Today, the ubiquitous use of mobile phones while driving has led to major increases of distracted driving, with some attribution to injury and fatal crashes, particularly among young drivers.

Factors determining speed management during distracted driving (WhatsApp messaging)

The objective of this work was to investigate self-regulation behaviours, particularly speed management, under distracted conditions due to WhatsApp use. We also studied the influence of different environments and driver characteristics, introducing visual status (i.e., visual acuity and contrast sensitivity) as one of them. Seventy-five drivers were evaluated in a simulator study involving two test sessions under baseline and texting conditions. A cluster analysis was used to identify two groups with different visual capacity. Lastly, possible predictors of speed management were studied developing a generalised linear mixed model. Our results show that drivers reduced their speeds in the presence of more demanding driving conditions; while replying to a WhatsApp message, on curved road segments and when parked cars are present. Driving speed also correlated with driver characteristics such as age or dual task experience and human factors such as self-perceived risk of texting while driving. Finally, although there were significant differences in visual capacity between the two groups identified, the model did not identify visual capacity membership as a significant predictor of speed management. This study could provide a better understanding of the mechanisms drivers use when WhatsApp messaging and which environments and driver conditions influence how speed is managed.