Studies of driver distraction are prevalent and the findings show that, in general, driving performance is degraded when drivers perform concurrent activities. In the real world, drivers often control how in-vehicle tasks are initiated and performed. That is, drivers themselves elect whether or not to engage in these activities. The current study reports on some of the factors that are related to drivers' self-reported willingness to perform distracting activities while driving. Forty participants observed a series of short driving videos and subsequently reported how willing they would be in performing these activities in the given context. We also gathered demographic and driving history information, along with different personality scales and attitudes and opinions regarding various in-vehicle distractions. In general, the willingness to engage in distracting activities was strongly associated with past behavior with respect to distractions (r = .78), confidence in their ability to deal with distractions (r = .52), lower estimates of the impact of in-vehicle tasks on performance (r = -.42 to -.35), and tendencies towards sensation seeking (r = .28), among others. A step-wise regression analysis indicated that a subset of these factors accounted for 76% of the variance in willingness ratings. Implications for driver safety and potential interventions are discussed.
展开▼
