Comparing Real-World Behaviors of Drivers with High Versus Low Rates of Crashes and Near Crashes

摘要

In-depth analyses were conducted examining both quantitative and qualitative differences between drivers who were involved in a high number of crashes and near-crashes (mean of 1,438.1 per MVMT) versus drivers who were involved in far fewer crashes and near-crashes (mean of 195.4 per MVMT). These two groups of drivers were labeled as safe and unsafe, respectively. Primary findings indicated that unsafe drivers exhibited more hard deceleration, acceleration, and swerve maneuvers during baseline driving than did the safe drivers. Results also indicated that risky driving behaviors such as traveling at inappropriate speeds and improper braking may increase drivers relative crash risk above that of normal driving. Exploratory analyses were also conducted to assess engagement in risky driving behavior during a variety of environmental and roadway conditions. The results from this analysis indicated that all drivers were willing to engage in risky behaviors during moderately high traffic densities when their speed was impeded than during very low traffic densities when speed selection was not impeded.