Selçuk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi (Feb 2015)
What Causes Drivers to Involve In a Traffic Altercation?
Abstract
Although many of the previous research examined aggressive driving, driving anger, and road rage, drivers’ involvement in traffic altercations has received little attention. It is very likely that drivers may involve in a traffic altercation with other drivers even for meaningless reasons. To date, there has been no study or government report on the frequencies of traffic altercations on the roads and factors related to traffic altercations were reported in Turkey. However, there has been intense media coverage when traffic altercations lead to severe injuries or death of a man. Research conducted in Turkey focused on aggressive driving behaviors and driving anger which may provide clues for understanding factors related to traffic altercations. The result of those research indicated drivers expressed their anger mostly verbally followed by the use of vehicle and physical aggressive expression. The research did not include whether those aggressive behaviors responded by the other side and subsequently lead to an argument or not. Thus, the aim of this study to examine the factors leading drivers to involve in traffic altercations. Three hundred and forty nine drivers working in various public department participated in the study. Fourteen percent of the participants indicated they had a traffic altercation in 2013. Since our dependent variable was dichotomous measure, we used logistic regression analyses to examine our hypothesis. It was hypothesized that participants’ risky driving behaviors, sense of time pressure, driving anger, sensation seeking, and risk perception were related to traffic altercation. The findings partly confirm the hypothesis that risky driving behavior and sensation seeking were related to traffic altercation. Further, it was found that drivers are less likely to involve in traffic altercation as they become older. However, the result indicated that daily driving distances, driving anger, time pressure, and perceived risk in the traffic are not related to participants’ involvement in traffic altercation
