The Driver Risk Index™ and the International Encyclopedia of Transportation
Introduction
A review of the evidence underpinning the Driver Risk Index™ has been published in an outstanding reference work called the International Encyclopedia of Transportation by the academic publishers Elsevier Ltd. The Encyclopedia has nine volumes representing an interdisciplinary and integrated approach to all aspects of transportation. It brings together the views of experts with each volume commissioning articles from subject experts across different parts of the world and different perspectives. DriverMetrics Research Director, Dr Lisa Dorn, was invited to contribute to the volume entitled Transport Psychology and writes about early research in the development of the Driver Risk Index™ and how it was refined and extended throughout the 1990’s. She describes its theoretical base and explains how the transactional model presents individual differences in driver stress and coping outcomes as dependent upon the traffic environment demands. Dr Dorn reports that drivers are not passively experiencing `stress’ due to external demands but are actively evaluating the events they encounter. The evaluation process triggers personal concerns, such as attitude towards other drivers, beliefs about own driving competence and ability to cope. These kinds of outcomes have implications for driver safety.
Validating the Driver Risk Index™
Dr Dorn reports how the Driver Risk Index™ has been tested using three main research methods including self report, driving simulator and field- based observation studies. The evidence from these three methods have been found to converge, further supporting the Driver Risk Index™ as a valid instrument. The review goes on to tell the story of subsequent validation studies showing that the Driver Risk Index™ has been consistently associated with intervening cognitive processes, various stress and driving performance outcomes. Furthermore, the Driver Risk Index™ scales have also been successful in their ability to measure driver behaviour pertaining to different professional driver groups, such as Truck drivers: (Hartley and Hassani, 1994; Bergomi et al, 2017); Police drivers: (Gandolfi and Dorn, 2003); and Bus drivers: (Dorn et al, 2010; Besharati and Kashani, 2017). Additionally, correlates of crash involvement have been found across several studies (Matthews, Dorn and Glendon, 1991; Matthews et al, 1997; Matthews et al, 1999a; Kontogiannis, 2006; Dorn and Gandolfi, 2008; Dorn et al, 2010; Kashani and Besharati, 2019).
Driving for Work
It has been well established that driving for work is stressful often due to the pressure of driving to schedules for long hours and with some form of job performance or delivery targets to achieve. The review reports that the Driver Risk Index™ scales predict various stress outcomes for professional drivers and that distracting cognitive and emotional interference may explain the statistical link between stress and crash risk by adding to the driving task demands. Stress responses also divert attentional resources leading to performance decrements particularly if the driving task is demanding. DriverMetrics® facilitates the administration of the Driver Risk Index™ profiles to enable behavioural interventions to be delivered according to the specific strengths and weaknesses reported. These interventions focus on developing driver safety-enhancing appraisals and coping responses to improve safety when driving for work.
References
- Bergomi, M., et al. (2017). Work-related Stress and Role of Personality in a Sample of Italian Bus Drivers. 433 – 440.
- Besharati, M. M., & Kashani, A. T., (2017). Factors contributing to intercity commercial bus drivers’ crash involvement risk, Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health.
- Dorn, L., Stephen, L, Wåhlberg, A.E, & Gandolfi, J. (2010). Development and validation of a self-report measure of bus driver behaviour. Ergonomics, 53 (12), 1420–1433.
- Gandolfi, J., & Dorn, L. (2005). Development of the Police Driver Risk Index. In L. Dorn (Ed.) Driver Behaviour and Training, Volume II, pp. 337-347. Aldershot:
- Ashgate.
- Hartley, L. R., & El Hassani, J. (1994). Stress, violations and accidents. Applied Ergonomics, 25, 221-230. Kontogiannis, T. (2006) Patterns of driver stress and coping strategies in a Greek sample and their relationship to aberrant behaviours and traffic accidents.Accident Analysis and Prevention 38(5), 913-924.
- Matthews, G., Desmond, P. A., Joyner, L., Carcary, B., & Gilliland, K. (1997). A comprehensive questionnaire measure of driver stress and affect. In T. Rothengatter, & E. C. Vaya, Traffic and Transport Psychology: Theory and Application, pp. 317-324. Amsterdam: Pergamon.
- Matthews, G., Dorn, L., & Glendon, A. I. (1991). Personality correlates of driver stress. Personality and Individual Differences, 12, 535-549.
- Matthews, G., Tsuda, A., Xin, G., & Ozeki, Y. (1999a). Individual differences in driver stress vulnerability in a Japanese sample. Ergonomics, 42, 401-415.
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