Effect of visible presence of policing activities on drivers’ vigilance and intention to refrain from non-driving activities: A scenario-based survey of general Japanese drivers

Publication date: December 2019Source: Accident Analysis & Prevention, Volume 133Author(s): Yukako Nakano, Kazuko Okamura, Ritsu Kosuge, Makoto Kihira, Goro FujitaAbstractDriver distraction is an important issue for road safety. The visible presence of policing activities alongside roadways seems to be significant in preventing driver distraction and other unsafe driving behaviors. The purpose of this study was to provide evidence of the effectiveness of visible policing presence on drivers’ self-reported intention to refrain from non-driving activities and that this effectiveness can be enhanced by manipulating deployment even with limited resources. We conducted a scenario-based survey to compare drivers’ self-reported intention to refrain from non-driving activities and their vigilance state across several hypothetical driving situations. The three aims of the study were to examine whether drivers’ self-reported vigilance and intention to refrain from non-driving activities were associated with (a) the presence or absence of common forms of roadside policing, (b) the agent (police vs. civilian) and medium (human vs. advertisement) of road safety interventions, and (c) different forms of policing (police officer vs. police car) and their respective levels of conspicuousness.Japanese drivers (N = 367) were randomly assigned to receive one of three booklets that included a scenario-based survey. The three booklets contained different combinations of various hypothetical...
Source: Accident Analysis and Prevention - Category: Accident Prevention Source Type: research