The theory of planned behavior (TPB) and texting while driving behavior in college students

Objective: To examine the role of intent and other theory of planned behavior (TPB) constructs in predicting college students' willingness to text while driving (TWD).

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. 243 male and female college students enrolled in the 2013–2014 academic year in the College of Health, Human Services & Nursing completed a survey on TWD. Inclusion criteria: All races and ethnicities, ≥18 years of age, cell phone owner, and licensed driver.

Results: Over 70% of the sample (n = 243) reported talking on a cell phone and sending and receiving text messages “at least a few times” while driving within the past week. However, only 27% reported being stopped by police. Of these, 22% reported being fined. Within the past 30 days, 26% reported reading or sending TWD and having to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting another car or pedestrian(s) as a result. In all, 47% of the variance in intention to send TWD was accounted for by the full TPB model. Intention, in turn, predicted willingness to TWD. Intention also mediated the relationship between perceived behavioral control and willingness to TWD.

Conclusion: Attitude was found to be the strongest predictor of intention. In addition, intention was found to mediate the relationship of willingness to TWD on perceived behavioral control. These findings highlight potential factors that could be targeted in behavioral change interventions seeking to prevent TWD.     

High beam headlamp use rates: Effects of rurality,proximity of other traffic,and roadway curvature

Objective: The few observational studies of the prevalence of high beam use indicate the rate of high beam use is about 25% when vehicles are isolated from other vehicles on unlit roads. Recent studies were limited to 2-lane rural roads and used measurement methods that likely overestimated use. The current study examined factors associated with the rate of high beam use of isolated vehicles on a variety of roadways in the Ann Arbor, Michigan area.

Methods: Twenty observation sites were categorized as urban, rural, or on a rural/urban boundary and selected to estimate the effects of street lighting, road curvature, and direction of travel relative to the city on high beam use. Sites were selected in pairs so that a majority of traffic passing one site also passed through the other. Measurement of high beams relied on video data recorded for 2 nights at each site, and the video data also were used to derive a precise measure of the proximity of other traffic. Nearly 3,200 isolated vehicles (10 s or longer from other vehicles) were observed, representing 1,500-plus vehicle pairs.

Results: Across the sample, 18% of the vehicles used high beams. Seventy-three percent of the 1,500-plus vehicle pairs used low beams at each paired site, whereas 9% used high beams at both sites. Vehicles at rural sites and sites at the boundaries of Ann Arbor were more likely to use high beams than vehicles at urban sites, but use in rural areas compared with rural/urban boundary areas did not vary significantly. Rates at all sites were much lower than expected, ranging from 0.9 to 52.9%. High beam use generally increased with greater time between subject vehicles and leading vehicles and vehicles in the opposing lane. There were mixed findings associated with street lighting, road curvature, and direction of travel relative to the city.

Conclusion: Maximizing visibility available to drivers from headlights includes addressing the substantial underuse of high beam headlamps. Advanced technologies such as high beam assist, which switches automatically between high and low beam headlamps depending on the presence of other traffic, can help to address this problem.     

Evaluation of a responsible beverage service and enforcement program: Effects on bar patron intoxication and potential impaired driving by young adults

Objective: Studies of alcohol-related harm (violence, injury, illness) suggest that the most significant risk factors are the amount of alcohol consumed and whether obviously intoxicated patrons continue to be served. This study's objective was to investigate the effects of a responsible beverage service (RBS)/enhanced alcohol enforcement intervention on bars, bar patrons, and impaired driving.

Method: Two communities—Monroe County, New York, and Cleveland, Ohio—participated in a demonstration program and evaluation. The intervention applied RBS training, targeted enforcement, and corrective actions by law enforcement to a random sample of 10 identified problem bars in each community compared to 10 matched nonintervention problem bars. Data were collected over 3 waves on bar serving practices, bar patron intoxication, drinking and driving, and other alcohol-related harm from intervention and control bars and treatment and comparison communities.

Results: In Monroe County, New York, of the 14 outcome measures analyzed, 7 measures showed statistically significant differences from pre- to postintervention. Six of those measures indicated changes in the desired or positive direction and 2 measures were in the undesired or negative direction. Of note in the positive direction, the percentage of intervention bar patrons who were intoxicated decreased from 44 to 27% and the average blood alcohol concentration of patrons decreased from 0.097 to 0.059 g/dL pre- to postintervention. In Cleveland, Ohio, 6 of the 14 measures showed statistically significant changes pre- to postintervention with 6 in the positive direction and 4 in the negative direction. Of note, the percentage of pseudo-intoxicated patrons denied service in intervention bars increased from 6 to 29%.

Conclusions: Of the 14 outcome measures that were analyzed in each community, most indicated positive changes associated with the intervention, but others showed negative associations. About half of the measures showed no significance, the sample sizes were too small, or the data were unavailable. Therefore, at best, the results of these demonstration programs were mixed. There were, however, some positive indications from the intervention. It appears that when bar managers and owners are aware of the program and its enforcement and when servers are properly trained in RBS, fewer patrons may become intoxicated and greater efforts may be made to deny service to obviously intoxicated patrons. Given that about half of arrested impaired drivers had their last drink at a licensed establishment, widespread implementation of this strategy has the potential to help reduce impaired driving.     

German taxi drivers' experiences and expressions of driving anger: Are the driving anger scale and the driving anger expression inventory valid measures?

Objective: The objective of this article was 2-fold: firstly, we wanted to examine whether the original Driving Anger Scale (DAS) and the original Driving Anger Expression Inventory (DAX) apply to German professional taxi drivers because these scales have previously been given to professional and particularly to nonprofessional drivers in different countries. Secondly, we wanted to examine possible differences in driving anger experience and expression between professional German taxi drivers and nonprofessional German drivers.

Methods: We applied German versions of the DAS, the DAX, and the State–Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) to a sample of 138 professional German taxi drivers. We then compared their ratings to the ratings of a sample of 1,136 nonprofessional German drivers (Oehl and Brandenburg n.d. Oehl M, Brandenburg S. Driving anger in Germany: validation of the Driving Anger Scale (DAS). Saf Sci. n.d. submitted.  [Google Scholar]).

Results: Regarding our first objective, confirmatory factor analysis shows that the model fit of the DAS is better for nonprofessional drivers than for professional drivers. The DAX applies neither to professional nor to nonprofessional German drivers properly. Consequently, we suggest modified shorter versions of both scales for professional drivers. The STAXI applies to both professional and nonprofessional drivers. With respect to our second objective, we show that professional drivers experience significantly less driving anger than nonprofessional drivers, but they express more driving anger.

Conclusions: We conclude that the STAXI can be applied to professional German taxi drivers. In contrast, for the DAS and the DAX we found particular shorter versions for professional taxi drivers. Especially for the DAX, most statements were too strong for German drivers to agree to. They do not show behaviors related to driving anger expression as they are described in the DAX. These problems with the original American DAX items are in line with several other studies in different countries. Future investigations should examine whether (professional) drivers from further countries express their anger as proposed by the DAX. In addition, professional drivers experience less driving anger (DAS) and less general trait anger (STAXI) than nonprofessional drivers, but they report more driving anger expression (DAX) and more current general state anger (STAXI). Subsequent studies should therefore focus on different types of anger within the group of professional drivers.     

A spectral power analysis of driving behavior changes during the transition from nondistraction to distraction

Objective: This article investigated and compared frequency domain and time domain characteristics of drivers' behaviors before and after the start of distracted driving.

Method: Data from an existing naturalistic driving study were used. Fast Fourier transform (FFT) was applied for the frequency domain analysis to explore drivers' behavior pattern changes between nondistracted (prestarting of visual–manual task) and distracted (poststarting of visual–manual task) driving periods. Average relative spectral power in a low frequency range (0–0.5 Hz) and the standard deviation in a 10-s time window of vehicle control variables (i.e., lane offset, yaw rate, and acceleration) were calculated and further compared. Sensitivity analyses were also applied to examine the reliability of the time and frequency domain analyses.

Results: Results of the mixed model analyses from the time and frequency domain analyses all showed significant degradation in lateral control performance after engaging in visual–manual tasks while driving. Results of the sensitivity analyses suggested that the frequency domain analysis was less sensitive to the frequency bandwidth, whereas the time domain analysis was more sensitive to the time intervals selected for variation calculations. Different time interval selections can result in significantly different standard deviation values, whereas average spectral power analysis on yaw rate in both low and high frequency bandwidths showed consistent results, that higher variation values were observed during distracted driving when compared to nondistracted driving.

Conclusions: This study suggests that driver state detection needs to consider the behavior changes during the prestarting periods, instead of only focusing on periods with physical presence of distraction, such as cell phone use. Lateral control measures can be a better indicator of distraction detection than longitudinal controls. In addition, frequency domain analyses proved to be a more robust and consistent method in assessing driving performance compared to time domain analyses.     

Understanding the context of alcohol impaired driving for fatal crash–involved drivers: A descriptive case analysis

Objective: The objective of this study was to understand the social context and circumstances surrounding alcohol-impaired driving prior to fatal crash involvement for drivers with an illegal blood alcohol concentration (BAC ≥ 0.05 g/100 ml or 0.00 g/100 ml for restricted license holders).

Methods: Coroners' case reports investigating fatal crashes in South Australia over a 3-year period (2008–2010) were examined. The personal and crash characteristics of drivers with an illegal BAC were compared with those who had a legal BAC. For each driver with an illegal BAC, information was recorded including characteristics of last trip, location and social context of alcohol consumption, quantity and type of alcohol consumed, BAC level, presence of drugs, perceived alcohol intoxication, and alcohol dependence. Official traffic offense records were also obtained.

Results: Of the 284 fatal crashes included in the study, 34% (n = 95) involved a driver or rider with an illegal BAC. Prior to the crash, alcohol was most frequently consumed by drivers in rural areas, within private homes, and was part of normal social activities. Drivers recorded a high level of alcohol impairment, with a mean BAC of 0.173 g/100 ml and a level of alcohol dependence that was above the Australian national average (7.4 vs. 3.9%). In addition, 23% of drivers were known to be experiencing psychological stress at the time of the crash. The results also confirm that drink driving recidivism continues to be a significant problem, with 44% of drivers recording at least one prior alcohol driving offense.

Conclusions: Alcohol-impaired driving continues to be a leading cause of fatal crashes. The popularity of drinking at home, particularly in rural areas, has implications for police enforcement strategies and suggests that drink driving interventions that focus on community values and looking after friends might be beneficial. Importantly, the study highlights the need for a broader holistic approach to reduce the high levels of alcohol consumption and alcohol dependence underlying drink driving behavior.     

市场导向的绿色技术创新机理与对策研究

基于对绿色技术创新的特殊属性、企业绿色技术创新环境和驱动力的转变分析,给出了市场导向对企业绿色技术创新的驱动机理。研究发现,企业绿色技术创新具有进度紧迫性、社会实用性、市场导向性及双重外部性等特殊属性,需借助市场机制来驱动企业绿色技术创新投入。市场导向下的企业绿色技术创新,就是要借助市场机制来优化企业绿色技术创新要素的配置效率。其中,市场供求机制有利于释放绿色技术创新要素的供需信号,市场竞争机制有利于提高绿色技术创新企业的市场竞争力;市场的价格机制有利于绿色技术创新企业的价值实现。最后,结合我国绿色技术创新发展实践提出6点建议:以解决突出矛盾为导向,精准设计市场规制措施;以优化顶层设计为起点,实现多主体协同发力;强化知识产权保护,制定绿色产业专利战略;多管齐下促进绿色消费,引导企业绿色技术创新;完善绿色标准和标识制度,倒逼绿色技术升级;建立绿色技术创新发展评估体系,有针对性地提高市场规制效率。     

“流空间”视域下淮海经济区城乡融合发展驱动机制

从要素流动多维重构淮海经济区城乡融合评价体系,以动态耦合协调度模型测度城乡融合水平并分析其时空分异规律,最后从“流空间”视角探索城乡融合发展驱动机制。结果表明：（1）研究区城乡融合水平整体较低但趋势向好,其正向空间关联和局域内向集聚特征明显。（2）流空间视角下区域呈多中心网络结构,且在人流和资金流下相对紧密,而物流和信息流下“核—辐”结构突出。（3）推动核心区集聚效应转向扩散效应,发挥各城市节点比较优势,合理调节要素流动强度、方向和质量,并在实施地方和国家政策时配套相关制度,方能实现淮海经济区城乡融合“量”“质”同升。     

闽三角地区碳排放时空差异及影响因素研究

以闽三角地区为研究对象,以2005~2017年为研究期,构建城市尺度的碳排放清单,应用对数平均迪氏指数分解方法从时间维度的纵向比较和典型年份城市横向比较两个维度开展了驱动因素的分解分析及评价,探讨了闽三角碳排放变化影响因素的时空差异.结果显示：研究期内闽三角CO₂排放增长较快,从2005年的74.08Mt增加到2017年169.48Mt,增幅为128.75%.其中,泉州贡献最大,占比为67.93%.碳排放变化趋势分析来看,产业结构和经济增长为导致闽三角地区碳排放量增长的主要因素,累计贡献度分别为30.38%和12.21%,能源结构为抑制碳排放的重要影响因素,累计贡献度为-45.76%.时空差异上看,能源结构效应在研究期内均表现为抑制效应,最大贡献率为52.95%;而产业结构效应均表现为促进效应,最大贡献率为33.85%.在研究期内,漳州市碳减排力度最大,最大净减排148.27Mt.而泉州市经济增长和产业结构效应贡献率较大,未来仍具有较大的减排空间.厦门市经济增长和产业结构效应贡献率均低于参考值,且在研究期内变动幅度较小,碳减排压力较低.研究结果深化了闽三角地区碳排放的时空格局及影响因素的科学认识,为闽三角地区及相似城市群的减排治理提供了有益借鉴.