Department of Psychology, University of Essex, UK.
Department of Psychology, University of Essex, UK.
Accid Anal Prev. 2018 Jun;115:11-24. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2018.02.025. Epub 2018 Mar 9.
What are the main contributing factors to road accidents? Factors such as inexperience, lack of skill, and risk-taking behaviors have been associated with the collisions of young drivers. In contrast, visual, cognitive, and mobility impairment have been associated with the collisions of older drivers. We investigated the main causes of road accidents by drawing on multiple sources: expert views of police officers, lay views of the driving public, and official road accident records. In Studies 1 and 2, police officers and the public were asked about the typical causes of road traffic collisions using hypothetical accident scenarios. In Study 3, we investigated whether the views of police officers and the public about accident causation influence their recall accuracy for factors reported to contribute to hypothetical road accidents. The results show that both expert views of police officers and lay views of the driving public closely approximated the typical factors associated with the collisions of young and older drivers, as determined from official accident records. The results also reveal potential underreporting of factors in existing accident records, identifying possible inadequacies in law enforcement practices for investigating driver distraction, drug and alcohol impairment, and uncorrected or defective eyesight. Our investigation also highlights a need for accident report forms to be continuously reviewed and updated to ensure that contributing factor lists reflect the full range of factors that contribute to road accidents. Finally, the views held by police officers and the public on accident causation influenced their memory recall of factors involved in hypothetical scenarios. These findings indicate that delay in completing accident report forms should be minimised, possibly by use of mobile reporting devices at the accident scene.
导致道路交通事故的主要因素有哪些？经验不足、技能缺乏和冒险行为等因素与年轻驾驶员的碰撞事故有关。相比之下，视力、认知和行动能力受损与老年驾驶员的碰撞事故有关。我们通过多种来源调查了道路交通事故的主要原因：警察的专家意见、普通公众的意见以及官方道路事故记录。在研究 1 和研究 2 中，警察和公众被要求使用假设的事故场景来描述道路交通事故的典型原因。在研究 3 中，我们调查了警察和公众对事故原因的看法是否会影响他们对导致假设道路事故的因素的记忆准确性。结果表明，警察的专家意见和普通公众的意见都非常接近从官方事故记录中确定的与年轻和老年驾驶员碰撞事故相关的典型因素。结果还揭示了现有事故记录中可能存在的因素漏报问题，确定了执法部门在调查驾驶员分心、药物和酒精影响以及未矫正或有缺陷视力方面的做法可能存在不足。我们的调查还强调了需要不断审查和更新事故报告表格，以确保因素清单反映导致道路交通事故的所有因素。最后，警察和公众对事故原因的看法影响了他们对假设场景中涉及因素的记忆召回。这些发现表明，应尽量减少填写事故报告表格的延迟，可能的办法是在事故现场使用移动报告设备。
