Zhang Guopeng, Hu Xianghong, Hu Nianyi
College of Engineering, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, Zhejiang, China.
Key Laboratory of Urban Rail Transit Intelligent Operation and Maintenance Technology & Equipment of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, Zhejiang, China.
Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot. 2024 Dec;31(4):609-616. doi: 10.1080/17457300.2024.2392269. Epub 2024 Aug 16.
Distracted driving is a threat to traffic safety that can result in more traffic crashes. Although previous studies have been conducted to explore the relationship between driver distraction and hazardous driving actions, few studies are available to identify the causation between them. Thus, the study intended to evaluate the causal effects of distraction on hazardous driving actions at intersections based on the crash data extracted from the Crash Report Sampling System (2021-2022). The multinomial logit model was employed to reveal the factors contributing to driver distraction. Then, propensity score weighting was adopted to balance the factor distributions between distraction and non-distraction cases to identify the causal effects on hazardous actions. Results indicated that 1) the propensity of distraction is relevant to factors such as the driver's age, gender, vehicle type, speed limit, area, weather, and light condition, 2) driver distraction can significantly increase the probability of risky actions including speeding, running red lights, failing to obey stop signs, failing to yield, following too closely, and 3) the causal effects show great diversity for different distraction types. The findings serve to understand the influence mechanism of distraction on specific crash risks and develop countermeasures to reduce distraction and hazardous driving actions.
分心驾驶是对交通安全的一种威胁，可能导致更多交通事故。尽管此前已有研究探讨驾驶员分心与危险驾驶行为之间的关系，但很少有研究能够确定两者之间的因果关系。因此，本研究旨在基于从碰撞报告抽样系统（2021 - 2022年）提取的碰撞数据，评估分心对交叉路口危险驾驶行为的因果效应。采用多项逻辑回归模型来揭示导致驾驶员分心的因素。然后，采用倾向得分加权法来平衡分心与未分心情况之间的因素分布，以确定对危险行为的因果效应。结果表明：1）分心倾向与驾驶员年龄、性别、车辆类型、限速、区域、天气和光照条件等因素有关；2）驾驶员分心会显著增加包括超速、闯红灯、不遵守停车标志、不礼让、跟车过近等危险行为的概率；3）不同分心类型的因果效应表现出很大差异。这些发现有助于理解分心对特定碰撞风险的影响机制，并制定减少分心和危险驾驶行为的对策。
