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Title:

Latent Class Cluster Analysis of New England Driver Attitudes Toward Risky Driving: Is There a Rural Culture of Unsafe Driving Attitudes and Behavior?

Accession Number:

01333536

Record Type:

Component

Abstract:

The vastly higher rate of highway death experienced by rural residents, compared to urban and suburban residents, could be at least partially explained by the presence of a “rural culture” characterized by bad attitudes towards dangerous driving behaviors. This paper describes the application of a method of behavioral analysis borrowed from the field of market research, designed to apply a statistically-based model to the task of segmenting the driving population based on the similarities of drivers’ attitude and beliefs structures. A survey of over 1,000 residents of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York and Massachusetts was conducted. The purpose of the survey was to study the driving behaviors and attitudes of New England residents. The study explored the frequencies of risky driving behaviors and attitudes to better understand the driving culture of the targeted areas. The work described in this paper used latent class cluster analysis to identify segments of the driving population which exhibit distinct patterns of attitudes and behavior. The analysis identified four distinct segments, two of which correspond with extremes of attitudes, behaviors and outcomes and two of which are more nuanced. However, rural residents tend to fall more predominantly in the segments that exhibit the attitudes, behaviors and outcomes associated with safe driving. Thus, the analysis decidedly does not find evidence of a rural culture of unsafe driving. If anything, this study finds the reverse; that is, rural residents tend toward segments that exhibit attitudes and behaviors that support safer driving and have better self-reported outcomes.

Monograph Accession #:

01329018

Report/Paper Numbers:

11-3330

Language:

English

Corporate Authors:

Transportation Research Board

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Authors:

Campbell, Margaret
Coogan, Matthew A
Adler, Thomas Jay

Pagination:

16p

Publication Date:

2011

Conference:

Transportation Research Board 90th Annual Meeting

Location: Washington DC, United States
Date: 2011-1-23 to 2011-1-27
Sponsors: Transportation Research Board

Media Type:

DVD

Features:

Figures (6) ; References (21) ; Tables (2)

Uncontrolled Terms:

Social norms

Geographic Terms:

New England

Subject Areas:

Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Society; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor

Source Data:

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2011 Paper #11-3330

Files:

TRIS, TRB

Created Date:

Feb 17 2011 6:28PM