Acta Polytechnica CTU Proceedings doi:10.14311/APP.2017.12.0112 Acta Polytechnica CTU Proceedings 12:112–115, 2017 © Czech Technical University in Prague, 2017 available online at http://ojs.cvut.cz/ojs/index.php/app DANGEROUS DRIVER’S BEHAVIOR Libor Topol∗, Ivo Drahotský Univerzita Pardubice, Dopravní fakulta Jana Pernera, Studentská 95, 532 10 Pardubice ∗ corresponding author: LiborTopol@seznam.cz Abstract. Different types of dangerous driver’s behavior are discussed in this paper. Case study analysis of young drivers’ hazardous behavior is also provided from authors’ practices. The practical research is collaborated with the statistical data that aggressive driving induces the number of fatalities on the roads in the Czech Republic by 25%. The improvement to driver’s training and other countermeasures is then suggested. Keywords: dangerous driving behavior, driver training, road safety. Year Number of acci- dents Number of fatal- ities Number of serve in- juries Number of light in- juries 2010 75522 753 2823 21610 2011 75137 707 3092 22519 2012 81404 681 2986 22590 2013 84398 583 2782 22577 2014 85859 571 2409 18074 2015 93067 660 2540 24426 Table 1. Evolution of basic indicators of accidents in 2010-2015. 1. Introduction Road transport occupies a significant segment in trans- portation in general and due to its high accident rates and hence economical losses, considering the affect- ing factors is rather crucial for safety improvement. Road traffic safety may be characterized by direct and indirect safety indicators. Direct indicators are the number of road accidents, their consequences and eco- nomical losses. Indirect indicators are phenomena or circumstances that project safety assessment into ex- perimental plane of relations between human behavior and transportation safety (following the speed limits, application of safety systems, maintaining safe dis- tances between vehicles, estimation and anticipation of errors in real traffic). High traffic intensity on roads is a reason of high workload for car drivers. This overload is related to the number of accidents in the Czech Republic, which, despite various measures for its reduction in comparison with other European countries, is still very high. Traffic accidents are a major social issue. The table tracks a noticeable increase of fatalities in traffic accidents. Number of light and heavy injuries increases as well. One may notice a constant increase in total number of accidents. In 2015 total of 93,067 accidents was Figure 1. Total number of recorded accidents in the Czech Republic from 2011-2015. reported and investigated. For example, compared to 2014, there were about 7,208 more accidents in 2015. Every day the Czech Police has conduct around 255 accident investigations on average. This is equal to approximately 14.901.712,00 CZK of property losses every day[1]. 2. Dangerous driver’s behavior Among other factors, aggressive driving contributes to traffic accidents to a high extent. Per ÚAMK, 91% of drivers have been exposed to aggressive driving to a certain extent. Under the term of dangerous driver’s behavior, we may assume the one that is in contradiction to official and so-called unofficial or non- written rules, an unexpected, aggressive or unusual and non-customary behavior on the road[2]. Human behavior is diverse. Driver’s behavior differs from every person. It is possible to categorize danger- ous behavior from different perspectives. Inattentive driving can be related to dangerous behavior as it is, besides speeding, the most common cause of traffic accidents. Another category is driving while being involved in some secondary activities that are not re- lated to vehicle control. These are smoking, talking 112 http://dx.doi.org/10.14311/APP.2017.12.0112 http://ojs.cvut.cz/ojs/index.php/app vol. 12/2017 Dangerous Driver’s Behavior Accident #1 Accident #2 Time of accident: 5:15 am Time of accident: 6:54 Road class: II Road class: II Road section type: Roundabout Road section type: Two-way road Weather conditions 8°C, clear Weather conditions 12°C, clear Driver’s age: 25 y.o. Driver’s age: 28 y.o. Vehicle Vehicle Car make: Audi A6 Car make: Suzuki Swift Year of issue: 2001 Year of issue: 2004 Outcomes Outcomes # of fatalities: 3 – immediate (includ- ing driver), 1 – in hos- pital # of fatalities: 3 – immediate (includ- ing driver) # of severely injured: 2 # of severely injured: 3 Description: Driver approached and entered the roundabout without any or with low speed reduction and thus couldn’t manage the turn- ing but ran across the safety island in the middle of roundabout and broke through the roundabout fence ended up on a roof in reten- tion tank. Accident sketch can be seen in the image bellow. Description: Driver exit the lane and with right vehicle side hit front of vehicle in an opposing traffic. Accident sketch can be seen in the image bellow. Table 2. Figure 2. Damaged vehicles from accident 1 (left) and accident 2 (right). 113 Libor Topol, Ivo Drahotský Acta Polytechnica CTU Proceedings on the phone while driving, eating, drinking, involving into conversations with other passengers and so on. A driver’s personality, psychological and medical condi- tion, lack of knowledge of traffic rules can be the risk itself[3]. These and many features of driver’s behavior that can be gathered under one term of aggressive driving. Committing traffic violations can occur both because of negligence, and unintentionally[4]. Driver’s age is also one of the factors that influences road safety. Lack of experience of novice drivers can cause a potential danger in traffic situations as well as dete- riorating physical state of senior drivers[5]. Hence, we can categorize dangerous behavior by age or driving experience. Young drivers (age group under 24 years old) are said to be the highest risk group of drivers in age- wise[6]. They lack the capacity to adequately evaluate dangerous situations, they tend to overestimate their own abilities, have little driving experience and, there- fore, fewer skills in vehicle control. Beginner drivers are often subject to influence of opinions of other car occupants, they often drive vehicles in poor techni- cal condition and tend to drive high-speed powerful vehicles and thus are exposed to a false feeling of safety. Statistical research confirms that young drivers are referred as the most dangerous group. They, more often than others, exceed the speed limit, overtake in sections with low visibility road sections or when not allowed and tend to hit the red traffic light signal. In this group there are also individuals who tend to drive more often under the influence of alcohol and other drugs. Young male drivers tend to take more risky maneuvers, rather than young women who tend to avoid dangerous situations, by extent and frequency. Young males are also less attentive than females of the same age category. It is, of course, worth noticing that percentage of female drivers in general is still lower than that of male, women drive less in general (kilometers-wise)[7, 8]. Driving school instructors in many European coun- tries believe that nowadays, young drivers behave more hazardously on the road, not realizing the poten- tial threat of accidents and their consequences. Speed- ing is associated with masculinity. Nowadays, young drivers’ attention, compared to the one in the past, is affected by many disturbing factors such as advertis- ing and bill-boards, loud car acoustic systems, mobile phones etc. Driving instructors believe that it may be necessary to reconsider approach to young driver train- ing in terms of study program duration and extension of training programs on driving simulators[9]. 3. Traffic accidents with participation of young drivers – case study Information for the following study is based on au- thors’ personal practice of forensic expertise. The expert evaluation of vehicles has been performed, the technical information is given in Table 2. The two accidents have some typical features in common. Both drivers were from the dangerous group – young drivers. In each case, the accident took place at early morning hours, which makes experts relate to so called "after party" accidents. Both were older cars, which may have affected the severity of consequences. The number of passengers at the time of the accident was higher than allowed (6 car occupants in both cases). 4. Conclusion Dangerous behavior of younger drivers is a reason of many fatal accidents on the roads. One of the important reasons is lack of training for new drivers, which should include both psychological preparation of novice drivers and extensive practical training. Also lack of experience is one of the reasons younger drivers overestimate their ability to handle vehicle at high speeds or while turning, neglect the car technical state (old cars) or its power (new cars). This aspect shall be addressed along with other valid methods of accidents rate reduction[10]. References [1] Directorate of Traffic Police 2016. Statistics of traffic accidents. Online: policie.cz/clanek/statistika-nehodovosti. [2] M. Šucha. Dopravní psychologie pro praxi: výběr, výcvik a rehabilitace řidičů. Praha: Grada Publishing, 2013. ISBN 978-80-247-4113-0. [3] M. Šucha. Agresivita na cestách. 1. vyd. Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci, 2009. ISBN 9788024423753. [4] P. Bouchner, M. Novák, S. Novotný, et al. Human behavior while driving the road vehicle. Prague: Faculty of transportation sciences, CTU in Prague, Department of vehicle technology, 2015. 1st electronic. ISBN 978-80-01-05872-5. [5] M. Novák, P. Bouchner, J. Faber, et al. Senioři za volantem. Praha: Department of Informatics Academy of Sciences in Czech Republic, v.v.i., 2008. ISBN 978-80-87136-02-7. [6] S. Novotný, P. Bouchner, M. Novák. Agresivní a nebezpečné chování řidičů motorových vozidel v ČR – analýza dat z plovoucích vozidel. In: Dopravní nehodovost a rizikové chování řidičů motorových vozidel. Praha: Vyšší policejní škola MV v Praze, 2013, pp. 49-59. ISBN 978-80-260-5466-5. [7] Z. Šejdová. Riskantní jednání mladých řidičů v České Republice. Master thesis. Palacký University Olomouc, 2015. [8] Mladí řidiči a dopravní nehodovost. 2007. Source: czrso.cz. Available on 8.5.2017. [9] Goodyear Europe, Middle East and Africa. A report by Goodyear Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). November 2013. 114 policie.cz/clanek/statistika-nehodovosti czrso.cz vol. 12/2017 Dangerous Driver’s Behavior [10] P. Bouchner, J. Faber, P. Hrubeš, et al. Road accident reduction. Roma: ARACNE editrice S.r.I., 2010. ISBN 978-88-548-3550-4. 115 Acta Polytechnica CTU Proceedings 12:112–115, 2017 1 Introduction 2 Dangerous driver's behavior 3 Traffic accidents with participation of young drivers – case study 4 Conclusion References