THE ROLE OF PERSONALITY AND ATTITUDES IN TRAFFIC ACCIDENT RISK

This paper describes a study examining the personality and attitude co rrelates of self-reported fast driving and accident rates. A total of 406 drivers completed a questionnaire containing an Attitude to Drivin g Violations Scale (ADVS), the Social Motivation Questionnaire (SMQ) y ielding a score of social deviance, and the speed subscale of the Driv ing Style Questionnaire (DSQ). Respondents also indicated how many acc idents they had had over the past three years, broken down into severa l categories. The results indicated that drivers with a more positive attitude to driving violations and higher level of social deviance dro ve faster and reported more accidents, with mileage controlled for. Th e association with accidents was primarily with those in which the dri ver could reasonably have been held to play a causal role (e.g. hittin g another vehicle from behind). The results indicate the value of the ADVS as a marker of accident liability and replicate a previous findin g of an association between social deviance and accident rates.