Confidence and the older driver

A sample Of 555 drivers aged 50 or more were assessed in terms of their con fidence in a range of driving situations, self-ratings of their driving abi lity, self-reported driving behaviour, and personality as measured by Eysen ck's EPQ. Levels of nervousness when driving were surprisingly low, althoug h there was no evidence of unrealistic self-ratings of driving ability. Fem ale drivers reported significantly fewer errors and intentional violations than did male drivers. Female drivers were also found to score higher on th e Extroversion, Neuroticism and Lie scales than did males. However, the mal es in the sample scored higher on the Psychoticism scale than the females. Driving confidence was associated with the following: a low level of lapses and errors, and a high level of violations; a low score on the Neuroticism scale and a high score on the Extroversion scale; being male, and high ann ual mileage. Personality did not mediate the relationship between driving c onfidence and self-rated driving ability.