TITLE: DELAY DISCOUNTING AND CAMPUS SPEEDING BEHAVIORMAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Ryan Redner Speeding, as defined by exceeding the speed limit posted in a designated area, is a problem that has a direct negative effect on a majority of America, college campuses not being exempt. A minimal amount of research has been conducted on specifically dangerous driving such as speeding on university campuses; this paper looks to expand upon the existing research. In addition, this study serves the purpose of attempting to correlate speeding and impulsivity. This was achieved by utilizing a survey in conjunction with delay discounting scenarios embedded within. Participants (n = 89) took a survey that involved questions about demographic information and past driving. The survey also included two hypothetical scenarios that encouraged participants to answer whether they would speed in the presented scenarios and at what point. To complete the survey the MCQ (Monetary Choice Questionnaire) was placed at the end. To assess the results the 89 participants were split into two groups two different times to be analyzed. One group was split into an impulsive group and non-impulsive group while the other group was split into speeders and non-speeders. As expected, both the impulsive and speeders were more likely to discount speed at a faster rate; this shown at higher rates in the penalty hypothetical scenario. The implications of this study include that those with that display higher impulsivity, shown through k-values, may have a higher tendency to engage in dangerous driving such as speeding, as well as understanding that penalty conditions, such as point loss, show a correlation with speeding.

This research investigates factors that influence severity of speed-related crashes on mainline roadway segments, with a particular emphasis on comparing single-vehicle and multiple-vehicle incidents and distinguishing between crashes involving legal speed limit violations and those exceeding the maximum safe travel speed as determined by law enforcement. Additionally, it examines significant factors related to classifying a crash as exceeding the maximum safe travel speed. Using crash data from the Traffic Records Electronic Data System (TREDS) for Virginia for 2023, the research employs both Ordinal and Nominal Logistic Regression models for analysis. The findings reveal that higher vehicle speeds before a crash significantly increase crash severity level across all scenarios. Rain and snow/sleet weather conditions exhibit significant impacts on crash outcomes, with adverse conditions often leading to increased severity levels. Roadway characteristics in terms of presence of medians and road surface conditions, are also found to be significant, as are. the driver-related factors of age, safety equipment used, EMS transport after the crash, and vehicle type. The study's comparative analysis between single and multiple vehicles speeding crashes, as well as speeding beyond legal limits and exceeding maximum safe travel speed highlights the contextual differences in crash severity determinants. The findings on classifying crashes as exceeding maximum safe travel speed highlight conditions that influence this designation as well as factors that can lead to inconsistencies in that classification. For example, environmental conditions like rain or snow, certain crash types, and work zone crashes may result in subjective assessments rather than objective determinations. The research offers valuable insights for informing targeted road safety strategies within the Safe System framework – targeted at reducing the severity of speed-related crashes for mainline road segments. The findings support implementing comprehensive strategies that address the complex interplay of speed, road conditions, vehicle characteristics, and driver factors in mitigating crash severity. / Master of Science / This research explores how speeding affects the severity of car crashes, seeking to understand why some accidents are more dangerous than others. By analyzing crash data from Virginia in 2023, the study looks at different types of crash scenarios – those involving just one vehicle and those involving multiple vehicles – and examines how factors like weather, road conditions, vehicle and driver characteristics contribute to the seriousness of these crashes. The research compares crashes where drivers exceed the legal speed limit with those where they drive faster than is safe under the given road conditions. Additionally, it investigates key factors that potentially influence law enforcement at the scene to designate that a crash involves a driver exceeding the safest speed for road and traffic conditions. The findings show that driving at higher speeds before a crash significantly increases the chances of severe injuries or fatalities. The study indicates how weather conditions, design characteristics of roads, or the condition of the road surface, impact crash severity. Driver age and whether drivers were under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and whether vehicle safety equipment like seatbelts were used, are significant in determining the severity of a crash. The findings on classifying crashes as exceeding maximum safe travel speed highlight conditions that influence this designation as well as factors that can lead to inconsistencies in that classification. This research is important because it provides insights for improving road safety.

This thesis looked at traffic crashes in the emirate of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to establish the current situation in road safety and ways of improving it. A global overview of road safety literature revealed that standards of road safety vary widely by region. Key indicators like fatality rate and risk (Jacobs et al, 2000) were found to be higher in most neighbouring Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) countries (10-25 fatalities/100,000 pop., 3-5 fatalities/10,000 motor vehicles) than in the best-performing Western countries (6 fatalities/100,000 pop., 1 fatality/10,000 motor vehicles). Interventions and countermeasures to tackle specific road safety issues were reviewed from international studies. Countermeasures were chosen with consideration for the local situation in Dubai within the categories of Human, Environmental and Vehicle factors. Examples of selected measures include offending driver punishment (Human), Electronic Stability Control (Vehicle) and central barriers (Environment). These measures were mostly studied in different environments to those in Dubai so the aspect of knowledge transfer between areas of different cultural and environmental conditions was discussed. Data from real world injury crashes (as collected by Dubai Police and the Roads & Transport Authority) over twelve years (1995 2006) were subject to macroanalysis in SPSS to identify the main issues over the past decade. 18,142 crashes involving 30,942 casualties and 48,960 vehicles were analysed at the outset. The following issues were among the main concerns: - High proportion of fatal crashes out of all injury crashes (13.5% compared to 1.4% in the UK); - Most fatal crashes involved a single vehicle hitting a pedestrian; - Most injury crashes involved a single vehicle; - Inconsiderate driving was the most common crash cause cited by the police. Countermeasures found in the literature to counteract these problems were then suggested for application and the estimated savings from applying them were calculated. Savings were quantified as either reductions in casualties or injury crashes. Furthermore, cost savings for the calculated reductions were estimated using existing UK crash costs due to the scarcity of UAE crash cost estimates. Calculation of the estimated improvement in safety if these countermeasures were applied retrospectively meant a reduction of 4,634 injury crashes and 1,555 casualties over the 12-year period with an estimated cost saving of approximately £368 million or 2.7 billion Dirhams. To refine this method more detailed data on crashes were required and collected from the dedicated crash investigation team files in Dubai Police for 2006 and part of 2007. This new dataset (300 crashes) was put into a purpose-built database with over 140 fields and subject to microanalysis to more accurately match the problems and interventions. Six interventions were matched to individual cases in the database where they would have positively altered the outcome. This process was verified by independent crash experts and investigators. The benefits from these six countermeasures were then weighted to calculate the benefits for the whole crash population over a year. Examples of specific interventions included guardrails along the roadside; grade-separated crossing facilities for pedestrians; Electronic Stability Control and speed cameras. The estimated total reduction in crashes was 2,412 annually with calculated savings of £40 million or 280 million Dirhams. This was the first time this geographical area was studied in such depth and detail to allow the calculation of benefits from interventions matched to known road safety issues. Various limitations were encountered such as the unavailability of GIS basemaps and the continuously changing infrastructure and population of Dubai. Numerous areas of further work were identified. Such work areas include hospital studies for collecting injury data to compare with police data; changing vehicle standards so that they are better suited to local crash types; the calculation of crash and injury costs based on local figures; vehicle fleet analysis for comparing different vehicle segments and exposure; and improved data collection and storage methods.

<p>Every year many people all over the world are killed and severely injured in road traffic accidents. Even though driving too fast is a behaviour well known to contribute to both the number and the outcome of these accidents, drivers are still speeding. The general aim of this thesis, and its five empirical studies, is therefore to further the knowledge about drivers speeding behaviour by using the theory of planned behaviour and the model underpinning the driver behaviour questionnaire as frames of reference. The behavioural data used is obtained from field trials with intelligent speed adaptation and the speed reducing potential of this system is also examined. The results show that attitude towards exceeding the speed limits, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control and moral norm from the theory of planned behaviour, but also violations and inattention errors from the model underpinning the driver behaviour questionnaire, can be used to predict drivers’ everyday speeding behaviour. These two models can also be combined in order to gain further knowledge about the causes of speeding. Identification of drivers’ beliefs about exceeding the speed limits gives further insight into the underlying cognitive foundation of their attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control. This provides valuable information for future design of speed reducing measures. Regarding intelligent speed adaptation, the results show that the ISA speed-warning device greatly reduces the amount of time drivers spend above the speed limits, and to some extent also reduces their mean speeds, but that this effect decreases with time. Although the drivers are not totally satisfied with the experience of the ISA speed-warning device, they like the idea and can see its usefulness. As the device tested is a first generation ISA speed-warning device, further research has the potential to greatly improve the system.</p>

Every year many people all over the world are killed and severely injured in road traffic accidents. Even though driving too fast is a behaviour well known to contribute to both the number and the outcome of these accidents, drivers are still speeding. The general aim of this thesis, and its five empirical studies, is therefore to further the knowledge about drivers speeding behaviour by using the theory of planned behaviour and the model underpinning the driver behaviour questionnaire as frames of reference. The behavioural data used is obtained from field trials with intelligent speed adaptation and the speed reducing potential of this system is also examined. The results show that attitude towards exceeding the speed limits, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control and moral norm from the theory of planned behaviour, but also violations and inattention errors from the model underpinning the driver behaviour questionnaire, can be used to predict drivers’ everyday speeding behaviour. These two models can also be combined in order to gain further knowledge about the causes of speeding. Identification of drivers’ beliefs about exceeding the speed limits gives further insight into the underlying cognitive foundation of their attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control. This provides valuable information for future design of speed reducing measures. Regarding intelligent speed adaptation, the results show that the ISA speed-warning device greatly reduces the amount of time drivers spend above the speed limits, and to some extent also reduces their mean speeds, but that this effect decreases with time. Although the drivers are not totally satisfied with the experience of the ISA speed-warning device, they like the idea and can see its usefulness. As the device tested is a first generation ISA speed-warning device, further research has the potential to greatly improve the system.

Several aspects contribute to road crashes and one important part is the ‘human factor’. This information is interesting but insufficient unless we also try to understand what is meant by the term. Three different features have been defined: errors, lapses and violations and the latter, which is a deliberate act, has been found to be the main contributor to road crashes. The crucial issue is therefore to understand what motivates drivers to commit an act, which puts both themselves and others at risk. The aim of this thesis is to explore the motives behind this behaviour through the use of an extended version of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Four different studies were carried out: The first study is qualitative, investigating the intention to violate. The second one assesses speeding in an urban area and dangerous overtaking. In addition to variables within the model, descriptive norms and past behaviour are included. The third study explores what particular beliefs are responsible for the behaviour. The fourth study uses the TPB to predict intention to speed on a rural road and assesses some underlying factors, such as ambivalence and gender. The results of the thesis show that the theory explains 33 to 53% of the variance in intention to violate and that descriptive norm and past behaviour significantly increase the explained variance. Descriptive norm is also related to risk and past behaviour is not only related to intention but also to the variables within the model. The results show that drivers’ beliefs can distinguish between intenders and non-intenders. With regard to attitudes the general conclusion is that the main difference lay in the effect of positive outcomes. Although in a more ‘risky’ situation the behaviour is more controlled by a denial of negative consequences. Finally, the results indicates that in the context of driving violations an expressed low level of control over the behaviour could be interpreted as a form of denial of responsibility rather than an inability to control their own actions. Implications of the current findings for the development of intervention programmes are discussed.

This study examined the drivers' perception of the SAHER (means "watchful" in Arabic) system in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The purpose of this study was to analyze the perception of the SAHER system on impacting the overall traffic conditions in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia including its effectiveness and flaws. A survey was conducted and distributed to 70 drivers and residents of Jeddah. Drivers were divided into two groups based on their age. Five hypotheses were tested in this study. Hypotheses one through four were tested using the averages of related questions. Hypothesis five was tested statistically using a z-test for differences between the means. The overall conclusion of drivers' perception of SAHER on increasing road safety and reducing loss of life was generally positive. The conclusion for hypothesis 1, 2, and 3 was positive. The conclusion for hypothesis four was inconclusive. The conclusion for hypothesis five was retained to the null hypothesis with a 95% confidence level. A key recommendation from the study is that to measure the overall effectiveness of the system it will be prudent to observe how the system is perceived in other major cities of Saudi Arabia apart from Jeddah.

This thesis investigates the effect of a feedback-reward system on speeding and tailgating behaviours. Data utilized in this study were collected from 37 participants through a field trial commissioned by Transport Canada. In this trial, a feedback-reward system was investigated, which provided feedback and rewards to the drivers based on speed limit compliance and safe headway maintenance. The trial consisted of three phases: baseline, intervention, and post-intervention. During the intervention phase, real-time feedback was provided on an in-vehicle display. Participants also accumulated reward points and could view related information on a website. Results indicate that the intervention resulted in a significant increase in speed limit compliance, and this positive effect, although dampened, was still apparent after system removal. Similarly, results on headway compliance rate indicate a positive intervention effect, however, this effect did not sustain after system removal. These findings have implications for developing better aids to improve driving behaviour.

This thesis investigates the effect of a feedback-reward system on speeding and tailgating behaviours. Data utilized in this study were collected from 37 participants through a field trial commissioned by Transport Canada. In this trial, a feedback-reward system was investigated, which provided feedback and rewards to the drivers based on speed limit compliance and safe headway maintenance. The trial consisted of three phases: baseline, intervention, and post-intervention. During the intervention phase, real-time feedback was provided on an in-vehicle display. Participants also accumulated reward points and could view related information on a website. Results indicate that the intervention resulted in a significant increase in speed limit compliance, and this positive effect, although dampened, was still apparent after system removal. Similarly, results on headway compliance rate indicate a positive intervention effect, however, this effect did not sustain after system removal. These findings have implications for developing better aids to improve driving behaviour.

Although a handful of experiments have utilized indirect feedback in attempts to reduce speeding on roadways, fewer experiments have utilized direct feedback as a means to reduce incidences of speeding. The current study evaluated the effects of direct and individualized feedback provided by a large electronic feedback sign that displayed the speed of oncoming vehicles as they approached the sign along the roadways of a college campus. The effects of the sign were evaluated using a non-simultaneous multiple baseline experimental design employing two control conditions and intervention phase. Each condition was implemented at three sites on the college campus. The results showed that intervention produced significant decreases in both measures of vehicle speeds at each site, relative to measures collected during both control conditions.