This study looks at the phenomenon of aggression on the roads from the psychological, social sciences and legal perspectives. The goal of the psychological and social sciences part of the study (1) is to identify the prevalence and genesis of aggressive behaviour on Austria’s roads as well as its relevance from a road accident perspective. The link between the aggressive behaviour of other road users and emotional stress, which often causes frustration and an aggressive reaction, was already identified in the 1939 Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis. The definition of aggression on the roads proposed by Herzberg and Schlag (2006), which includes both openly hostile behaviour like swearing, tooting the horn, making threats, etc. as well as instrumental behaviour (e.g. tailgating to get to a destination more quickly), serves as the basis for the present study. Based on the afore-mentioned theoretical considerations, a series of focus group discussions were held in Vienna and one other regional capital (Amstetten, Lower Austria) to explore the theory and fine-tune the subsequent quantitative study. It thereby emerged that stress is a key factor when it comes to frustration and aggression. In the quantitative part of the study, telephone interviews were carried out with n=1,500 car drivers of all ages across the whole of Austria. During these interviews, the drivers were asked about the aggressive behaviour of other road users and their own aggressive behaviour on the roads and whether there were any differences. They were also asked to what extent the aggressive behaviour of other road users affected them emotionally. All the forms of behaviour discussed related to aggression and/or driver errors on the roads. The corresponding items were derived from various established questionnaires. This quantitative data was then used to calculate a personal aggression score and to test various road safety hypotheses. The core finding of this study is that there is a link between aggressive behaviour and more careless driving, more frequent driver errors and increased involvement in road accidents — regardless of a driver’s annual road mileage. Furthermore, men, people from larger residential areas (>50,000 inhabitants) and people with higher educational qualifications exhibit higher aggression scores. “Driving too close to the vehicle in front or tailgating” is the form of behaviour that is by far the most frequently associated with aggression. It is also the form of behaviour for which there was the biggest discrepancy between people’s perceptions of their own driving behaviour and that of others and which annoyed people the most. The legal part of the study (2) looked at how (if at all) aggressive behaviour on the roads is addressed in the Austrian legal system. It examined (1) to what extent the topic of “aggression” is covered in road traffic law, and (2) how aggressive behaviour is prosecuted (in administrative criminal proceedings). The report provides an overview of potential criminal offences with regard to aggression on the roads as well as potential sanctions and alternative punishments for aggressive behaviour by road users. (Author/publisher)
Abstract