In the present paper, a study of driver errors was replicated in a survey of over 1400 drivers. New error items were added to the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ). An analysis of data based on the original DBQ confirmed the three-factor structure obtained. When new items were included in the analysis a four-factor solution was found to be more appropriate. Two of the four factors correspond to the two factors presented previously, namely violations and dangerous errors, while the third factor, harmless lapses, was split into two new factors, inattention errors and inexperience errors in the present study. Inattention errors were shown to be of special interest as the scores for this factor increased with age thus indicating errors that might be caused by automatization of driver behaviour. (A)
Abstract