A driver follows three phases in becoming a member of the driving community: (1) technical mastery; (2) reading the road; and (3) the expressive phase, in which the driver uses the manner in which he drives to express his personality and attitude to other road users. This paper presents studies of the third phase by the Manchester Driver Behaviour Research Group. In its large-scale national surveys in England, the Group asked drivers how often they experienced certain driving manoeuvres, classified into three basic types: lapses, errors and violations. It was found that high violators were more likely to be male and to be young, and some of their other characteristics were found. The Group's most recent studies examined predicting intentions to speed in three speeding scenarios. Violators, not errors or lapsers, are statistically linked to greater accident involvement, so that road safety will be improved by dissuading them from violating.
Abstract