Traffic and everything connected with it is usually a large part of community discussion since communications are important in our daily lives. A majority of those having reached the minimum age for taking a driver's licence test have a driver's license (Gallup, 2001), and it can be assumed that a large part of the nation drives each day. In the same way, the enforcement of traffic regulations is one of the biggest tasks of the police (National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police, 2003), and it is therefore not without reason that the interest in research in this issue area is high, especially in respect of improving communications and reducing the damage from traffic accidents. Research on speeding has generally focused on a driver's age and gender (see, for example, Reykjavik Chief of Police, 2003). It is also the view that young men are more prone to taking risks than young women (Harré, Brandt and Dawe, 2000; Jonah, 1997) and are consequently more likely to speed, get into accidents and generally violate traffic rules. Although reference is generally made to men being more likely than women to get into accidents (see, for example, Einar Gudmundsson and Sigurdur Helgason, 2002), few research projects on this difference have been done in Iceland since studies have focused rather on the driver's age. It is no less important to take into account the driver's gender, among other reasons, in light of research indicating that women are more likely than men to be injured (Lam, 2003) and die (Bédard, Guyatt, Stones and Hirdes, 2002) if they get into a traffic accident although more men die while driving overall (see, for example, Bédard et al., 2002; The Icelandic Road Accident Analysis Group, 2001). The report of The Icelandic Road Accident Analysis Group (2001) on traffic fatalities in 2000 tells us that the main causes of fatal traffic accidents 1998-2000 were speeding, drunk driving and failure to fasten seat belts. According to the report, human error is the most common cause of accidents, and about 54% of the main cause and sub-factors may be traced to people's behaviour in traffic. In 2000 most accidents were classified as purposeful violations, while in preceding years interaction between these factors and poor maintenance of automobile equipment and use of safety equipment were commonest. Research has also indicated that factors like the quantity of alcohol exceeding 0.30‰ and traffic accidents where one vehicle is driven into the side of another are connected with fatal accidents (Bédard et al., 2002). Collisions from the side may be considered most likely when a red light is run, or when the rights of another vehicle are not respected. Other research showed that men were more likely than women to be arrested for drunk driving, but no gender difference emerged when it was asked how often people had driven under the influence of alcohol (Yu and Williford, 1993). Research on the driving behaviour of youth has also revealed an age difference in attitudes and behaviour in traffic, i.e., that risky attitudes and behaviour seem to increase with age (Harré, Brandt and Dawe, 2000). When drivers are asked how good they think they are as drivers, the majority of them reply and that they are above average (Gleitman, 1995). Overconfident people, who are too certain of themselves, accept safety limits that are too narrow since most of them do not realize the distribution around the average. It may be that this evaluation is to some extent linked to experience. Thus, research shows that inexperienced investors believe more strongly than experienced ones that they can achieve an above-average yield since they expect a greater yield from their investments than more experienced investors do (Shefrin, 2000). For drivers this would mean that inexperienced drivers would believe themselves to be better drivers than more experienced drivers. (Author/publisher)
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