Unstable emotions and self-control examined according to the drivers age

K.Ogawa
1*
, H.Ota
2
1
Hiroshima International University, Japan;
2
Tohoku Institute of Technology, Japan
o-kazuhi@he.hirokoku-u.ac.jp
Abstract
Drivers emotions often become unstable under the stress of driving as well as under the stress of a
busy work life. If a driver doesnt manage to control his/her emotions, then he/she may make an error
or take unnecessary risks. The purpose of this study is, firstly, to measure emotional instability (e.g.,
irritation, a hurried state of mind, anger) in stressful situations on the road, and secondly, to estimate
the ability to control unsafe behaviour. Thirty-nine illustrated driving scenes with written explanations
were presented to 282 male drivers. The participants were asked to rate the degree of emotional
instability and to judge whether or not they would take the coping action exemplified in the scene. The
data were factor-analysed using a principal-components analysis. The stressful driving scenes were
classified into six categories: anger toward unsafe behaviour by other road users, impatience under the
pressure of time, anxiety about accident risk, impatience in interpersonal conflict, self-centred
irritation, and conflict with a passenger. The mean scores of each category were examined according to
age. The results showed that young male drivers easily felt anger toward other drivers and impatience
under the pressure of time, and then tended to fall into self-centred irritation in the situations where a
car in front was moving slowly. It was found that young drivers also tended to take risky actions under
the pressure of time. The findings suggest that driver education dealing with emotions should be
developed so that drivers, particularly young drivers, can improve their self-control skills to cope with
stress.
Keywords: Emotions, Self-control, Stress coping, Driver education, Hierarchical model
1. Introduction
The focus of driver education has recently shifted from the learning of manoeuvring skills to the
higher level of skills involving driver behaviour. The over-involvement of young male drivers in
collisions suggests that their superior motor skills in operating a vehicle are inadequate to preserve safe
behaviour. Increased manoeuvring skills raise the level of risk-taking in the choice of speed and safety
margin (Ntnen and Summala, 1974). Manoeuvring is a basic element of driving behaviour but not
always the main skill in safe driving.
One skill in which young drivers are lacking is hazard perception. Drivers have to anticipate
dangerous events in traffic situations to avoid being involved in accidents. Quick and accurate
perception of hazards provides a wider spatial and temporal margin, thereby preventing possible
accidents from happening. The ability to perceive hazards has been recognized in addition to
manoeuvring skills to play a vital roll in safe driving; thus several training programs and teaching
materials on hazard perception have been developed. The examination for driving licensing has
included tests to evaluate applicants skills of perceiving hazards since 1999 in Japan. Accordingly, the
curriculum at driving schools was revised in such a way that hazard perception could be given in
training courses. In particular, it is important that novice drivers, who are unskilled in adapting
themselves to complicated traffic situations, learn how to perceive hazards.
However, risk-taking is not caused only by a lack of skill at perceiving hazards. There remain other
skills to be learnt by the drivers. As Ntnen and Summala (1974) described, driving is essentially a
self-paced task, which means that decisions are made under the influence of motivation. The driver
operates a vehicle in a way that he/she wants. The driver selects a speed that he/she wants.
Manoeuvring is a tool for drivers to achieve their needs. Hazard perception is also subject to
motivation. For instance, even middle-aged drivers, who are proficient in perceiving hazards,
sometimes shorten following distance at high speed when they are in a hurry. This means that
controlling motives is quite another matter from simply perceiving hazards.
There are various motivational aspects that influence driving behaviour in certain driving situations.
In particular, emotional instability such as frustration, anger, irritation, and impatience may trigger
risky behaviour. Drivers often experience negative emotions while driving because driving is itself
stressful. Stressors such as a traffic jam and a tight schedule make some drivers frustrated, and then
induce acceleration, shortening of following distance, or reckless overtaking. Thus, negative emotions
are connected to motives of risk-taking behaviour. Some studies have shown that negative aspects of
emotional attitude can be related to accident involvement. Emotions sometimes cause unsafe behaviour
in traffic. Young drivers have a tendency to drive impulsively. Their behaviour under the influence of
emotions leads to a high risk of accidents although they are usually superior in manoeuvring to other
age groups.
According to the hierarchical model proposed by Keskinen (1996), self-control is placed on the
highest level of driving skills (see also Hatakka, Keskinen, Gregersen, Glad, and Hernetkoski, 2002).
The model combines motivation (including emotion and attitude) with driving performance (including
hazard perception and maneuvering), thereby explaining why education focused on driving
performance fails to modify inappropriate behaviour. The key feature of a hierarchical approach is that
skills on a higher level can dominate those on a lower level, which leads us to conclude that driver
education should deal with the motivational aspects. Drivers need to learn not only how to control a car
but also how to control their attitudes.
The hierarchical model by Keskinen (1996) consists of four components: (in order from the lowest)
vehicle maneuvering, mastering traffic situations, goals and context of driving, and goals for life and
skills for living. Drivers learn to master skills in order from lower levels to higher. However, there is a
dilemma in that the higher the level of skills is, the more difficult the teaching of it is. How do we teach
self-control skills? How may drivers best learn to control behaviour that is under the influence of
emotions? There are few empirical data about self-control in the field of traffic psychology; hence we
should compile more data in order to answer these questions. As Garwood and Dorn (2003), who
measured stresses and coping strategies in bus drivers, pointed out, it was in the past decade or so that
psychological scales on driver stress have been developed.
The aim of the study was to develop a psychological test to measure emotional reactions and self-
control skills in the driver. In the process of analysing sample data and examining the validity of the
test, the following two issues were expected to be clarified. First, it was expected that we would obtain
information on the psychological structure of the drivers emotions. There are various driving
situations that arouse negative emotions. The situations could be grouped under several categories,
which means that the relationship between emotions and situations could be described. Second, we
would be able to explain how the age factor influences emotions while driving, thereby finding target
groups that need to improve self-control skills. If the target groups were specified, they could be
educated directly, and consequently, educational intervention might be more effective.
2. Method
2.1. Participants
The study reported on in this paper was designed for an electric power company with a view toward
developing road-safety educational programs for its employees. The objective of the study was to
create a new psychological test and to examine its validity. The test was focused on the emotional
aspects that could induce risky behaviour or careless driving.
Two hundred and eighty-two male drivers participated in this study. They were engaged in the
operation and maintenance of power supply equipment. The average age of the drivers was 34.5 years
and the age ranged from 19 to 59 years.
2.2. Test items
The test was designed to measure the emotional state of drivers as easily as possible. The test items
consisted of 39 driving scenes that represented a drivers frustration under the stresses of driving such
as time pressure and interpersonal conflicts. Each scene consisted of an illustration and a written
explanation (see Fig.1). The illustrations helped respondents to understand driving situations easily and
concretely.
Participants were told to respond to the following two requests. The first request was to rate the
degree of negative emotions on a 4-point scale. The aim was to measure emotional reactions under
stress. The participants were to judge whether or not they felt the depicted and stated frustration and to
rate the level of agreement, ranging from 1 (= I dont agree at all) to 4 (= I strongly agree). We
called the rating Item A. The second request was to rate the degree of coping with the stressful
situations on a 4-point scale again. The aim was to measure self-control ability. The participants were
asked whether they would accept the possible reaction written on the sheet. The exemplified reaction
meant either a coping strategy (e.g., I keep some distance from the car in front in case it suddenly
stops.) or non-coping strategy (e.g., I risk taking a dangerous route if it is shorter.). The participants
were to rate the level of agreement with the statements on coping/non-coping, ranging from 1 (= I
dont agree at all) to 4 (= I strongly agree). The second rating was called Item B.
Fig.1 A sample of the test items
2.3. Procedure
The survey was conducted in the companys regular meetings for safety and health. The meetings
were attended by 10 to 20 employees. During the meeting, questionnaires were handed to the
participants. Before filling in the sheet, a brief explanation of the survey was made. It was done for
obtaining cooperation from employees. The explanation was simple so as not to bias the answers. The
completed questionnaires were collected during the meeting.
3. Results
3.1. Emotional reactions scales
The items regarding emotional reactions (Item A) were analyzed using a principal-components
analysis. Then, in the process of optimizing the rotated solution, nine of the total 39 items were
dropped from further analysis. As a result, six factors emerged and accounted for 54.13% of the total
variance. Table 1 shows the loadings after a varimax rotation, in which labels and Cronbachs alpha-
coefficients for each factor were given.
The solution of the factor analysis was described as follows: The items highly loaded on the first
factor focused on anger, which illustrated the situations in which, e.g., a driver gets angry with a
pedestrian crossing against the red light, a driver is angry with a driver who doesnt stop at an
intersection. Thus, this factor was named anger toward unsafe behaviour by other road users. The
second factor consisted of items expressing impatience. All five items included in this factor described
stressful situations under the pressure of time, e.g., a driver is in a hurry because he/she must attend an
important meeting, has a tight schedule, or a driver is frustrated because he/she is caught in a traffic
jam. We labeled this factor impatience under the pressure of time. The third factor was based on the
items related to anxiety, which illustrated the problem of driving at night, driving when tired, and so
on. These situations made drivers worry about an accident. Accordingly, we labeled this factor anxiety
about accident risk. The third factor was connected to impatient feelings aroused by interpersonal
conflicts, e.g., a driver wants to go ahead, but opposing cars or pedestrians obstruct his way. In these
scenes, the driver becomes more impatient because the existence of another car behind brings pressure.
Thus, this factor was named impatience in interpersonal conflict. The fifth factor consisted of the
items that depicted situations in which the car in front moves at a low speed or maintains a long
headway distance. Some drivers cannot tolerate the slow-pace of other drivers, so they become
frustrated. Egoistic feelings lurk in the background of these reactions, thus the fifth factor was
described with the term of self-centred irritation. The last factor was unique. It showed a conflict in
which a driver experiences negative emotions when his/her mistake or fault is pointed out by a
passenger in conversation, e.g., when we are caught in a traffic jam, I dont like a passenger to say,
We could have been there by now if you had chosen another route. We named the last factor
conflict with a passenger.
3.2. Self-control scales
The items relevant to self-control (Item B) were subjected to a reliability analysis, which took the
following two steps. First, the items were categorized into six groups in correspondence to the scales of
Item B: Rating the degree of
coping with stressful situations
I keep some distance in case the
car ahead suddenly stops.
Item A: Rating the degree of
negative emotions
I am frustrated when the car ahead moves slower than
the flow of traffic
Self-control
Emotional reactions
Item A. Second, some of the items were screened so that alpha-coefficients of each group could be
optimized. Table 2 shows the list of the scales and items with alpha-coefficients.
Table 1
Scales of emotional reactions, alpha-coefficients, and factor loadings after a varimax rotation
Factor loadings
Scales and items
Alpha-
coefficients 1 2 3 4 5 6
Scale 1a Anger toward unsafe behavior by other road users 0.805
7 items - I cant tolerate a pedestrian crossing against the red light.
(17)
0.730
- I am angry at another driver who doesnt stop when he
should give way to me. (27)
0.695
- I am irritated when the car ahead stops suddenly with no
signals. (12)
0.623
- I can't tolerate an ill-mannered driver who cuts boldly in
front of me.(2)
0.590 0.304
- I get angry when the driver in the next lane speeds up after I
signal that Im going to move into the lane ahead of him/her.
(22)
0.584 0.309
- I feel disgusted when the car behind flashes its high beams to
make me move out of the way even though I am driving the
speed limit. (37)
0.536 0.320
_
- I am frustrated when I can't pass a slow-moving bicycle on a
narrow road. (11)
_
0.427
_ _ _
0.387
_
Scale 2a Impatience under the pressure of time 0.815
5 items - Whenever I attend an important meeting, I am afraid of being
late. So, I drive in a hurry. (28)
0.741
- I feel frustrated when I have a tight schedule and am caught
in a traffic jam. (21)
0.729
- I am behind the wheel in a hurried state on days that my
work is behind schedule due to unforeseen circumstances. (38)
0.707 0.323
- I drive in a hurry when I get an urgent request from a client.
(13)
0.689
_
- When I am late for an appointment, I drive in a hurry
because I feel bad about keeping a client waiting. (8)
_ _
0.617
_ _ _ _
Scale 3a Anxiety about accident risk 0.731
6 items - I am afraid of driving at night because others drive at a high
speed. (34)
0.734
- I worry that I might have an accident when I am tired. (14) 0.672
- I am afraid of driving in the rain because its hard to see the
movements of other cars. (4)
0.606
- I am frightened of the car behind coming up to me at high
speed. (19)
0.587
- I am afraid of turning right at intersections. (29) 0.578 0.360
_
- I worry that I might not able to merge smoothly into traffic
when Im entering the expressway. (9)
_ _ _
0.507 0.493
_ _
Scale 4a Impatience in interpersonal conflict 0.663
5 items - I am frustrated when a continuous flow of pedestrians
prevents me from turning left. (36)
0.334 0.690
- I cant turn right because of the continuous flow of opposing
cars and there are other cars waiting behind me, so I feel
pressured to proceed. (3)
0.584
- I am frustrated with a pedestrian walking slowly as if he/she
is disregarding me. (6)
0.444 0.545
- I feel pressed to start moving if the car behind pushes me by
sounding the car horn at a stop-sign intersection. (33)
0.336 0.512
_
- I feel hurried to turn right if an opposing car stops and gives
way to me. (23)
_ _ _ _
0.405
_ _
Scale 5a Self-centred irritation 0.718
4 items - I am frustrated when the car ahead moves slower than the
flow of traffic. (1)
0.738
- I feel irritated when the driver in front maintains a long
headway distance. (16)
0.737
- I get irritated at the car ahead that starts too slowly when the
light turns green. (31)
0.677
_
- I am frustrated when the car ahead hesitates to turn right
though there is plenty of time to do so. (26)
_
0.402 0.351
_ _
0.444
_
Scale 6a Conflict with a passenger 0.720
3 items - When we are caught in a traffic jam, I dont like a passenger
to say, We could have been there by now if you had chosen
another route. (5)
0.821
- I am irritated when a passenger tells me that I am a poor
driver. (25)
0.704
_
- When I judge it impossible to turn right and give it up, I don't
like a passenger to say, "You could have turned right." (15)
_ _ _ _ _ _
0.636
Percentages of variance 24.46 10.32 5.90 5.18 4.43 3.85
Note: Original numbers of items are in parentheses. Loadings below 0.3 are not displayed.
The six types of self-control/non self-control were described as follows: The first type was related
to the aggressive expression of anger, which consisted mainly of sounding the car horn. A message of
frustration was intended to be conveyed to the other road users who showed ill-mannered or unsafe
behaviour. We labeled this type of reaction expression of aggressive feelings. The second type was
based on the behavior of driving at high speed or not stopping, and it was named facilitation of risk-
taking behaviour. The negative emotions in correspondence to this scale were inspired by the stress of
time pressure. It was expected, therefore, that the relationship between time pressure and risk-taking
would be revealed. The third type of self-control was labeled planning safety routes since it involved
a driver avoiding hazardous routes. However, the alpha-coefficient was not so high; hence it was
doubtful whether or not the items in this scale were homogeneous. The fourth type was labeled motion
priority, This scale described a situation in which drivers who are caught in conflicts (e.g., a
continuous flow of pedestrians preventing a driver from turning left) cannot contain their impatience,
and then accelerate (not at a burst but gradually) despite incurring risks, which means that motion is
manipulated unconsciously by frustration. The fifth type was labeled pushing other road users, since
this scale illustrated aggressive reactions toward slow drivers. Finally, we named the last type of self-
control keeping ones own pace. This scale describes the ability to drive without losing ones temper
in spite of a conflict with a passenger.
Table 2
Scales of self-control/non self-control and Cronbachs alpha-coefficients
Scales and items
Alpha-
coefficients
Scale 1b Expression of aggressive feelings 0.698
5 items - I sound the car horn. (17)
- I warn others by sounding the car horn. (27)
- I warn others by sounding the car horn. (2)
- I change lanes aggressively. (22)
_ - I put on the brake slightly on purpose as a warning to the driver behind me. (37) _
Scale 2b Facilitation of risk-taking behavior 0.645
4 items - I drive at a higher speed than at other times. (28)
- I pass through intersections without stopping, even for a stop sign. (38)
- I change lanes more frequently than at other times. (13)
_
- I expect the client to forgive me for being late if I apologize sincerely. So, I
continue to drive at a relaxed pace. (8) _
Scale 3b Planning safety routes 0.457
3 items - I prefer to take a safer route than an expressway. (9)
- I avoid crowded roads. (14)
_ - I take a route that allows me to turn left as much as possible. (29) _
Scale 4b Motion priority 0.617
5 items
- I move ahead gradually, trying to find space to slip through pedestrians. (36)
- I force myself to turn right despite the short distance between myself and the
oncoming car. (3)
- I hasten pedestrians by gradually going ahead. (6)
- I concentrate on looking left and right without minding the car behind. (33)
_ - I return thanks and pass abruptly. (23) _
Scale 5b Pushing other road users 0.631
3 items - I tailgate and bring pressure on the car ahead to shorten its following distance.
(16)
- I prompt the car ahead to proceed by sounding the car horn. (31)
_ - I prompt the car ahead to turn right by sounding the car horn. (26) _
Scale 6b Keeping one's own pace 0.500
3 items
- I risk taking a dangerous route if it is shorter. (5)
- I attempt to keep my own pace. (25)
_ - I will make a risky right turn next time. (15) _
Note: Original numbers of items are in parentheses. Italicized items represent reverse ones.
3.3. Negative emotions and self-control as a function of age
Average scores of each scale were calculated. Table 3 summarizes the relationship between
negative emotions and age. Respondents ages were divided into three groups, and then one-way
analyses of variance with the groups were conducted for each scale. As Table 3 demonstrates, age
effects in the Sale 1a anger toward unsafe behaviour by other road users and Scale 2a impatience
under the pressure of time were found to be statistically significant (respectively, F(2,227)=4.36,
p<.05; F(2,227)=5.39, p<.01). The data indicated clearly that younger drivers experienced more anger
toward other road users and more impatience under the pressure of time than middle-aged drivers. It
was also found that younger drivers tended to be more self-centredly irritated than middle-aged drivers
although the difference was significant only at a 10% risk level (F(2,227)=2.73, p<.10). The findings
are in line with the argument that young people are generally emotionally immature.
Table 3
Negative emotions as a function of age
age groups
Scales
-29
yrs
30-39
yrs
40-
yrs
F-value
Scale 1a
Anger toward unsafe behavior by other road
users
22.38 21.92 20.72 4.36
*
Scale 2a Impatience under the pressure of time 15.55 14.73 14.04 5.39
**
Scale 3a Anxiety about accident risk 14.40 15.14 15.50 ns
Scale 4a Impatience in interpersonal conflict 11.75 10.95 11.71 ns
Scale 5a Self-centred irritation 11.96 11.72 11.19 2.73
Scale 6a Conflict with a passenger 7.62 7.85 7.45 ns
Note: The higher the score is, the more negative the emotion is.
*p<.05, **p<.01
Table 4 shows the difficulties of self-control as a function of age. The same effect of age as
mentioned above was confirmed again as to Scale 2b facilitation of risk-taking behaviour although
the difference was significant only at a 10% risk level (F(2,226)=2.76, p<.10). Young drivers tended to
take more risks even under the stress of time pressure than middle-aged drivers. The difference
between ages in Scale 3b planning safety routes was also significant (F(2,223)=4.21, p<.05), but the
statistical validity was doubtful since the alpha-coefficient of the scale was not as high as expected.
As to Scale 1b, an opposite effect of age was revealed. It is interesting that middle-aged drivers
proved to express aggressive emotions more easily than young drivers (F(2,225)=3.53, p<.05). One
possible explanation may be that middle-aged drivers can feel less inhibited about expressing their
anger in more verbal forms such as using the car horn. Young drivers, on the other hand, may feel more
social pressure, thereby suppressing anger so as not to express it in public. However, it may be likely
that young drivers, too, connect feelings of anger to risky behaviour. If more items describing risky
reactions such as overtaking, tailgating, etc. had been included in Scale 1b instead of some items
related to the car horn, it might have been shown that young drivers also would take more risks also
under the stress of anger.
Table 4
Difficulties of self-control as a function of age
age groups
Scales
-29 yrs 30-39 yrs 40- yrs
F-value
Scale 1b Expression of aggressive feelings 9.89 11.19 11.04 3.53
*
Scale 2b Facilitation of risk-taking behavior 9.31 9.22 8.60 2.76
Scale 3b Planning safety routes 9.26 9.08 8.53 4.21
*
Scale 4b Motion priority 10.15 9.53 9.63 ns
Scale 5b Pushing other road users 6.18 6.47 6.15 ns
Scale 6b Keeping ones own pace 4.87 5.14 4.92 ns
Note: The higher the score is, the more difficult the self-control is.
*p<.05
3.4. Negative emotions and self-control as a function of driving experience
To examine closely the effect of driving experience on young drivers, the data sample of drivers
under 30 years of age was extracted and reanalysed. Table 5 shows comparisons of average scores
between novice and experienced drivers. There were statistically significant differences in Scale 3a
anxiety about accident risk and Scale 5a self-centred irritation (respectively, t(96)=2.56, p<.05;
t(96)=-2.96, p<.01). It was demonstrated that young drivers with more than 5 years of experience felt
less worry about accidents and more irritated toward slower drivers than young novice drivers. It
appears that driving experience could foster in young drivers two separate feelings, i.e., confidence and
irritation.
Table 5
Negative emotions as a function of driving experience
Driving experience
Scales
under
5 yrs
more than
5 yrs
t-value
Scale 1a Anger toward unsafe behavior by other road users 21.79 22.38 ns
Scale 2a Impatience under the pressure of time 14.56 15.55 ns
Scale 3a Anxiety about accident risk 16.16 14.40 2.56
*
Scale 4a Impatience in interpersonal conflict 11.63 11.75 ns
Scale 5a Self-centred irritation 10.72 11.96 -2.96
**
Scale 6a Conflict with a passenger 7.67 7.62 ns
Note: The higher the score is, the more negative the emotion is.
*p<.05, **p<.01
Table 6 presents the difficulties of self-control as a function of driving experience. The data analysed
here was again limited to the sample under 30 years of age. As shown in Table 6, there were no
significant differences between novice and experienced drivers. However, the difference related to
Scale 2b was significant at a 10% risk level (t(95)=-1.94, p<.10), which means that young drivers tend
to take more risky reactions under the pressure of time as driving experience increases.
Table 6
Difficulties of self-control as a function of driving experience
Driving experience
Scales
under
5 yrs
more than
5 yrs
t-value
Scale 1b Expression of aggressive feelings 9.07 9.89 ns
Scale 2b Facilitation of risk-taking behavior 8.51 9.31 -1.94
Scale 3b Planning safety routes 9.79 9.26 ns
Scale 4b Motion priority 9.79 10.15 ns
Scale 5b Pushing other road users 5.72 6.18 ns
Scale 6b Keeping one's own pace 4.65 4.87 ns
Note: The higher the score is, the more difficult the self-control is.
4. Discussion
The findings of the present study provided evidence that young drivers are vulnerable to stress. The
psychological structure of emotional reactions was described in detail in correspondence to concrete
driving scenes, and thereby some situational factors that arouse negative emotions were confirmed.
Firstly, young drivers displayed a weakness to succumb to the pressure of time, and also had difficulty
in controlling behaviour under stress. Secondly, young drivers tended to be self-centredly irritated
when their way was obstructed by slow drivers. This result implies that slow driving by older drivers
could be a stressor for young drivers. The fact that there has been an increase in the population of older
drivers leads us to assume that there also will be an increase in conflicts between younger and older
drivers. Thirdly, it was found that the more driving experience young drivers had, the less anxious they
were, but the more irritated they became. Indeed, experience enables drivers to upskill manoeuvring,
and consequently driving performance takes less effort and becomes more efficient. But skilful drivers
are easily frustrated when their driving does not go as they intended. This finding implies that driver
education specific to manoeuvring may be insufficient to essentially raise safety skills.
As to the two scales of self-control (planning safety routes; keeping ones own pace), the
alpha-coefficients didnt reach the expected level as a reliable scale. It is most likely that the small
number of items included in these scales caused the low reliability level. When drivers are in bad
physical condition or when high demands (e.g., heavy traffic jam, heavy rain) are anticipated, the
strategy to select safer routes could be a significant indicator of self-control. It is often noticed that peer
pressure in cars can motivate young drivers to take risks such as reckless overtaking, driving at high
speed and so on. Thus, it is necessary to measure whether drivers can maintain self-control in their
interaction with passengers and hence, the two scales deserve to be included in the test. We need
further validation studies to confirm whether or not reliability levels will be raised by including more
relevant items in the scales.
It is important for drivers to obtain a higher level of skills, i.e., the ability to control behaviour
under the influence of negative emotions. However, there remain methodological problems as to how
to teach self-control. It is surely difficult for drivers to learn how not to rouse negative emotions, but it
might be possible that educational intervention can help drivers learn to control behaviour under stress.
As the model by Lazarus and Folkman (1984) provides the idea that it depends on an individuals
cognitive appraisal whether given situations are stressful or not, it is important for drivers to change
their evaluation of stressful conditions while driving. The fact that middle-aged drivers took less risk
even under the stress of time pressure leads us to assume that drivers can learn coping strategies, which
raises the possibility of educational intervention. It goes without saying that young drivers have a very
limited experience of life. In other words, their skills at living are lacking in variation. If we can
compile knowledge on coping strategies from experienced drivers and share resources of wits with
young drivers, their skills of self-control might be improved.
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