Study of the relationship between drivers\' skill and safety level, anger, and commitment of violations and errors, and their psossible involvement in traffic accidents

Pouco se sabe sobre os fatores psicológicos que influenciam o envolvimento do(a) motorista em acidentes de trânsito. Fala-se em fator humano (Rozestraten, 1988) como o principal responsável por eles. No entanto, Lajunen, Parker e Stradling (1998), num estudo envolvendo agressividade, cometimento de violações e habilidade de direção, identificaram que existe uma forte correlação entre estes fatores e a ocorrência de acidentes no trânsito. O presente estudo enfocou tais relações utilizando três escalas: o Inventário de Habilidades do Motorista, IHM; a Escala de Irritabilidade do Motorista, EIM; e o Questionário do Comportamento do Motorista, QCM. As escalas foram traduzidas do inglês para o português e aplicadas numa amostra de 499 motoristas da cidade de São Paulo. Os fatores identificados na amostra brasileira foram semelhantes aos encontrados por Lajunen, Parker e Stradling (1998). Foram identificadas altas correlações entre os fatores referidos e detectado o nível de influência deles no envolvimento de motoristas em acidentes ativos e passivos. Dados demográficos foram coletados, mas somente idade e gênero apareceram como previsores, identificando que motoristas jovens do sexo masculino se envolvem mais em acidentes de trânsito. O estudo concluiu que, apesar de identificar alguns dos fatores psicológicos capazes de prever o envolvimento de motoristas em acidentes de trânsito, as causas que levam a manifestações desses fatores no comportamento ainda carecem de mais estudosThere has been few researches on the psychological factors leading to drivers\' involvement in traffic accident. Human factors have been pointed out as the main responsible for them (Rozestraten, 1988). However, Lajunen, Parker and Stradling (1998), studying the relationship between drivers\' aggression, commitment of violations and skill orientation identified strong correlations among them and the involvement of drivers in traffic accidents. The present study focuses on the relationships between drivers\' skill and safety level, anger, and commitment of violations and errors, and his/her possible involvement in traffic accidents. In order to measure such relationships, three scales were employed: the Driver Skill Inventory, DSI; the Driver Anger Scale, DAS; and the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire, DBQ. The scales were translated from English to Portuguese and applied on a sample of 499 drivers from the city of São Paulo (Brazil). The factors identified in the Brazilian sample were similar to the findings of Lajunen et al. (1998). High correlations were identified among these factors and pointed out their level of influence on the involvement of drivers in active and passive traffic accidents. Demographics were collected, but age and gender were the only predictors of traffic accidents. Younger male drivers are more likely to be involved in traffic accidents. This study pointed out that moreover the psychological factors on drivers involvement on traffic accidents had been identified, more research is needed in order to clarify the causes of these behaviour