Driver speeding typologies by roadway behaviours and beliefs: A latent class analysis with a multistate sample of U.S. adults

• Published in: Transportation research. Part F, Traffic psychology and behaviour Traffic psychology and behaviour, 2021-08, Vol.81, p.373-383
• Main Authors: Peterson, Colleen M., Nelson, Toben F., Pereira, Mark A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attitudes; Automobile drivers; Automobile driving; Behavior; Cluster analysis; Clusters; Crashes; Driver behavior; Driver behaviour; Driver psychology; Injury prevention; Latent class; Latent class analysis; Motor vehicles; Reactors; Risk factors; Roads; Speed limits; Traffic accidents & safety
• ISSN: 1369-8478; 1873-5517
• DOI: 10.1016/j.trf.2021.06.016

•Latent class analysis found four driver types with shared behaviours and beliefs.•Classes were most differentiated by speeding magnitude and crash attitudes.•Emphasising crash risks and passenger safety may effectively target largest class.•Smallest class had lowest risk profile and greatest belief in a crash being likely.•Class placement was associated with age and speed violations, but not gender. Speeding has consistently contributed to a high number of motor vehicle crashes and subsequent injuries and deaths in the U.S. Identifying types of drivers related to speeding behaviour may help target interventions to reduce speeding. Typology of U.S. driver speeders have examined very specifically speeding behaviours and speeding-related attitudes. This exploratory work used latent class analysis (LCA) to examine how other driving behaviours and attitudes cluster around speeding behaviours to determine speeder typologies, which may lend a more holistic perspective to speeder types. Predicted class assignments were evaluated for associations with demographic and personality factors. The LCA resulted in four driver typologies, which we labelled: Externally Motivated (40.7%), Non-Reactors (26.2%), Perceived Invulnerable (24.3%), and Perceived Vulnerable (8.9%). The Externally Motivated and Non-Reactors typologies had the highest probability of reporting extreme speeding. The Externally Motivated may be intervened upon with messaging about reducing risks crashes and injuring passengers, while the Perceived Vulnerable class already exhibit several risk-averse behaviours that self-limits their speeding behaviour. Class placement was associated with age, self-reported speeding frequency, receipt of speeding violations. The resulting U.S. driver typologies advances the literature by demonstrating that non-speeding driver behaviours and attitudes cluster with speeding behaviours, which altogether can inform more nuanced and effective anti-speeding campaigns.