Personality traits in driving offenders and risk factors in driving

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to answer the following questions: 1) Are there significant differences in personality dimensions between the infringing drivers and the general population? 2) Is the profile of the offending driver (consumption of alcohol or other drugs, speed, distraction, breach of rules and signals) related to his personality dimension? and 3) In the sample of offended drivers, are there differences in risk profiles in driving between men and women? The second objective, in the case of finding an affirmative answer to the questions posed, is to propose a review of the training programs that are currently used in awareness and road re-education courses for delinquent drivers in Catalonia. The data of this investigation have been obtained from a sample of drivers who, as a result of the commission of infractions or crimes against traffic safety, have attended, as students, awareness and road reeducation courses in centers located in different towns of Catalonia. To measure the personality dimensions, the EPQ-RA instrument, which is a reduced version of the original personality questionnaire of Eysenck (1994), has been used.