CRICOS No. 00213J

Suhaila Abdul Hanan, Mark King, Ioni Lewis10th National Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion

2-4 November 2011

Factors influencing speeding in school zones: The role of mindfulness.

Outline

• Introduction• Aims of the study• Method• Findings • Discussion• Future research

CRICOS No. 00213J

Introduction (1)

• 33% of world child deaths when the children are pedestrians (WHO; Peden et al., 2008).

– In high-income countries, 5% to 10% of children involved in road crashes are pedestrians,

– Australia : 4% of pedestrian-vehicle crashes involved child pedestrian (Total :193) (Australian Government, 2008).

Introduction (2)

• School zones – Congested area– High traffic volume– *limited research on road users’ behaviour

(i.e., driver) in school zones School zones • Child pedestrian

– Child– Driver behaviour– Environment

Introduction (3)

• An in-depth exploration of an extended version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to understand speeding behaviour in school zones.

• The study was exploratory and sought to discover information to inform the quantitative phase of a larger scale research project in Malaysia and Australia.

• Examined mindfulness, a promising construct which has not yet been tested as an additional TPB predictor in speeding behaviour research.

Aims of the study

• To explore mindfulness, as an additional construct within the extended TPB framework

Methods

• Qualitative study – focus group discussion (1 hour discussion)

• Guided by a structured interview schedule(e.g., Think about driving through a familiar route every day, have you ever felt like the car drives you to the destination?)

• Participants: Australian drivers (N = 17) • 5 males and 12 females (17 - 56 years)

Findings (1)

Theme FindingsDangerous behaviour

“I really don’t think its okay to speed in school zones because its risking their [children] lives and they [other parents] wouldn’t like it if it was them.” (F1, Group 1).

“......even if you’re doing thirty and a kid runs out and you run him over, That’s not going to give you any solace lying in bed at night.....” (M2, Group 4).

Findings (2)

Theme FindingsUnintentionally speed

“....I don’t think you are more aware, as you say you’re just driving on the normal road and you go oh I'm not paying attention, next thing you know you’re doing sixty-five, seventy. You gradually slow down. I’ve caught myself just recently when school went back after the Christmas holidays, I was driving through one area and I was doing sixty and realised where I was and immediately slowed down and felt a bit guilty about it.” (M2, Group 4).

Findings (3)

Theme FindingsFrequency of autopilot

“I don’t know I consciously count them [autopilot driving], but it happens often enough to know that it happens. I wouldn’t say every day or every week but I know that there’s definitely been times.” (F2, Group 1).

Findings (4)

Theme FindingsAutopilot driving

“I get it when I’m tired, I just like can’t keep my eyes open; just follow the car in front.” (M1, Group 3). “...if you’ve got like something like hung over in your head, something that’s happened in your life and you’re just focussing on that and you get to the station and you don’t remember that oh yes, I have to turn left here, you still remember what you were thinking about while you were driving..” (F4, Group 3).

Findings (5)

Theme FindingsAutopilot driving

“...you’ve driven it so many times, never had an issue, you know exactly where you’re going, you don’t really have to put thought into different or changing traffic conditions because you know the road, as opposed to going somewhere that you don’t know.” (F1, Group 4).

“.....It sort of happens, if you do a reasonable trip to work, it sort of happen in every trip. It mightn’t be that you don’t remember any of the trip but if you’re going through fifty sets of traffic lights you’re not consciously thinking is that light red, is that light green, you’re just letting it happen subconsciously. .” (M3, Group 4).

Findings (6)

Theme FindingsAutopilot and school zones

“The big flashing light that would make me notice. But if it’s a little sign on the side, until I see the school, I probably wouldn’t notice it.” (M1, Group 3).“... I don’t think they’re very well marked. Yes often I’ve realised I'm by a school more than I’ve actually seen the sign. And knowing I'm by a school, I slow down....” (M1, Group 4).

Discussion & Implications of overall research

• Mindless drivers may speed unintentionally due to several factors– Unfamiliar road environment, mood, autopilot

• Implications for road safety countermeasures– street markings and engineering measures

(e.g., flashing lights and speed humps)

Future research

• Some future research suggestions– Quantitative survey in Australia and Malaysia– Examine mindfulness in other context and

setting (e.g., older driver, rail-road crossing)

Questions?suhaila.abdulhanan@qut.edu.au

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