Systems perspective in road safety - An improvement of novice driver training in India

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1 Systems perspective in road safety - An improvement of novice driver training in India Sajan Pillai, Gaur G Ray Industrial Design Centre, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India The road accidents and the resulting fatalities are on a rise in India. Statistics point out that a large majority of the accidents involve novice drivers, and are a result of human errors. In order to study the causes of these human errors, we aim to study the effect of driver training on novice drivers. Improper visualization of road transportation system, overestimation of driving skills and underestimation of risks involved in driving may also have a strong influence on driver errors. Under this premise, this paper presents the summary of a study that draws its inferences from the perceptions of drivers about road transportation system and its associated safety aspects, in order to understand the role of driver training in risk estimation and perception in novice drivers. A comparative study on the perceptions of experienced and novice drivers, and a direct observation study of the current driver training methods is conducted identify the gaps in the safety perceptions of novice drivers. The study also brings to notice the importance and a lack thereof systems perspective in the current training methods of novice drivers. Keywords: Road safety, Perceptions, System perspective, Driver training, Situation analysis 1. Introduction The road transportation system in India is highly heterogeneous in nature. The composition of components in this system consists of vehicles, pedestrians, sharing the same space. This heterogeneity of the system also brings in several challenges for the safety of the components of the system and the system as a whole. A nationwide data published on road accidents (Transport Research Wing, 2014) shows that nearly 80% of the total road accidents reported every year are caused by human errors. The nationwide accident statistics of the country do not provide the data on the age of drivers involved in accidents, but independent research (Trivedi and Rawal, 2011) (Sivakumar and Krishnaraj, 2012) conducted in different regions in the country suggests that the percentage of young novice drivers who were involved in accidents is higher than the drivers in other age groups. Since the majority of the road accidents are caused by human error and by young drivers, we attempted to find the possible causes contributing to these errors. Human errors may be caused due to distractions, slips, lapses, fatigue, etc (Stanton and Salmon, 2009) (Sajan and Ray, 2012), erroneous on-road communication (Pillai and Ray, 2014). Another possible reason for these human errors, especially in young drivers, could be related to the perceptions imparted during their driver training. The skill and risk perceptions of the driver are purely subjective in nature, and they can be related to the driver's visualization of the road transportation system, the characteristics and behaviour of its components, the interactions between the components, as well as his/her driving skill and confidence level. These perceptions have an important part in the decision-making process while driving, and, therefore, can be considered to play a significant role in safe driving. From a safety perspective, the perceptions of the drivers should be aligned to reality to ensure safety for self and other road users. This would be possible if the driver understands the different factors that collectively contribute to safety. Several studies related to hazard perception (Whelan et al., 2002) (Renge, 1998) (Mourant and Rockwell, 1972) (Deery, 1999), driver's perception of his/her skill level, overestimation of skills (Christmas, 2007) (Sümer et al., 2006) (McKenna, 1993) (McKenna et al., 1991), and underestimation of risks involved in driving (Gregersen, 1996) (Groeger and Brown, 1998), especially in young drivers (Oehl and Höger,2014) (Kuiken and Twisk, 2001) (Craen et al., 2001) (Mathews and Moran, 1986), suggest that the impaired perceptions of hazard and self driving skills can have negative influence on the safety in driving. Impaired perceptions of driving skills can often result in underestimating the risks involved in complex driving situations. Lack of experience of the drivers, especially in a heterogeneous system like in India, can lead to unfavourable risk acceptance, wrong judgments and flawed driving decisions. 1

2 Considering the large percentage of accidents caused by human errors, it may also be hypothesised that the errors in the visualization of road transportation as a system could be a contributing factor for the large majority of accidents. The present study attempts to validate this hypothesis and compares the road safety perspectives of novice and experienced drivers to understand how both categories of drivers visualize safety aspects of driving, and how realistically they estimate the risks associated with different components in the transportation system. The study is also focused on the present mode of execution of training programmes in different parts of the country. The outcome of the study was to find areas of improvement in the existing driver training methods so as to reduce the chances of decision-making errors by novice drivers. 2. Systems Perspective in Driving Understanding the complexities of the different diverse factors that can contribute to safety in driving can be made easier if the driver visualize driving as a system with interacting components. Following a systems perspective, the basic components of this system can be identified as the driver, vehicle, other road users and the environment. In the shared common space, these components interact with each other constantly and collaboratively throughout the course of driving. For example, at any given instance of driving, the driver interacts with the vehicle through its controls (steering wheel and control pedals), the vehicle interacts with the road through its tyres, and the driver-vehicle as a single unit, interacts with other road users on the shared road space by collaborating and adjusting each other's speed and placement of the vehicle. In order to ensure safe driving, it is important that the driver understands the nature of these constant and continuous interactions, and its safe as well as unsafe conditions. If we analyse the system components individually, we can characterize the components based on their nature and their physical, functional and behavioural properties. Along with these properties, each component can also have associated risks and challenges that can come into play during the interactions. The driver should, therefore, be aware of the characteristics as well as the risk and challenges associated with the components and should have the knowledge and skill for safe interactions with the components. The visualization of the road transportation system comprises an understanding of the components of driving, interactions between the components, an accurate estimation of required skills and risks. An experienced driver usually perfects these estimations through his exposure to different driving situations, and interactions with other components, challenges and environments. In the case of a novice driver, the skills for a proper estimation are introduced by the driver training and education programme he/she enrols in. It is presumed that the novice driver develops all safe driving skills during the driver training programme. 3. Perception study on Novice and Experienced Drivers The current study is designed as a driver perceptions comparative study between novice and experienced drivers. The study was conducted among 40 novice drivers from three different regions of the country who had successfully completed their driver training programme. 30 novice drivers among the participant drivers had also successfully cleared the driving evaluation test conducted by the licensing authorities. 15 novice drivers hailed from a rural location, and 35 drivers were from two urban locations. There were 8 female participants, and they hailed from one of the urban locations. For the perception study of experienced drivers, regular drivers from three different regions (2 metropolitan cities and 1 rural) of Maharashtra, India were contacted. A screening criterion of average-per-month-driving-distance of 100 kms was set to select the final set of participants. Among the 55 drivers who responded to the study, 3 drivers were not included in the analysis since they did not meet the screening criterion, which brought the sample size, n, to 52. Among the selected participants, 21 drivers had been driving in the comparatively less traffic rural region, and 31 drivers had been driving in the heavy traffic urban regions. 10 drivers were female and 42 were male. 3.1 Methodology The novice drivers in the rural location and one of the two urban locations were approached at the driving test locations, after the completion of the official driving test processes. The experienced drivers were contacted through phone or visited physically for the study. The study used a customized driver perception questionnaire based on the Driver Confidence Questionnaire (Craen et al., 2001). The questionnaire was 2

3 divided into four sections: (a) General information (age, driving experience), (b) Opinion about the risks involved in driving, (c) Self-estimation of confidence and driving skills, (d) Comparison of driving skills with that of other drivers, and an estimation of the driving skills of other drivers. The responses were recorded on a 7-point Likert scale. In order to understand the skill estimation capacity of the drivers, they were asked to compare themselves with other road users they regularly meet on the roads, rather than an average or peer driver. The questionnaire study was followed by informal interviews to understand the thought process behind the driver's responses The questionnaires were primarily used as a trigger for initiating an informal discussion with the drivers to understand the rationale behind their estimations and responses. General questions about the overall experience of the training programme and the areas covered/not covered in the programme were asked to the novice drivers participated in the study. The statements made by the drivers during the response along with the ordinal responses from the questionnaire were used to reach the final conclusions of the study. 3.2 Results Data analysis of the reported general information (Table 1) of novice drivers shows that the average pretraining driving experience of the novice drivers was 5.7 years (SD = 7.3). The novice drivers with prior driving experience were either self taught or by a family member or friend, and not by a professional driving instructor. The average age and driving experiences of the experienced drivers participated in the study are 31.4 years (SD = 8.2) and 10.4 years (SD = 7.5) respectively (Table 2). Table 1. Summary of age and driving experience of the novice drivers participated in the study Age in years Count Driving experience in years Count Above 30 years 11 Above 5 years 14 Total 40 Total 40 Average age 27.6 years Average experience 5.7 years Std. Deviation 9.5 Std. Deviation 7.3 Table 2. Summary of age and driving experience of the experienced drivers participated in the study Age in years Count Driving experience Count Avg. Count in years Kms/month and above 8 Above 16 7 Above Total 52 Total 52 Total 52 Average age 31.4 years Average experience 10.4 years Std. Deviation 8.2 Std. Deviation 7.5 The responses from the questionnaire and the personal interviews are mentioned briefly in the following sub-sections. The questionnaire responses are divided into the percentage of responses for each point in the Likert scale, and the aggregate values from the positive, neutral and negative side of the Likert scale The drivers' general perceptions about the risks involved in driving The general perception of the risks involved in driving by the novice and experienced drivers were found to differ significantly (Table 3). 3

4 Table 3. Summary of responses to perception of risks in driving. Experienced Drivers' Extremely Safe Very Safe Safe Neither Dangerous Nor Safe Dangerous Very Dangerous Extremely Dangerous 1.9 Experienced Drivers' A majority of the novice drivers reported driving is generally safe, in contrast to a large fraction of experienced drivers who find driving to be dangerous. During the follow up interviews, the novice drivers who reported driving to be safe responded that they are confident about their driving skills and hence they would be safe on the roads ( I'm confident about my skills, so I will be safe, If I am driving safe, and I am vigilant, then I don't have to worry about safety at all ). In general, the statements from the novice drivers who reported driving to be safe showed a high dependence on their self-perceived confidence and skill level while estimating the general risks involved in driving. The novice drivers who reported driving to be unsafe based their response in the uncertainties involved in the behaviour of other drivers. Only a small percentage of the experienced drivers considered driving to be safe. The statements like No matter how safe I drive, if the other drivers are careless, or if they make mistake, I might be in danger, The behaviour of other drivers is sometimes very unpredictable, so we have to be very careful for our safety, and Not everybody who drives is skilled, so we have to take account of their mistakes as well, by the experienced drivers show that they estimate the general risk level by taking into account the uncertain factors, like the skill level and the behaviour of other drivers on the road, while estimating the general risk level involved in driving The drivers' estimation of confidence in driving Both the novice and experienced drivers reported that they are confident about their driving skills (Table 4). The novice drivers mentioned their confidence in the present driving training programme to provide them with the skills required for safe independent driving. The experienced drivers attributed their perceived confidence level to their independent driving experience in different traffic conditions. Even though the experienced drivers are confident about their skills, they mentioned that it might not be enough to ensure safety while driving, on account of the external risk factors The drivers' estimation of chances of being involved in an accident while driving The drivers were asked to estimate the chances of them being involved in an accident while driving, independent of the factors leading to accident (Table 5). Nearly 98% of the novice reported that they perceive very less chances of being involved in an accident. The drivers mentioned that they drive very carefully, and are very confident about their driving skills and the training they have received. Hence, they perceive very less chances of any accidents while driving. The responses from the experienced drivers were distributed between perceiving fewer chances of accidents and neutral. Even though majority of the experienced drivers expressed good confidence about their driving skills (96%), only 52% of the drivers felt less likely to get involved in accidents. The statements from the experienced drivers showed that they consider the fact that the errors committed by other drivers can compromise their safety. 4

5 Table 4. Summary of responses to perception of confidence in self driving skills. Extremely Confident 5.8 Very Confident Confident Neither Confident Nor Insecure Insecure Very Insecure Extremely Insecure Table 5. Summary of responses to perception of chances of accident involvement. Almost Nil 1.9 Much smaller Smaller Neutral High 3.8 Very High 5.8 Extremely high 1.9 Table 6. Summary of responses to perception of skill level to manage safe driving. Perfectly Skilled 1.9 Very much skilled Skilled Average Less skilled Much less skilled Poorly skilled The drivers' perception of their skill level to manage safe driving in different situations The drivers were asked to rate their skill level in managing safety in the present traffic conditions (Table 6). 95% of the novice drivers reported that they are adequately skilled to manage safe driving, whereas, only 57.7% of the experienced drivers reported that their skill levels are good enough to manage safe driving in the present conditions. In the follow-up interview, the experienced drivers mentioned that the present traffic conditions demand high caution and skill level due to its heterogeneous and dynamic nature. They also admitted that despite of their higher experience and confidence level, some traffic situations are difficult to manage The drivers' self comparison with other drivers and opinion about other drivers The drivers were asked to compare themselves with other drivers they usually meet on the road in terms of experience, skill and responsibility. Nearly 70% of the novice drivers and 86% of the experienced drivers considered themselves to be better than other drivers. Considering the opinion about other drivers (Table 7), the distribution of the responses shows that nearly 47% of the novice drivers considered other drivers to be skilled, and nearly 32% consider other drivers to be less skilled. The opinion of the experienced drivers 5

6 shows a significant variation when compared to that of the novice drivers. Only 9.6% of the experienced drivers reported other drivers to be skilled and the majority of the experienced drivers considered other drivers to be average skilled. The experienced drivers mentioned that they generally consider other drivers to be less-skilled based on their general experience and the uncertainty in determining the skill level of other drivers. Table 7. Summary of responses regarding the opinion about driving skills of other drivers. Perfectly Skilled Very much skilled Skilled Average Less skilled Much less skilled Poorly skilled Discussions A comparison of the perceptions of novice and experienced drivers shows a significant difference in their visualizations and understanding of road transportation safety aspects. It is important to note here that a similar pre-training questionnaire on the set of novice drivers suggested a significant increase in perception of their overall skills, including those that were not even covered during the training programme. This clearly shows that the training program greatly affects the psychological perception of confidence in the novice drivers. The major difference in the statistical values were seen in the response to the questions related to perception of risks involved in driving, estimation of their skill level in managing safe driving, estimation of the chances of accident and in their opinion about the driving skills of other drivers. The verbal responses to the above questions also show significant difference in the rationale, which collectively points to the difference in the visualization of the novice and experienced drivers. The novice drivers who considered driving to be safe are found to be attributing their perceptions/belief solely on their self-perceived confidence and skill levels, whereas, the experienced drivers acknowledge the presence of external factors like dynamic traffic condition and under skilled drivers while estimating the risks involved in driving. A wrong estimation of risks in the driving system and an overestimation of may result in the novice driver to attempt risky driving style, without realizing the threat involved. The responses of the novice driver for the self-skill estimation questions clearly point to the novice drivers consider themselves to be adequately skilled for driving in any condition, even with their limited exposure to different driving conditions and challenges. The statements from the novice driver from the response to this question also reflect their belief in self-skills and the training program they have received. The experienced drivers, on the other hand, do not rely solely on their skills while estimating the skill level required for managing safe driving. They have kept the risks in the present road transportation system at a higher level, and therefore, restrict themselves from taking higher risks in driving. The responses to the estimation of chances to accidents were also found to point to similar inferences. The novice drivers can be observed to depend on their own perceived skill level while estimating the overall chances of accidents - which shows that they do not understand safety in driving as a collaborative process, where each component of the system has an important role. The experienced drivers understand this aspect and hence, accept that the driving conditions are unpredictable and chances of accidents exist even when the driver is experienced. Majority of the novice drivers consider other drivers on the road to be skilful, but the majority of the experienced drivers consider other drivers to be either average skilled, or less skilled. Since the driving activity happens in a collaborative space, and is volatile in nature, the net risk level in driving is associated with the risks arising from other drivers that are unpredictable and difficult to estimate. An experienced driver, by estimating the skill level of other drivers to be less or average, therefore, sets the net risks in driving at a higher level that restricts his/her indulgence in risky driving manoeuvres and challenging the safety of the driver and other road users. A novice driver, by perceiving other drivers to be skilful and safe, lowers the net 6

7 risk level, and also putting a sense of faith on the drivers whose skills are not certain. From the above observations, it may be understood that the experienced drivers visualize road transportation as a system with interacting components, and that the safety of the system and its components is a collaborative effort by the components in the system. They also acknowledge the influence of external factors that can influence their safety and do not take safety for granted. The novice drivers understand the system purely based on their limited exposure of driving, and their belief in self-skills and self-confidence, and in their confidence on the driver training programme. 4. Observation study on present driver training methods The exposure and experience of the novice drivers were highly influenced by the driver training programme, and hence the study was further extended to an observation study on the present driver training method. The objective of the study was to understand the effect of driver training methods on the visualization of road traffic system among novice drivers. The study was conducted in two cities and rural location in the state of Maharashtra, India. The methodology of the study included direct observation of the training process and interviews with novice drivers. The primary objective of the present training system was found to impart the necessary vehicle-handling skills to the novice drivers, but was not focused on giving an understanding of the road transportation system as a whole, along with the necessary skills for safe interactions with the system components. The feedback system followed by the driving instructors was also seen to be centered only about the novice driver's way of driving. Due to logistical and operational limitations, the practical on-road training was restricted to comparatively safe driving conditions. Hence, the exposure and experience of the novice drivers is limited, and this limitation is not conveyed to the novice driver at any point in the training. This has an adverse effect of inducing a false sense of confidence and experience in the novice driver and can affect the risk-skill judgment process. Several other important aspects like risk estimation, understanding the safety critical factors in a driving situation, communication with other components of the system, visual scanning, etc., were also found to be missing in the training programme due to lack of systems approach in training. During the interviews with the novice drivers, it was observed that the drivers were unaware of these limitations of the present training programme. They have also mentioned that they can easily translate the experience and knowledge from the trained traffic situations to manage safe driving in any different, difficult situations they might drive in the future. This again points out the novice drivers' overestimation of skills and the underestimation / unawareness of risk factors involved in different traffic situations. To summarize, it can be inferred that the present driver training system does not adequately provide an accurate visualization of the road transportation system to the novice driver. The training programme does not identify each component of the system separately and collectively, and is largely focused only on improving the vehicle handling skills of the novice driver. The novice drivers, who believe the present training programme to be adequate and advanced, overestimate their skills and confidence based on this pretence. Hence, it can be concluded that the present method of driver training programme has a large influence on how the novice driver visualize driving and the safety aspects of driving. The introduction of systems perspective in the current driver training framework, to include factors such as emphasis of collaborative driving, collectively responsibility may help improve the driving skills of novice drivers, and contribute to reducing accidents involving novice drivers. 5. Conclusion This study gave a presents a purview of the role of perceptions of road transportation and safety aspects of novice and experienced drivers. The observations from the study inferred that the driver training methods currently followed in India do not follow a systems perspective, and therefore, do not provide a holistic visualization of the road transportation system to the novice driver. The perceptions of skill and the estimation of risks followed by the novice drivers is influenced by the training programme and there are high chances of the drivers to overestimate their skills and underestimate the risks in traffic situations. These lacunae in the training programme can be addressed by following a systems approach in driver training, where, the novice drivers is first introduced to the road transportation system as a whole and then into its details. The training process can address each component separately as well as collectively/collaboratively 7

8 in terms of the interactions with the components, the skill and knowledge required for the interactions and the risks associated with the interactions/components. By following the systems approach, it may be safely hoped that a holistic visualization of road transportation and safety can be developed in the novice driver that can limit the chances of driver errors, and accidents. To this end, our research on various systems perspective-based driver training frameworks is under progress and is subject to validation. Acknowledgements The authors express sincere thanks to all the drivers, transport officials, and driver training schools, who participated in the study, and to the Office of Transport Commissioner, Motor Vehicles Department, Government of Maharashtra, for their support in facilitating the studies. References Christmas, S The good, the bad and the talented: Young drivers' perspectives on good driving and learning to drive. Road Safety Research Report. 74. Department for Transport, London, UK. Craen, S. De., D. A. M. Twisk, M. P. Hagenzieker, H. Elffers, and K. A. Brookhuis Do young novice drivers overestimate their driving skills more than experienced drivers? Different methods lead to different conclusions. Accident Analysis and Prevention. 43 (5): Deery, H. A Hazard and Risk Perception among Young Novice Drivers. Journal of Safety Research. 30 (4): Gregersen, N. P Young drivers overestimation of their own skill-an experiment on the relation between training strategy and skill. Accident Analysis and Prevention. 28: Groeger, J. A., and I. D. Brown Assessing one's own and others driving ability: influences of sex, age, and experience. Accident Analysis and Prevention. 21: Kuiken, M. and D. Twisk Safe Driving and the Training of Calibration. SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research. R : SWOV:Leidschendam. Mathews, M. L., and A. R. Moran Age differences in male drivers perception of accident risk: the role of perceived driving ability. Accident Analysis and Prevention. 18: McKenna, F. P., It won t happen to me: Unrealistic optimism or illusion of control?. British Journal of Psychology. 84: McKenna, F. P., R. A. Stainer, and C. Lewis Factors underlying illusory self-assessment of driving skills in males and females. Accident Analysis and Prevention. 23: Mourant, R. R., and T. H. Rockwell., Strategies for visual search by novice and experienced drivers. Human factors. 14: Oehl, M., and R. Höger Affective States and Driving Behavior of Novice and Young Drivers. In Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE 2014), Pillai, S. S., and G. G. Ray Ergonomics Intervention in Automobile Driver Communication in a Developing Country. In Proceedings of the 2014 European Conference on Cognitive Ergonomics (ECCE 2014), Austria, 8: 1-4. Renge, K Driver s Hazard and Risk Perception, Confidence in Safe Driving, and Choice of Speed. Journal of the International Association of Traffic and Safety Science. 22 (2): Sajan, S., and G. G. Ray Human Factors in Safe Driving - A Review of Literature on Systems Perspective, Distractions and Errors. In Proceedings of Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC 2012), USA, Sivakumar, T. and R. Krishnaraj Road traffic accidents (RTAs) due to drunken driving in India- challenges in prevention. International Journal of Research in Management and Technology. 2 (4): Stanton, N. A., and P. M. Salmon Human error taxonomies applied to driving: generic river error taxonomy and its implications for intelligent transport systems. Safety Science. 47 (2): Sümer, N., T. Özkan, and T. Lajunen Asymmetric relationship between driving and safety skills. Accident Analysis and Prevention. 38: Transport Research Wing Road Accidents in India New Delhi: Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India. Trivedi, A. and D. Rawal Prevalence of road traffic accidents and driving practices among young drivers. Healthline. 2 (2): Whelan, M., J. Groeger, T. Senserrick, and T. Triggs Alternative methods of measuring hazard perception: sensitivity to driving experience. In Proceedings of the Road Safety Research, Policing and Education Conference, Australia,