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Risk-mitigating beliefs, risk estimates, and self-reported speeding in a sample of Australian drivers
1Department of Psychology, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK. Slbrown2@uclan.ac.uk
Problem:
Research suggests that people who engage in risk-taking behaviors often hold specific beliefs that can mitigate or reduce their perceptions of risk associated with those behaviors.
Method:
A scale was developed (Speeding Risk Belief Scale (SRBS)) to assess beliefs about speeding-related risk and predict self-reported speeding in a random-digit telephone survey of 800 South Australian drivers between the ages of 16 and 50.
Results:
The scale was internally consistent, and path analyses showed it to be associated with self-reported speeding, both directly and indirectly through participants' estimates of speeding-related risk.
Discussion:
Origins of risk-mitigating beliefs and the extent to which they may be causally linked with speeding are discussed, and recommendations are made for future research.
Impact On Industry:
This research has strong implications for the conduct of countermeasure campaigns that disseminate information on speeding-related risk.