DETERMINING AFFECTIVE STATES INFLUENCING DECISION MAKING AND PSYCHO-MOTOR SKILLS OF AUTOMOBILE DRIVERS

IN MANY AUTO ACCIDENTS, EVENTS IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO IMPACT ARE CRITICAL PREDISPOSING FACTORS. KNOWING THE NATURE OF THESE EVENTS IS IMPORTANT IN ESTABLISHING WHAT SKILLS ARE NEEDED TO HANDLE EMERGENCIES, WHEN AN ACCIDENT IS FATAL, IT IS OFTEN MORE DIFFICULT TO LEARN WHAT THE PRE-IMPACT EVENTS WERE. A METHOD FOR OBTAINING PRE-IMPACT INFORMATION, KNOWN AS THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY, IS DESCRIBED, TOGETHER WITH THE VALUE OF INFORMATION DERIVED FROM THIS METHOD AND IMPLICATIONS INVOLVED IN ITS USE. SURVIVORS FOUND THERAPEUTIC VALUE IN THE INTERVIEWS, AND IT IS SOMETIMES POSSIBLE TO DETERMINE WHETHER A CASE WAS ACCIDENT OR SUICIDE. SOME CASE HISTORIES ARE GIVEN, IN MOST OF WHICH EMOTIONAL STRESS WAS AN IMPORTANT PRE-CRASH FACTOR. /HSL/

• Corporate Authors:

  Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, Incorporated

  4455 Genesee Street
  Buffalo, NY  United States  14221
• Authors:
  • Zavala, A
• Publication Date: 1971

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 21 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Behavior; Crash causes; Crash investigation; Drivers; Fatalities; Precrash phase; Psychological aspects; Suicide
• Old TRIS Terms: Driver psychology; Precrash factors
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00223895
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Highway Safety Literature
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 17 1973 12:00AM