MOTORCYCLES VERSUS AUTOMOBILES: HOW DO THEIR OWNERS DIFFER?

COMPARISONS WERE MADE BETWEEN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS WITH MOTORCYCLES REGISTERED ON CAMPUS AND UNIVERSITY STUDENTS WITH AUTOMOBILES REGISTERED ON CAMPUS. AVAILABLE DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION INCLUDED GRADUATE-UNDERGRADUATE STATUS, HOME RESIDENCE (IN-STATE OR OUT-OF-STATE), LOCAL RESIDENCE (ON-CAMPUS OR OFF-CAMPUS), AND MARITAL STATUS. FOR UNDERGRADUATES, INFORMATION CONCERNING CUMULATIVE GRADE POINT AVERAGE WAS OBTAINED, AND FOR INSTATE STUDENTS THERE WERE USUALLY DRIVING RECORDS AVAILABLE FROM THE NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES. ALSO, FOR STUDENTS WHO ENTERED THE UNIVERSITY AS FRESHMAN SINCE THE AUTUMN OF 1964, THERE WERE AVAILABLE RESULTS FROM THE MINNESOTA MULTIPHASIC PERSONALITY INVENTORY. RESULTS INDICATED THAT MOTORCYCLE STUDENTS WERE LESS LIKELY TO BE IN GRADUATE OR PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL, LESS LIKELY TO BE MARRIED, AND MORE LIKELY TO BE FROM OUT OF STATE THAN WERE AUTOMOBILE STUDENTS. THERE WERE NO DIFFERENCES IN GRADES FOUND BETWEEN MOTORCYCLE AND AUTOMOBILE STUDENTS. HOWEVER, WHEN GRADES WERE COMPARED WITH DRIVING RECORDS, BOTH MOTORCYCLE AND AUTOMOBILE STUDENTS WITH POORER GRADES ALSO TENDED TO HAVE POORER DRIVING RECORDS. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT BOTH THE POOR GRADES AND THE POOR DRIVING RECORDS COULD RESULT FROM GREATER TIME SPENT DRIVING THE VEHICLE, THUS ALLOWING GREATER POSSIBILITY FOR ACCUMULATING VIOLATIONS AND ACCIDENTS AND LEAVING LESS TIME FOR STUDYING. IN REGARD TO THE MMPI RESULTS, THE MOTORCYCLE STUDENTS ON THE WHOLE APPEARED JUST AS HEALTHY AS THE AUTOMOBILE STUDENTS, WITH THE POSSIBLE EXCEPTION OF A HIGHER SCORE ON THE PARANOIA SCALE FOR THE MOTORCYCLE STUDENTS. /HSRI/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • 39 Pp, Tab, REFS
• Corporate Authors:

  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  Highway Safety Research Center
  Chapel Hill, NC  United States  27599
• Authors:
  • Waller, P F
  • Reinfurt, D W
  • Retfler, C B
  • KOCH, G G
• Publication Date: 1969-6

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobiles; Demographics; Driver performance; Drivers; Graduate study; Motorcycles; Ownership; Personnel performance; Slopes; Students; Traffic crashes
• Uncontrolled Terms: Grades; Violations
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00223425
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Highway Safety Research Institute
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 18 1971 12:00AM