THE TOP GUN SYNDROME

The traffic training division at Tuliallan, the Scottish Police College, has been running driver attitude courses with the help of Dr G Sharp, a consultant adviser in occupational health medicine. For the last three years, Sharp has provided input on attitude training to traffic patrol drivers on their four-week advanced driving course there. His 'on-board' research has shown remarkable similarities between the decision-making processes of police drivers and military air pilots under stress. The causes of driving stress include anticipatory responses, alarm reactions, task-related factors, life-threatening factors, repeated exposure to stress-inducing incidents, post-error dwell reaction, and work-related factors. Sharp has designed his attitude training to: (1) make officers aware of the existence of both positive and negative attitudes to driving; (2) identify what types of negative attitudes they are liable to; (3) show how negative attitudes affect their ability to make safe driving decisions; and (4) provide information on how to guard against the onset of negative attitudes. His book "Human aspects of police driving" covers the main causes and types of driving stress, and influences on signals received by a driver's brain, and provides a much clearer view than before of research on attitudes and driving behaviour.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/03091414
• Corporate Authors:

  POLICE REVIEW PUBLISHING CO LTD

  100 AVENUE ROAD
  LONDON,   United Kingdom  NW3 3HF
• Authors:
  • BRIGHT, A
• Publication Date: 1997-3-28

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 16-8
• Serial:
  • POLICE REVIEW
  • Volume: 105
  • Issue Number: 5413
  • Publisher: POLICE REVIEW PUBLISHING CO LTD
  • ISSN: 0309-1414

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Attitudes; Behavior; Decision making; Driver training; Drivers; Education; Police; Stress (Psychology)
• ITRD Terms: 2267: Attitude (psychol); 9001: Behaviour; 2248: Decision process; 1772: Driver; 1571: Driver training; 2284: Education; 1522: Police; 2234: Stress (psychol)
• Subject Areas: Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00739539
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Aug 28 1997 12:00AM