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https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27432/critical-issues-in-transportation-for-2024-and-beyond

Association Between Personality Traits and Phone Unlock Rates While Driving Among Teen Drivers

Distracted driving is the largest increasing cause of motor vehicle crash deaths in the U.S prompting the need for interventions. Teen drivers aged 15-19 years account for the largest proportion of drivers who were distracted in fatal crashes. Most prior research examining behavioral risk factors associated with cellphone use while driving is limited to self-report data. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between behavioral characteristics and observed on-road cellphone use while driving among teen drivers using novel smartphone technology. The authors conducted a secondary analysis of 4 weeks of baseline monitoring data collected for a pilot randomized controlled trial testing cellphone blocking technology configurations among 16-17 years olds (N=32) who admitted to texting while driving (NCT02416713). Participants installed a solar-powered windshield-mounted device that pairs with a smartphone application that monitors cell phone use while driving and could be activated after the baseline monitoring to period to block phone use over a given speed threshold. Participants completed a baseline survey, a 4-week baseline monitoring phase followed by a 4-week intervention phase in one of four arms: 1) monitoring only; 2) “opt-in” blocking; 3) “opt-out” blocking; and 4) “opt-out” blocking with parental notification. Data on baseline characteristics, cellphone use, vehicle speed, and trip time were collected and are the focus of this analysis. The primary outcome for this analysis was the number of phone screen unlocks per hour of driving and the secondary outcome was “high risk unlocks,” defined as phone unlocks occurring at > 25 miles per hour (mph). The authors excluded phone screen unlocks that were detected to occur outside the driver’s seat by the windshield device. The authors determined the unadjusted association between baseline the Barratt’s Impulsivity Scale, delay discounting rates, the Problematic Phone Use Scale, and the Sensation Seeking Scale and unlocks per hour and high risk unlocks per hour observed in the baseline monitoring phase using t-tests. The participants were either 16 (28%) or 17 (72%) years old; 72% female; lived in Pennsylvania (66%) or New Jersey (34%); were 84% White, 6% Black; and 16% had been involved in a prior motor vehicle crash. All participants admitted to texting while driving at least once in the past 30 days, with 50% admitting to texting while driving 6 or more days. There were 2,417 phone screen unlocks while driving over the 4-week baseline period with 1,1191 (49%) being “high risk” occurring at> 25 mph. The median unlock speed was 24.6 mph (IQR 11-39mph). There was wide participant-level variation in cellphone use with a median number of unlocks per hour of 3.3 (IQR 1.1-5.4) and high risk unlocks per hour of 1.1 (IQR 0.4- 3.2). The distribution of baseline behavioral characteristics is shown in Table 1. The association between baseline behavioral characteristics is shown in Figure 1 (unlocks) and Figure 2 (high-risk unlocks). There was a significant association between higher impulsivity and high-risk unlocks (p=0.007) and higher sensation seeking and high-risk unlocks (p=0.002). Other measured associations had p-values > 0.05. The authors demonstrated the feasibility of a novel and scalable approach for the passive monitoring of cellphone use while driving. Even in a small sample size, there appears to be an association between baseline self-report measures of impulsivity and sensation seeking and observed high-risk cellphone use while driving. Interventions aimed at reducing high-risk cellphone use while driving are most needed among teen drivers with impulsive and sensation seeking tendencies.

  • Supplemental Notes:
    • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ANB30 Standing Committee on Operator Education and Regulation. Alternate title: Association Between Phone Unlock Rates While Driving and Behavioral Characteristics Among Teen Drivers.
  • Authors:
    • Delgado, M Kit
    • Romer, Dan
    • Halpern, Scott
    • Huang, Yanlan
    • Saulsgiver, Kathryn
    • Winston, Flaura
    • McDonald, Catherine C
  • Conference:
  • Date: 2018

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Digital/other
  • Features: Figures; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: 4p

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01663062
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: 18-06022
  • Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
  • Created Date: Mar 20 2018 5:08PM