Systems-based Approach for Improving Driver Safety

Among the multitude of thoroughly studied quotes from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 classic The Great Gatsby, one stayed with me years after reading it. On page 136 Jordan Baker tells Nick Carraway “‘You said a bad driver was only safe until she met another bad driver?’” At first this quote seemed innocuous enough, until I thought about just how many cars are on the road in the modern age. With over 100 million cars on roads every day in the United States alone (Tomer, 2017), it quickly becomes clear that the chances of running into a bad driver are much higher than many drivers would like. But then this also begs the question, what circumstances create a “bad driver”, and is driver safety only the responsibility of those behind the wheel? 

In order to answer those questions let’s take a look at the 2014 article The driver, the road, the rules … and the rest? A systems-based approach to young driver road safety by authors B. Scott-Parker et al. out of the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. While the article focuses on young driver safety in Australia, the principles addressed are relevant to all driver safety. 

Firstly, the term “bad driver” will be used to describe drivers that act out behaviors that lead to car accidents. In their article B. Scott-Parker et al. write, “Research consistently demonstrates that young driver crashes and fatalities are associated with and influenced by a myriad of driver, journey, vehicle, and passenger characteristics and broader social factors” (p. 300). This posits the fact that bad drivers are, at least in part, a product of their environment. If this is the case, then how exactly are bad drivers supposed to improve if many factors are out of their control? B. Scott-Parker et al. argue that the answer lies in a systems-based approach, or in other words an approach where actors in all levels of a system share responsibility (B. Scott Parker et al., 2014). In order for drivers to do their part in making the road as safe as possible they should strive to avoid actions known as the Fatal Five. These include “…drink driving, speeding, fatigue, not wearing seatbelts, and distraction” (Queensland Police, 2013 as found in B. Scott-Parker et al., 2014, p. 300). The responsibility of those at the top of the system, for example bodies in charge of driver safety, should be to make sure drivers are well aware of the Fatal Five and what they can do to mitigate it in their own driving and for those around them. 

The words of Jordan Baker have stayed so clearly with me, in part, because of the times where I have been in a car with someone driving irresponsibly. The most extreme of these cases that I have personally been a part of was a friend who was speeding. He was driving me and one other friend home during the day, and we turned onto a long straight road that was empty. He wanted to show off his car for us, and proceeded to punch the gas until we were doing well over 100 miles per hour on a road with a 45 mile per hour speed limit. Thankfully there was no traffic and we had time to slow down before reaching an intersection, but that event easily could have ended in disaster. 

A less extreme, but highly chronic, behavior that I have witnessed many times as a passenger has been distracted driving. People using their phone is the most common culprit, as many people think that since they are experienced enough, they can take their eyes off the road. When I have tried to tell some people not to use their phone while driving before, I have gotten dirty looks and responses like “It’s fine, I do this all the time.” My experience has shown me that B. Scott-Parker et al.’s (2014) research about societal factors influencing driver safety is exactly right. If we lived in a society that held stronger beliefs around driver safety then people would know just how dangerous distracted driving, and other behaviors part of the Fatal Five, really are and more stringently avoid them. 

To help others around me become safer drivers, it is important for me to not succumb to peer pressure. Even if it is against our societal norms to tell someone driving their own car how to behave, it is for the benefit of everyone inside the car and on the road. Just being armed with the knowledge of the Fatal Five and making sure they know that their actions severely affect everyone around them should be enough to help drivers make better decisions.

References

Scott-Parker, B., Goode, N., & Salmon, P. (2015). The driver, the road, the rules … and the rest? A systems-based approach to young driver road safety. Accident Analysis and Prevention; Accid Anal Prev, 74, 297-305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2014.01.027

Tomer, A. (2017, October). America’s commuting choices: 5 major takeaways from 2016 census data. Brookings.

Fitzgerald, F. S. (2003). The Great Gatsby. Wordsworth.