Risk perception may be the real danger on New Zealand’s roads – John Williamson
Many messages about wearing your seatbelt seem to be targeted at younger drivers. Photo / 123rf
Recently, details of the two road fatalities in Northland, landed in my inbox. Both of these were middle-aged drivers and, according to police, were unrestrained by seatbelts.
Many messages about wearing your seatbelt seem to be targeted at younger drivers, and much research supports that notion.
Increasingly though, we see those with years of driving experience ending up as unrestrained statistics.
That makes you wonder about what has been learned over those years, or the reasons they may not wear seatbelts.
Northland drivers appear to be particularly bad at not wearing their seatbelts.
A third of all drivers stopped in a 2019 police blitz were not wearing seatbelts. And in almost every year for the past few years, 35-40% of Northland’s road fatalities were not restrained.
Some focus group research done three years ago among young sports club participants, indicated an attitude of ambivalence about the requirement to wear seatbelts and being told what to do.
There was a sense of feeling bulletproof and that it would not happen to them. When asked who they listened to, the response was often their kids, and other colleagues who had been in car crashes. Traditional advertising did not get through.
There is an issue it seems, between a driver’s risk behaviour, in relation to the perceived risk that the road or the behaviour presents.
Nothing sharpens your senses more than knowing what dangers you might face if things go wrong.
A few years ago, we drove a 4x4 along a sloping scree track with scree shale 100m above and below us, in the South Island high country. Recognising there is no way back, meant that one mistake could be disastrous. It does make you focus on the task at hand.
The likes of Liam Lawson driving at 350km/h in an F1 race, is likely to be safer than many risk-taking drivers on ordinary roads.
While the race and crashes look spectacular, the nature of the cars, the track itself, the support staff, along with the driver’s skills has made for a huge improvement in the safety factors of this sport.
That’s the thing: everyone knew about the risks, and had made significant developments, meaning that drivers walk away from spectacular high-speed crashes.
There is some evidence, though, indicating that the actual risk of the road does not match the driver’s perceived risk of the hazards that may or may not be present.
Polish research published in 2024 concluded that, “Drivers with a lower risk perception are far more likely to engage in those behaviours that are most commonly reported and directly endanger road safety.”
This suggests that some drivers have little perception of the risk of the roads they drive on, or the behaviours that contribute to that risk.
Earlier research under the auspices of the AA Research Foundation, suggested that many roadside hazards are not perceived as risks, but that well-recognised roadside signs such as electronic “Slow Down” advisory signs, are effective in conveying potential danger.
As well, this study suggested that road markings such as double yellow lines, wide centre lines, and transverse line markings are quite effective in conveying risk.
Some people, though, are just plain stupid.
Like the dirt bike rider with no helmet, weaving through traffic, running red lights and revving his engine, had no perception of the nuisance and danger to himself and other drivers.
I suppose he did get some morbid pleasure from the risks he was taking.