Table 1 Items from the driver behaviour questionnaire (DBQ) in descending order of mean score

2

Check your speedometer and discover that you are unknowingly travelling faster that the legal limit.

2.49

1.24

21

Deliberately disregard the speed limits late at night or very early in the morning.

2.23

1.59

45

Drive with only “half an eye” on the road while looking at a map, changing a radio channel, etc.

1.65

1.16

5

Drive along country roads at night as fast with dipped lights as on full beam.

1.54

1.56

15

Forget which gear you are currently in and have to check with your hand.

1.5

1.3

13

“Wake up” to realise that you have no clear recollection of the road along which you have just travelled.

1.47

1.17

16

Stuck behind a slow-moving vehicle on a two-lane highway, you are driven by frustration to try to overtake in risky circumstances.

1.34

1.23

4

Become impatient with a slow driver in the outer lane and overtake in places where it is not allowed (outside urban areas, for example).

1.25

1.34

6

Attempt to drive away with the handbrake on.

1.15

0.93

33

Plan your route badly, so that you meet traffic congestion you could have avoided.

1.09

0.9

27

Have an aversion to a particular class of road user, and indicate your hostility by whatever means you can.

1.06

1.24

39

Fail to give way when a bus is signalling its intention to pull out.

1.05

1.08

47

Get involved in unofficial “races” with other drivers.

1.05

1.27

14

Miss your exit on a motorway and have to make a lengthy detour.

1.02

0.88

9

Distracted or preoccupied, realise belatedly that the vehicle ahead has slowed, and have to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision.

1.01

0.81

8

Forget where you left your car in a multi-level car park.

0.96

1.17

23

Lost in thought, you forget that your lights are on full beam until “flashed” by other motorists.

0.96

0.83

29

Park where it is not allowed and risk a fine.

0.96

1.11

34

Overtake a single line of stationary or slow-moving vehicles, only to discover that they were queuing to get through a one-lane gap.

0.85

1.06

18

Take a chance and go through lights that have turned red.

0.83

1.03

37

Get into the wrong lane at a roundabout or approaching a road junction.

0.8

0.82

46

Fail to notice pedestrians crossing when turning into a side street from a main road.

0.79

0.83

17

Intending to drive to destination A, you “wake up” to find yourself en route to B, where the latter is your more usual journey.

0.75

0.95

28

Lost in thought or distracted, you fail to notice someone waiting at a zebra crossing, or a pelican crossing light that has just turned red.

0.72

0.79

32

Fail to notice someone stepping out from behind a bus or parked vehicle until it is nearly too late.

0.72

0.76

31

Hit something when reversing that you had not previously seen.

0.69

0.75

30

Misjudge the speed of an oncoming vehicle when overtaking.

0.68

0.76

7

Drive especially close or “flash” the car in front as a signal for that driver to go faster or get out of your way.

0.67

1.07

12

Misjudge your gap in a car park and nearly (or actually) hit the adjoining vehicle.

0.63

0.82

38

Fail to read the signs correctly, and exit from a roundabout on the wrong road.

0.63

0.75

11

Turn left onto a main road into the path of an oncoming vehicle that you hadn’t seen, or whose speed you had misjudged.

0.56

0.64

19

Angered by another driver’s behaviour, you give chase with the intention of giving him/her a piece of your mind.

0.56

1

48

“Race” oncoming vehicles for a one-car gap on a narrow or obstructed road.

0.52

0.94

43

Deliberately drive the wrong way down a deserted one-way street.

0.48

0.82

35

Overtake a slow-moving vehicle in the inside lane or on the hard shoulder of a motorway.

0.45

0.87

36

Cut the corner at a right-hand turn and have to swerve violently to avoid an oncoming vehicle.

0.45

0.76

41

Fail to check your mirror before pulling out, changing lanes, turning, etc.

0.45

0.73

25

In a queue of vehicles turning left onto a main road, pay such close attention to the traffic approaching from the right that you nearly hit the car in front.

0.41

0.64

10

Intend to switch on the windscreen wipers, but switch on the lights instead, or vice versa.

0.38

0.74

1

Attempt to drive away from traffic lights in third gear.

0.37

0.57

20

Try to overtake without first checking your mirror, and then get hooted at by the car behind, which has already begun its overtaking manoeuvre.

0.33

0.59

49

Brake too quickly on a slippery road and/or steer the wrong way in a skid.

0.32

0.66

42

Attempt to overtake a vehicle that you hadn’t noticed was signalling its intention to turn right.

0.28

0.56

26

Drive back from a party, restaurant, or pub, even though you realise that you have been drinking alcohol.

0.27

0.68

24

On turning left, nearly hit a cyclist who has come up on your inside.

0.26

0.57

50

Misjudge your crossing interval when turning right and narrowly miss a collision.

0.26

0.53

44

Disregard red lights when driving late at night along empty roads.

0.25

0.72

22

Forget to pay/renew your statutory insurance and discover that you are driving illegally.

0.17

0.51

40

Ignore “give way” signs and narrowly avoid colliding with traffic having the right of way.

0.15

0.42

3

Lock yourself out of your car with the keys still inside.

0.13

0.43