Tendency to commit traffic violations and presence of passengers in the car

The present study examined whether the tendency to commit traffic violations differed when drivers were with and without the presence of other persons in the car. One thousand and eight drivers were observed by the road side. The data registered by the observers included estimated age of the driver and the passengers, sex of the driver and number of passengers. Four dependent variables were registered for each driver, which are, wearing seatbelt, signaling, using hand-held cellular phone and keeping the distance from the vehicle in front. It has been found that for both males and females, old and young, a greater proportion of drivers who were alone committed traffic violations as compared to drivers who were not alone. These results are discussed in relation to social influences on drivers and allow insight into how the presence of passengers has an impact on driver behavior and traffic safety.