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Challenging roads may decrease driver boredom: study

By Tim Beissmann |

Researchers at Newcastle University in the UK believe making roads more complicated and building in more obstacles could actually make them safer.

The study, ‘The categorisation of drivers in relation to boredom’, found that drivers who did not feel challenged or engaged by their cars and the roads were more prone to speeding and overtaking to seek excitement.

Lead researcher, Dr Joan Harvey, said changes to vehicles and roads may be a better way to reduce boredom behind the wheel than additional driver education.

“It would be nice to think that we could train people to be better drivers but we think that those people who would most benefit from training are the least likely to take part,” Dr Harvey said.

“So we’ve considered the other options and contrary to what you might expect when driving, hazards can actually increase our attention to the road so this may well be the way forward for planners.

“We may need to start considering some radical schemes such as putting bends back into roads or introducing the concept of shared space as it would force motorists to think about their driving and pedestrians to think about cars.”

Dr Harvey’s team worked in collaboration with the Newcastle University School of Psychology and the Transport Operations Research Group and, based on a study of 1563 drivers, placed all motorists into four groups.

The first was those who are “easily bored, nervous and dangerous”. This group made up 31 percent of the test’s sample and was comprised largely of younger drivers and women. The study said this group was the one most looking for driving thrills on the road, and was the most likely to become involved in accidents.

The largest group was the “enthusiastic” drivers, those who find driving more of a challenge and intrinsically interesting. This group accounted for 35 percent of those tested. These motorists enjoy driving and are calmer behind the wheel and are less likely to have a crash.

A further 21 percent of participants were placed in the “drive slowly and dislike driving” category. They drive the least and are less likely to get fined for speeding.

The final group was those who drive “safe and slow”. This 13 percent of the test sample admitted to driving slow in the city, but also had the most positive outlook on life.


 
  • Blitzkriegs

    They obviously forgot that this would in reality confuse and scare all toyota camry and corolla drivers thus making it more dangerous for everbody else.

    • Tom R

      Hahaha high five Blitz. Comment was funny, then you upset Camry Lover, and that made me crack up laughing =)

      • Tom R

        Oh, and I drive an Avalon, which I traded a Camry in for, so dont think im some sort of Camry basher, im just not sensitive.

    • Nath746

      How is Blitzkriegs comment offensive to other motorists? Other motorists as in yourself?

  • Banicks

    Parramatta Road is a straight line, but you try losing concentration on that hah!

    • http://www.caradvice.com.au Jim Goose

      I’m not aware of any road in that area.Are you referring to ‘Parramatta carpark’?

  • john

    I want an autobarn built to the same quality as the overseas version right down the east coast of Australia.

  • JEKYL & HYDE

    so raise the speed limit on boring(safe dual lane)roads to make them more challangeing…oh no that’s to hard,and our speed camera’s wouldn’t generate as much income…

  • Luke

    As a keen cyclist I have found the above to be the case. Some of the more dangersous roads I train on are the ones I feel safer on. The highway between Warrnambool and Port Fairy is fairly twity and busy, but if I stay on the shoulder I feel as safe as on any road as drivers are more alert to dangers, and consequently more conscientious in giving me room to ride.

    • Luke

      twisty*

      • Tom R

        I reckon thats an interesting observation Luke. I would have thought cyclists would have felt safer on wider and straighter roads, regardless of driver input. Would you say its also something to do with the fact that less aggressive and rushed drivers drive on these sorts of roads, as opposed to the psychotic soccer mums prowling the city and nearby highways?

        • Luke

          Tom, I would say as much as anything its the fact that on highways there is a shoulder to ride on which (generally) is protected by a ripple strip. With the high volume of traffic on this particular single lane highway people seem to be more on the ball.

          I have trained most days for the past 5 years and I can honestly say that you can get a feeling for a driver’s mood and thoughts of the cyclist just by the way they drive past (perhaps this is why cyclist sometimes, admittedly, come off as jaded).

          But yes, I would say I’d prefer some busy highways compared to some quieter back roads where drivers are, per the article above, more susceptible to switching off and not seeing me on the road. On busy roads people seem to be more aware of each other and this is less likely to happen.

    • rich3984

      yeah, i ride on the road, am constantly nerveous of whos not looking and when im going to be run over, go up a mountain with blind curves never had a problem.

  • vrx26

    Really, I guess for well trained drivers this would be a good idea but for most drivers who doesnt even know how to change lane safely or merge on a freeway it will just up the accident statistics. Good driver training combined with good road networks is the key but this is Earth so it won’t happen in our lifetime – probably when we conquer Mars.

  • Shak

    Or we could train our drivers better AND make some roads more challenging! Now i didn’t need million dollar researchers to tell me that!

    • MattW

      But the million bucks would be nice if they are handing it out :)

  • valet dabess

    well when i drive home at night time around 11, 12 it is kinda boring and i do kinda take over people for the fun of it

  • xr2/xr8

    twin carrage way great ocean road would keep me amused for days

  • Technofreak

    Just make it harder for people to get their licence due to difficult driver training and testing and stop letting total nuffs get their licence like it is their god given right…
    this would stimulate public transport (that I could use when I go out on the town) and leave the road for those of us that appreciate driving.

    …think about it…its a total win on so many levels.

  • Car Fanatic

    The old pacific highway is driver heaven, that or bump the M3 speed limit to 160.

    • Save It for the track

      The F3 out of Sydney to Newcastle doesn’t have the sight lines or gradual changes in gradient to up the speed-limit to what you suggest. Not to mention that too many simply do not understand the concept of ‘keep left unless overtaking’.

  • Octavian

    I can easily understand this, driving on the meandering undulating road to Jenolan Caves last week on my NSW roadtrip was one of the most enjoyable roads after so highway.

  • tuxsavvy

    On a more contrary note to a worthless and biased research, lets take the fun out of driving altogether. Let’s make the roads extremely challenging so that people will be so exhausted from driving that we wouldn’t have any energy left to do anything after driving, let alone getting laid.

    Whilst on a similar note, lets waste money on building complex roads and ignore the fact that we will be having machines doing all the driving for us because we humans aren’t suitable to do anything. The idea of driver-less vehicles are no longer science fiction considering the amount of people wanting to prevent road deaths/accidents. Once driver-less vehicles becomes a reality, people will be wondering why the unnecessary funds were spent on building redundant complex roads in the first place.

  • Frenchie

    Gilies Hwy between Atherton and Gordonvale (around Cairns). Anyone got any other tricky roads in Oz?