Driver-pedestrian interaction: linking aggressive driving patterns to personality traits

Abstract

According to the European Commission, 18 % of all road fatalities in the European Union in2022 were pedestrians. Most of them were caused by a collision with a car – 2.409 out of 3.715 fatalities.The manoeuvres that usually lead to such collisions include speeding and failing to give way. Thesebehaviours, which are typical of aggressive driving, can be fatal in interaction with vulnerable road users,especially pedestrians. In this paper, we would like to deepen the knowledge of the relationship betweenaggressive driving and personality traits. To this end, we apply the well-established Eysenck personalitytest, which identifies three different personality traits, and link its results with the answers to a questionnaireon driving behaviour and perceived safety. The aim is to understand whether there is a correlation betweenextroversion and aggressive behaviour. The results show that the participants who were willing to performdangerous manoeuvres or drive aggressively in most of the proposed situations were extroverted.