PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Crossing continents -- where we drive affects how we drive

2013-12-02
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Lindsay Brooke
lindsay.brooke@nottingham.ac.uk
44-011-595-15751
University of Nottingham
Crossing continents -- where we drive affects how we drive

According to the International Transport Forum Malaysia has one of the highest death rates from road traffic accidents in the world. While the number of road deaths continues to rise in Malaysia the number in the United Kingdom is much lower and experiencing a downward trend.

For the first time a team of experts have been looking at the cross-cultural effect on drivers' hazard perception and their research has shown that compared to British drivers, Malaysian motorists are less likely to identify situations as dangerous and also react to them later. This could have consequences for hazard perception tests for drivers in developing countries where road safety is a primary concern.

A cross-cultural study of drivers carried out by experts in the School of Psychology's Driving Research Group at The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) and The University of Nottingham in the UK showed that Malaysian drivers have much slower reaction times and required a higher threshold of danger before taking action. The study has also shown that the better we know the roads we are on the more likely we are to identify events occurring there as hazardous.

The International Transport Forum's Annual report for 2013 showed that in 2011 there were 1,960 fatalities on UK roads — a fall of nearly 64 per cent since 1990. While in Malaysia the figure stood at 6,877 — a rise of 70 per cent since 1990.

Phui Cheng Lim, a Postgraduate student who led the research, said: "The fact that Malaysian drivers were slower to respond to danger possibly reflects the more hazardous road environment they are used to.

"Although hazard perception tests are used in several developed countries as part of the driver licensing curriculum little research has been done in developing countries where road safety is a primary concern. Our results suggest that hazard perception testing, particularly in developing countries, would benefit from a paradigm where performance cannot be confused with differing thresholds of what is regarded as a potential hazard."

The research entitled 'Cross-cultural effects on drivers' hazard perception' was carried out both in Malaysia and the UK. It was instigated by Dr Elizabeth Sheppard shortly after she arrived in Malaysia to take up an academic post at UNMC. Funded by an Early Career Research and Knowledge Transfer grant from The University of Nottingham, the research has been published in the academic journal Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour.

Dr Sheppard said: "I thought getting a car would make life easier but I soon realised that driving in Malaysia was very different from back home in Britain. I had to completely rethink my driving strategy."

Dr Sheppard now heads the Driving Research Group which is made up of experts in traffic psychology and behaviour. This group is among the first to do experimental research on driving in Malaysia. Until now most studies had been based on surveys or observational analysis looking at the social aspects of driving.

Volunteers from the UK and Malaysia were shown videos of driving scenarios in both countries and tested on their reactions. The difference was statistically significant with British drivers taking an average of 1.68 seconds to register the emerging threat while Malaysian drivers took 2.25 seconds to respond.

Eye tracking data showed the Malaysians were seeing the hazards at the same time as the British drivers but taking much longer to respond, suggesting they considered the hazards to be less dangerous.

Dr Sheppard said: "Although Malaysian drivers reacted more slowly, having a slightly attenuated view of what constitutes a hazard doesn't mean you're not noticing what's going on around you. The kind of test we used works very well in the UK, but for countries where people seem more desensitised to hazards, it may not be as appropriate." Her team is currently investigating alternative ways to examine hazard perception in both the UK and Malaysia.



INFORMATION:

Image — Credit The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus:

Treshi Perera and Phui Cheng Lim — Malaysian participants reacted more slowly to hazards compared with UK drivers, possibly reflecting the more hazardous road environment they are used to.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

CNIO scientists create the first large catalog of interactions between drugs and proteins

2013-12-02
CNIO scientists create the first large catalog of interactions between drugs and proteins The catalog will serve to provide a reference tool for modern molecular pharmacology and for the study of the consequences of mutations in cancer The three-dimensional ...

Researchers identify genetic fingerprints of endangered conifers

2013-12-02
Researchers identify genetic fingerprints of endangered conifers The world's largest Podocarpaceae collection in Bochum In the tropics and subtropics, many evergreen conifers are endangered. Biologists at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) have ...

The heart's own stem cells play their part in regeneration

2013-12-02
The heart's own stem cells play their part in regeneration Sca1 stem cells replace steadily aging heart muscle cells This news release is available in German. Up until a few years ago, the common school of thought held that the mammalian heart ...

Researchers pinpoint superbug resistance protein

2013-12-02
Researchers pinpoint superbug resistance protein Researchers have identified a resistance protein that allows bacteria to survive chlorhexidine, a disinfectant commonly used in wipes, cleansers and mouthwashes in hospitals. A study led jointly ...

Snapshots differentiate molecules from their mirror image

2013-12-02
Snapshots differentiate molecules from their mirror image Max Planck researchers are able to reveal the spatial structure of chiral molecules This news release is available in German. Small difference, large effect: Most biological molecules ...

Junk food and poor oral health increase risk of premature heart disease

2013-12-02
Junk food and poor oral health increase risk of premature heart disease The association between poor oral health and increased risk of cardiovascular disease should make the reduction of sugars such as those contained in junk food, particularly fizzy drinks, an important ...

How a legless, leaping fish that lives on land avoids predators

2013-12-02
How a legless, leaping fish that lives on land avoids predators SYDNEY: One of the world's strangest animals – a legless, leaping fish that lives on land - uses camouflage to avoid attacks by predators such as birds, lizards and crabs, new research ...

Telescope to track space junk using youth radio station

2013-12-02
Telescope to track space junk using youth radio station Inaugural results reveal enormous potential of SKA precursor A combination of pop songs, talkback radio and cutting-edge science has enabled Australian astronomers to identify ...

Mild hypothermia as a treatment for CNS injuries: Positive or negative effects?

2013-12-02
Mild hypothermia as a treatment for CNS injuries: Positive or negative effects? There are few data on the effectiveness and mechanism underlying mild hypothermia in the treatment of central nervous system injuries. Therefore, there is a need to investigate the potentially ...

Treatment of malignant glioma using hyperthermia

2013-12-02
Treatment of malignant glioma using hyperthermia Malignant glioma is very sensitive to heat. Prof. Yunlong Ge and team from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, China used a brain tumor hyperthermia apparatus to treat malignant glioma patients, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Recent advances in dynamic biomacromolecular modifications and chemical interventions: Perspective from a Chinese chemical biology consortium

CRF and the Jon DeHaan Foundation to launch TCT AI Lab at TCT 2025

Canada’s fastest academic supercomputer is now online at SFU after $80m upgrades

Architecture’s past holds the key to sustainable future

Laser correction for short-sightedness is safe and effective for older teenagers

About one in five people taking Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro say food tastes saltier or sweeter than before

Taking semaglutide turns down food noise, research suggests

Type 2 diabetes may double risk of sepsis, large community-based study suggests

New quantum sensors can withstand extreme pressure

Tirzepatide more cost-effective than semaglutide in patients with knee osteoarthritis and obesity

GLP-1 drugs shown cost-effective for knee osteoarthritis and obesity

Interactive apps, AI chatbots promote playfulness, reduce privacy concerns

How NIL boosts college football’s competitive balance

Moffitt researchers develop machine learning model to predict urgent care visits for lung cancer patients

Construction secrets of honeybees: Study reveals how bees build hives in tricky spots

Wheat disease losses total $2.9 billion across the United States and Canada between 2018 and 2021

New funding fuels development of first potentially regenerative treatment for multiple sclerosis

NJIT student–faculty team wins best presentation award for ant swarm simulation

Ants defend plants from herbivores but can hinder pollination

When the wireless data runs dry

Inquiry into the history of science shows an early “inherence” bias

Picky eaters endure: Ecologists use DNA to explore diet breadth of wild herbivores

Study suggests most Americans would be healthier without daylight saving time

Increasing the level of the protein PI31 demonstrates neuroprotective effects in mice

Multi-energy X-ray curved surface imaging-with multi-layer in-situ grown scintillators

Metasurface enables compact and high-sensitivity atomic magnetometer

PFAS presence confirmed in the blood of children in Gipuzkoa

Why do people believe lies?

SwRI installs private 5G network for research, development, testing and evaluation

A new perspective in bone metabolism: Targeting the lysosome–iron–mitochondria axis for osteoclast regulation

[Press-News.org] Crossing continents -- where we drive affects how we drive