Young male drivers' perceptions of and experiences with YouTube videos of risky driving behaviours.

OBJECTIVE: YouTube features millions of videos of high risk driving behaviours and negative consequences of high risk driving ("fails"), such as injuries or deaths. Unfortunately, no information is available on YouTube viewership of these types of sites or on the effects of these videos on viewers. The purpose of this study was to examine young male drivers' perceptions of and experiences with YouTube videos of risky driving behaviours. METHODS: Using an exploratory qualitative descriptive approach, three 2-hour focus groups were conducted with young men 18-30 years of age to determine: (i) if they watch and share YouTube videos, including high risk driving videos; (ii) what effects high risk driving videos have on them and others and whether YouTube videos of negative consequences discourage high risk driving. RESULTS: Participants indicated three uses for YouTube; it has replaced television watching and provides entertainment and information. Motivations of both risky drivers in videos and viewers to engage in high risk driving activities included person characteristics (e.g., sensation seeking and responsivity to financial rewards for high view count videos) and socio-environmental factors (e.g., peer pressure). Most indicated that they would not try to imitate the risky behaviours exhibited in videos, although a few had tried to copy some risky driving moves from videos. CONCLUSIONS: Social, not mass media is now the common information and entertainment source for young people. YouTube videos of high risk driving are common and ubiquitous. Findings from these focus groups suggest that viewers could influence subsequent content of social media videos and reciprocally, videos could influence behaviours of some viewers, particularly young male viewers.

Literature review on risky driving videos on YouTube: Unknown effects and areas for concern?

OBJECTIVE: Entry of terms reflective of extreme risky driving behaviors into the YouTube website yields millions of videos. The majority of the top 20 highly subscribed automotive YouTube websites are focused on high-performance vehicles, high speed, and often risky driving. Moreover, young men are the heaviest users of online video sharing sites, overall streaming more videos, and watching them longer than any other group. The purpose of this article is to review the literature on YouTube videos and risky driving. METHODS: A systematic search was performed using the following specialized database sources-Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, ERIC, and Google Scholar-for the years 2005-2015 for articles in the English language. Search words included "YouTube AND driving," "YouTube AND speeding," "YouTube AND racing." RESULTS: No published research was found on the content of risky driving videos or on the effects of these videos on viewers. This literature review presents the current state of our published knowledge on the topic, which includes a review of the effects of mass media on risky driving cognitions; attitudes and behavior; similarities and differences between mass and social media; information on the YouTube platform; psychological theories that could support YouTube's potential effects on driving behavior; and 2 examples of risky driving behaviors ("sidewalk skiing" and "ghost riding the whip") suggestive of varying levels of modeling behavior in subsequent YouTube videos. CONCLUSIONS: Every month about 1 billion individuals are reported to view YouTube videos (ebizMBA Guide 2015 ) and young men are the heaviest users, overall streaming more YouTube videos and watching them longer than women and other age groups (Nielsen 2011 ). This group is also the most dangerous group in traffic, engaging in more per capita violations and experiencing more per capita injuries and fatalities (e.g., Parker et al. 1995 ; Reason et al. 1990 ; Transport Canada 2015 ; World Health Organization 2015 ). YouTube also contains many channels depicting risky driving videos. The time has come for the traffic safety community to begin exploring these relationships.

Relationships between thrill seeking, speeding attitudes, and driving violations among a sample of motorsports spectators and drivers.

BACKGROUND: Motor racing includes high speed driving and risky maneuvers and can result in negative outcomes for both spectators and drivers. Interest in motorsports is also associated with risky driving attitudes and behaviors on public roads as well as with individual difference variables, such as sensation seeking. However, whether the links between motorsports involvement and risky driving tendencies differ for spectators and drivers has remained mainly unexamined. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between thrill seeking, attitudes toward speeding, and self-reported driving violations among a sample of motorsports spectators and drivers. METHOD: A web-based survey was conducted and sampled 408 members and visitors of car club and racing websites in Ontario, Canada. The questionnaire included measures of (i) motorsports involvement, (ii) thrill seeking (Driver Thrill Seeking Scale), (iii) attitudes (Attitudes toward Speed Limits on Roadways and Competitive Attitudes toward Driving Scale); (iv) self-reported driving violations (adapted from Driver Behaviour Questionnaire), and (v) background variables. Path analysis was performed to test the relationships among the variables. RESULTS: For both spectators and drivers, thrill seeking directly predicted driving violations; competitive attitudes toward driving further mediated this relationship. Attitudes toward speed limits, however, mediated the relationship between thrill seeking and violations only for drivers. DISCUSSION: We observed significant relationships among individual difference measures, motorsports involvement, speeding attitudes and violations that may inform road safety interventions, including differences in the relationships among thrill seeking, speeding attitudes, and violations for motorsports spectators and drivers.

High-risk driving attitudes and everyday driving violations of car and racing enthusiasts in Ontario, Canada.

OBJECTIVE: Attitudes and individual difference variables of car and racing enthusiasts regarding high-risk behaviors of street racing and stunt driving have recently been investigated. Positive attitudes toward high-risk driving, personality variables such as driver thrill seeking, and other self-reported risky driving acts were associated with these behaviors. However, probable relationships among high-risk driving tendencies, everyday driving behaviors, and negative road safety outcomes have remained largely unexamined. This study aimed to investigate the associations among car and racing enthusiasts' high-risk driving attitudes, self-reported everyday driving violations (i.e., ordinary and aggressive violations), and self-reported negative outcomes (i.e., collisions and driving offense citations). METHOD: A web-based survey was conducted with members and visitors of car club and racing websites in Ontario, Canada. Data were obtained from 366 participants. The questionnaire included 4 attitude measures-(1) attitudes toward new penalties for Ontario's Street Racers, Stunt and Aggressive Drivers Legislation; (2) attitudes toward new offenses of stunt driving under the same legislation; (3) general attitudes toward street racing and stunt driving; (4) comparison of street racing with other risky driving behaviors-self-reported driving violations (i.e., ordinary and aggressive violations); self-reported collisions and offense citations; and background and driving questions (e.g., age, driving frequency). RESULTS: Results revealed that attitudes toward stunt driving offenses negatively and general attitudes toward street racing and stunt driving positively predicted ordinary violations, which, in turn, predicted offense citations. Moreover, general attitudes toward street racing and stunt driving positively predicted aggressive violations, which, in turn, predicted offense citations. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that positive high-risk driving attitudes may be transferring to driving violations in everyday traffic, which mediates driving offense citations.