ABSTRACT
This paper presents a study aimed to investigate the relationship between driver personality traits and the level of driving risk taken by driver during a trip, and also the relationship between driving risk levels and driver’s physical and emotional conditions while driving. To this end, a survey was conducted to gain an objective measure of the risk level, which gives an indication of the driving conditions (safe or unsafe), and subjective judgements of the drivers about their personal characteristics. Objective measures were obtained from kinematic parameters (instantaneous speed, longitudinal and lateral accelerations) recorded along each trajectory followed by the driver. For this aim, smartphones equipped with GPS and accelerometer were used. On the other hand, drivers were asked to complete a questionnaire about their personality traits, and physical and emotional conditions while driving, which can influence their driving style. Each driver covers the same path several times in different days, in order to capture different physical and emotional conditions and driving styles. The sample of drivers belongs to a population of car drivers between 25 and 50 years old who every day drive by their private car for reaching their destination of work or study. Overall, drivers made about 170 tests covering about 1,100 km. We proposed a correlation analysis between the drivers’ characteristics and the risk level obtained by using acceleration and speed data. As an example, we found that characteristics such as patience and meticulousness positively influence the level of safety.
