Accident Analysis and Prevention 42 (2010) 2125–2131 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Accident Analysis and Prevention journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/aap Parental and offspring assessment of driving capability under the influence of drugs or alcohol: Gender and inter-generational differences Tova Rosenbloom * , Ariela Beigel, Amotz Perlman, Ehud Eldror The Phoenix Road Safety Studies, Department of Management, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan 52900, Israel article info Article history: Received 14 September 2009 Received in revised form 15 May 2010 Accepted 5 July 2010 Keywords: Alcohol Drugs Driving capability Gender Inter-generational differences Parents abstract The current study set to examine whether there are inter-generational and gender-based differences between family members self-assessing their ability to drive under normal conditions and while under the influence of either alcohol or drugs. Participants were 135 young-adults and both their parents, consisting 45 family triads, who received self-assessment questionnaires relating to their driving skills in various road scenarios. Each family triad was randomly assigned to one of three groups: either requested to base the assessments on normal driving conditions, or under the influence of either drugs or alcohol, thus forming a control group, and two experimental groups (alcohol and drugs), respectively. The findings indicate the assessments of both the alcohol and drugs groups were more severe than those of the control group. The alcohol group assessments were less strict than the drug group assessment (non- significantly). Inter-generational differences indicated that the parents’ driving-skills assessments were lower than those of their offspring, corresponding with previous findings (Elkind, 1967; Finn and Bragg, 1986). A significant within-subject interaction has been found between the respondent’s gender and familial relations regarding the self-assessment of driving skills: male respondents assessed better driving skills compared to the self estimates of both parents (which did not significantly differ). In contrast, female respondents’ estimates did not differ from their fathers’ and both fathers’ and daughters’ estimates were significantly higher than that of the mothers in each family. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Road accidents are events caused by a number of fac- tors, but the most important one is the human factor. Despite the frequent occurrence of accidents and their serious conse- quences, drivers continue to take risks such as driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Road accidents are high (in 11th place) on the list of causes of death, and follow death from cardiovascular disease (World Health Organization, 2008). The involvement of young drivers in these accidents is par- ticularly prevalent. It seems that the combination of certain aspects of personality such as risk-taking and sensation-seeking (Rosenbloom, 2003) together with lifestyle and uncontrolled alcohol consumption and drug use (Jamieson et al., 2002) constitute a high risk factor for involvement in road acci- dents. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +972 3 5741011; fax: +972 3 5741959. E-mail address: rosenbt1@mail.biu.ac.il (T. Rosenbloom). The combination of alcohol consumption and driving causes dangerous behavior and becomes a major risk factor in road acci- dents. Driving is perceived as an automatic, routine and elemental activity but is actually a motor activity requiring, among other abil- ities, a high level of concentration, keen eyesight, proper motor function, a good memory, and a sound decision-making process. The driver is required to constantly absorb information, which changes continuously, about events occurring in the driving envi- ronment, and must be able to respond rapidly according to the information received. Any physical or emotional impairment will increase the risk of involvement in a road accident, or of committing a traffic offence (Evans, 1991; Jones and Lacy, 2001; Moskowitz and Fiorentino, 2000; Movig et al., 2004; Ronen et al., 2004). The alcohol consuming culture is prevalent in Israel as well, with approximately two-thirds (67%) of the population reported drinking alcohol in public places (National Road Safety Authority, 2008). However, it was found that even in small amounts, alcohol has a dangerous effect on driving (Shinar, 2001). Studies examining consumption habits, attitudes and intention to drive following consumption of alcohol (Shinar, 2000) revealed 0001-4575/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.aap.2010.07.002