Accident Analysis and Prevention 39 (2007) 536–545 Predicting risky and angry driving as a function of gender Heather S. Lonczak a,∗ , Clayton Neighbors b , Dennis M. Donovan a,b a Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States b Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States Received 7 April 2006; received in revised form 31 August 2006; accepted 21 September 2006 Abstract The present study was designed to examine putative risk factors of driving anger, traffic citations, and traffic-related injuries as a function of gender. Participants included 785 (65% men) drivers identified by the Washington State Department of Licensing. Just over half of participants (55%) were identified as high-risk drivers based on multiple traffic violations, whereas 45% were recruited from a random sample of drivers. Participants completed a mailed survey assessing indicators of risky driving and risk factors including sensation seeking, stressful events, negative affect, tobacco use, and drinking behavior. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to evaluate risky driving outcomes as a function of theoretically prioritized risk factors and to evaluate gender as a moderator. Overall, men reported more traffic citations and injuries, but did not differ from women in reported driving anger. All putative risk factors were associated with one or more indicators of risky driving. Moderation results revealed that the positive relationship between drinking frequency and driving anger was stronger for women. In contrast, typical number of drinks consumed was negatively associated with driving anger, which was also more evident for women. In addition, the positive association between sensation seeking and number of traffic citations was stronger among women. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Keywords: Risky driving; Driving anger; Aggressive driving; Traffic accidents; Road rage; Gender 1. Introduction Driving anger represents a growing, and often dangerous, phenomenon in American society. Driving in and of itself can be a risky endeavor. More than 41,000 Americans lose their lives in automobile crashes annually, with a crash-related death occurring every 12 min (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; NHTSA, 2003). The economic burden of traffic accidents is also enormous, exceeding $ 230 billion annually in 2000 (NHTSA, 2003). But with motor vehicle crashes representing the leading cause of death for individuals age 4–34 (Subramanian, 2006), the emotional toll of traffic crashes is beyond estimation. Angry and aggressive driving represent particularly dangerous elements of the driving experience. We use the term “angry driving” to refer to feelings of anger experienced while driving and the term “aggressive driving” to refer to specific behaviors which may or may not result as ∗ Corresponding author at: Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute, Box 354805, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105-4631, United States. Tel.: +1 206 616 1233; fax: +1 206 543 5473. E-mail address: hzak@u.washington.edu (H.S. Lonczak). a function of driving angry. When drivers become angry, they sometimes engage in aggressive driving—from swearing under their breath, to chasing, cutting-off, or personally confronting other drivers. An extreme form of aggressive driving is often referred to as road rage, which is defined as “an intentional assault by a driver or passenger, with a motor vehicle or a weapon, on the roadway or precipitated by an incident on the roadway” (NHTSA, 2006, p. 84). The term aggressive driving has also been used to describe reckless or risky driving in the absence of anger. Overall, aggressive driving behaviors (e.g., red-light running) represent significant societal problems, which the NHTSA estimates as contributing to about two thirds of annual traffic crashes in the US (NHTSA, 2001a). In the present paper our primary aims were to identify and evaluate gender differences in risk factors of driving anger. We were also interested in examining risk factors and gender differences in outcomes which have been previously associated with aggressive driving (i.e., traffic citations, and traffic injuries). Despite the obvious implications of angry driving to the majority of Americans, the topic has only begun to gain attention among researchers during recent decades. Additionally, within the existing driving literature, there remains a particular lack of focus on both risk factors for and the role of gender in angry and 0001-4575/$ – see front matter. Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.aap.2006.09.010