So, even the most simple forms of data, such
as frequency of self-reported offending, can be
analysed in useful ways when they are combined
with information regarding age, gender, and reasons
for driving, for example. This would allow analyses to
recognise what gender and age category of individuals
are more likely to report offending, and also why those
individuals claim to use their phones while driving. We
might guess it’s because of time pressure, but actually
discover that boredom plays a big part, for example.
Using programmes as simple as Microsoft Excel allows
you to establish the percentage of drivers involved in
a collision who are male or female, are of a certain age
or live in a certain geographical area (providing you
also have that information), as well as to develop charts
and graphs that pictorially represent any differences
between genders, age groups or location. Visualisation
of the data can help you to understand what it shows,
but also helps to persuade others who may need
convincing to act, or to resource activity.
The MAST online capability described on page 13 also
allows these analyses to be performed. More advanced
packages will generally allow you to do more, but will
also require additional data analysis skills.
The RAC Report on Motoring provides some data
regarding the issue of mobile phone use by drivers.
The 2018 Report¹ found that 25% of drivers admitted
to making or receiving a handheld call while
driving. 19% admitted to checking text messages,
emails or social media while driving and 14%
admitted to taking photos and videos while driving.
These were all slight increases on the results
obtained the previous year.
This highlights a couple of important issues with
what we ‘know’ about the problem. Firstly, there are
lots of forms of ‘use’ of a phone and, secondly, not all
of these are illegal - even though they are distracting.
We explore these issues later in the compendium.
¹ RAC (2018). RAC Report on Motoring 2018. Available from: https://www.rac.co.uk/pdfs/report-on-motoring/rac10483_rom-2018_content_web
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