Do People Drive Light Cars Carefully? A Comparative Study of Risky Driving Behaviors between Light Cars and Others

The first aim of this study was to examine whether people drive light cars carefully in comparison with standard-sized cars. The second aim was to evaluate the factors that influence these risky driving indicators. Data were collected from 49 drivers in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, from November 2014 to January 2015. Risky driving behaviors included; (1) speeding, (2) high speed on a non-expressway, (3) high speed on an expressway, (4) high right/left turn rate, (5) long travel, (6) driving at night, (7) driving on an expressway, and (8) driving frequency. At first, the frequency or number of these indicators was compared between the light car group and the standard size car group by a t-test. Second, regression models were established to evaluate the influence of age, gender, living area, and car classification on each risky indicator. The t-test results showed that there was no significant difference in risky driving behaviors between the light car group and the others. The regression models confirmed that car classification did not significantly influence risky driving behaviors. Although age might affect car size selection, an interaction effect between these two factors was not observed. The results of the comparison and regression analysis revealed that drivers of light cars did not drive more carefully than drivers of standard size cars. The risky driving behaviors may partially contribute to the high injury and fatality rates of light cars. Therefore, we suggest that automakers and policymakers should provide more safety education and driving assistance for drivers of light cars.