AN INTEGRATIVE APPROACH TO STUDYING RISK FACTORS IN TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS, FATALITIES, AND VIOLATIONS (CALIFORNIA)

This dissertation posits an interdisciplinary epidemiology of driving-related pathology (e.g., traffic accidents). The integrative model suggests that driving pathology in a community can be understood as temporally ordered associations among macro-level environmental factors (e.g., economic climate), intervening community-level factors (e.g., socioeconomic structures), antecedent individual-level factors (e.g., psychophysiological symptoms), as well as situation-specific driver, vehicle, and roadway factors. Three complementary studies were conducted to test several relationships implied by the model.; Study 1 used a prospective design to assess whether economic stress and symptoms predict traffic accidents in a sample of 70 male drivers in Los Angeles County. Data were collected from survey questionnaires administered by telephone. As hypothesized, earlier economic life events and symptoms were directly and significantly related to self-reported accidents (occurring during the 14-month period subsequent to the original interview).; Study 2 used cross-sectional methods to examine the spatial distribution of socioeconomic structures, social stress (symptoms), and driving pathology (injury accidents and major convictions) in Los Angeles County. Data consisted of a 6000 case population survey, census archives, and Department of Motor Vehicle driving performance records. The results showed that all three social phenomena are distributed along an ecological gradient, thereby supporting various sociological theories about why driving pathology is differentially distributed among geographic subareas of the County. The findings are discussed in the context of the public policy controversy concerning territory-based automobile insurance pricing.; Study 3 used Box-Jenkins time-series techniques to assess the overarching relationship between macroeconomic change and traffic fatalities in Los Angeles County. The results showed that male MVF (motor vehicle fatalities) increased significantly approximately four months following economic expansion during the five-year period studied. The relationship appeared to be mediated by economic life events which also preceded and predicted male MVF.; Results from the three exploratory studies are contrasted and compared. The need for multi-level, multi-method analytical strategies in traffic safety research is discussed.