Project leader: Asst. Dr. Zornitsa Totkova, PhD.

The project “Personality and Risky Driving Behaviour” was implemented over 36 months in the 2016-2021 timeframe (with a break of two years). The Project is funded by a budget subsidy and is led by asst. prof. Zornitsa Totkova, PhD. The main aim is to investigate the influence of personality factors such as anxiety, sensation seeking, anger, etc., on actual risky behaviour on the road and to derive a profile of the dangerous driver. The results show that anxiety, risk-taking and anger are related to registered traffic offences, while road accident involvement is influenced by anxiety, aggressive driving and driving anger. Regarding demographic factors, it is apparent that drivers with actual risky behaviour on the road are predominantly males up to 36 years of age, amateur drivers with between 6 and 15 years of driving experience. The main scientific contributions of the research project lie in the reliable methods developed for assessing personality factors that are relevant to driving behaviour and establishing their influence. In practical terms, the main contribution is the derived profile of drivers with actual risky behaviour on the road according to their manifestations (registered offences and involvement in traffic accidents). These results provide a solid basis for the design of road risk behaviour prevention programmes focusing on driver personality, as well as intervention programmes targeting drivers who are identified as offenders and/or involved in road traffic accidents.