Risky driving behaviors: Scoping review

 Risky driving behaviors increase the risk of injury and death due to crash. Vast strata of behaviors are considered as risky behavior in the literature. The aim of this scoping review was to extract and determine various behaviors tagged as risky driving behavior.

 Based on Arkesy and OMalley framework, a scoping review study was conducted. Literature search was done through PubMed, Embase, Scopus and Web of Science databases. Snowballing of references and hand search of related journals were also used. Time limitation for search was defined from 1st January 2000 to 30th December 2019. Screening process was done independently by two researchers. Data was systematically extracted from the included articles using a predetermined extraction table.

Literature review resulted in 3761 articles. After the screening process, 45 articles were included in the study. Majority of included articles were from United States (n=13), followed by Iran (n=5), Australia (n=4) and China (n=4). Speeding (reported in 70% of included studies), drunk driving (52%), aggressive driving (44%), tailgating (41%) and not-using seat belt (37%) were the most frequent behaviors tagged as risky driving behaviors in the included studies.

 Regarding the discrepancies in understanding, definition, and categories of risky driving behaviors, it is of great importance to develop a unified standard definition and categorize risky behaviors which would facilitate global movements to reduce risky driving behaviors through effective interventions.

Practical Implications:

 The results will guide the policymakers to clearly develop suitable policies in national, regional or local levels to prevent and reduce the negative results of risky driving behaviours.