because empathy is a fundamental skill in driving – breaking latest news

Probably not the first trait that comes to mind when thinking of a good driver, yet it’s thereThe ability to put yourself in other people’s shoes is a fundamental skill when you get behind the wheel. A specific branch of psychology deals with studying the psychological aspects, such as this one, linked to road safety. In Milan, atCatholic University of the Sacred Heartthere is the Research Unit in Traffic Psychology, born in 2007. He tells Federica Biassonico-director of the Research Unit, together with Stefania Balzarotti: Our mission the research on our “functioning” when we move on the street as pedestrians, as motorists or cyclists. Upstream of this operation is the ability to read the environment and gather the elements to interpret it and move within it appropriately. Also taking into account the fact that when you are in the middle of traffic you are surrounded by many different “actors” and in order to interact and move around you need to know how to decode their intentions. It is a process of which we are not fully aware, but that we put into action every time, for example, we have to cross a road. In this case we have to perceive if a car is coming, where it comes from, the speed with which it moves, its trajectory and understand what the driver will be able to do. At the conclusion of this evaluation process we decide whether to cross or not. In short, we use our resources of perception, attention, risk assessment, decision making.

The role of the gaze

What is the fundamental element of all this complex system? The ability to interact with others. And here we return to the ability to identify ourselves with the point of view of others, which we spoke of at the beginning. When we want to cross a street, or pass another car, we are in a “dialogue”. What we decide to do is likewise similar to what happens when, in a discourse, we regulate speech turns. Let’s also think about the role of the gaze in all of this. Role that we have studied, in the context of a specific research, by “mapping” the ocular behavior of motorists and pedestrians in action to reconstruct the attention process and the ability to perceive possible sources of risk.

The perception of risk

How do we perceive risk? It will seem strange, but in this case optimism does not help. In assessing risk we are affected by what are technically called “bias”
(systematic errors in the evaluation of facts and events ed). A particularly frequent and interesting one arises from the need to prevent fear from “freezing” us in immobility: in practice, although I am aware that something is dangerous, I consider the “perceived” to be less dangerous to me than to the average of humanity. Let’s take a concrete example: we all know very well that driving with a cell phone to your ear is not without risk, but we tend to think: “I’m better than others, I can get by even with a cell phone to my ear, and then I only rarely do it… ”. Too bad it’s not true.

Driving anger

How important is driving safety animosity towards other motorists? Another research area of ​​ours concerned precisely “driving anger”. it emerged that those in a state of anger are more likely to adopt unsafe behaviors, since the function of anger, evolutionarily, is precisely to help us “make our way” among the obstacles in order to reach the goal. From the data it is clear that anger driving a specific type of anger, caused by certain conditions, which can only be experienced in traffic, and which make one inclined not only to a poor perception of danger but favor aggressive behaviour, violations and the attribution of guilt to other road users.

Be aware of your biases

Any final advice then? Yes being aware of the biases and “prejudices” with which you start driving can be very useful, and road safety training should have among its objectives precisely that of enhancing this awareness, making road users aware of their own functioning and that of others when they move on two or four wheels, but also on their own feet.

The environmental motivations in the choices are still marginal

Another of the topics dealt with by the Traffic Psychology Research Unit of the Catholic University of Milan is la ecological sustainability of mobility. In practice, it is – explains Dr. Biassoni – of find truly effective reasons to convince people to use the car less and more public transport or more sustainable ways of moving. From numerous researches it has been seen that it is useless to focus on the call to “salvation of the planet”: the “idealists” who make ecological choices are only 10-15% of the population, people who don’t need to be convinced to make “green” choices because they are already convinced. It is difficult to go beyond this low threshold, which seems to remain stable over time. It is therefore necessary to act on all the others, i.e. the vast majority of the population, making the use of public transport more comfortable, pleasant, economical and safe, concludes the expert.

Thus the requirements to be able to return to the wheel are evaluated

An offshoot of the Traffic Psychology Research Unit of the Catholic University of Milan il Evaluation, empowerment and diagnosis service of psychological driving requirements. The local medical commissions, sole holders of the decision regarding the suitability to drive of certain categories of drivers, turn to this service when they must deepen the situation and the ability of some people, typically the elderly, but also those suffering from diseases such as diabetes and epilepsy. Those found driving while intoxicated or taking drugs with a potential effect on attention behind the wheel or those with a psychological profile that may give rise to doubts regarding their ability to juggle traffic efficiently can also be sent to the Milan Service. safe for himself for others.

Interviews and tests

How do these assessments work? In addition to the interview and clinical observation, we use various internationally validated tests – explains Federica Biassoni – which examine some of the cognitive skills necessary to be able to drive safely, such as reaction speed, attention and concentration capacity, as well as the response to multiple stimuli. What exactly do the tests measure? With the help of these tests, possible measure different skills relevant to driving in traffic such as: responsiveness, stress tolerance, peripheral perception, willingness to take risksthe. Other factors that can be evaluated in this context are the tendency to violate norms or the ability to understand what other people’s intentions may be.

The license and the sense of identity

A complex job… Not only complex, I would also define it as extremely delicate, because the right to road safety must be taken into account on the one hand, as well as respect for the right to mobility on the other, whose limitations can affect a person’s quality of life. Furthermore, many times a driving license contributes to a person’s sense of identity, especially if he has driven all his life and his ability to be autonomous and have an active role in the family and in society. Sometimes during these assessments we also undertake to explain why it is necessary to verify that the conditions for driving in safety exist. Many elderly people tell us: “I’ve been driving for 50 or 60 years, what problems do you want to have?”. The problem is precisely this: the passing of the years. It must be kept in mind that, even if one is perfectly lucid, reaction times change with age.

However, the Italian legislation is very protective: the License Commission may in fact consider granting eligibility with certain limitations, for example, you may only be allowed to drive during the day or within a certain distance of your place of residence, or on all roads except the motorway, he concludes.