Relationships between thrill seeking, speeding attitudes, and driving violations among a sample of motorsports spectators and drivers

Accident Analysis and Prevention 86 (2016) 16–22

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Relationships between thrill seeking, speeding attitudes, and driving violations among a sample of motorsports spectators and drivers Zümrüt Yıldırım-Yenier a,∗,1 , Evelyn Vingilis a , David L. Wiesenthal b , Robert E. Mann c , Jane Seeley a a

Population and Community Health Unit, Department of Family Medicine, Western University, 1151 Richmond St., London, ON, Canada N6A 5C1 Department of Psychology, York University, 88 Behavioural Science Building, 4700 Keele St., Toronto, ON, Canada M3J 1P3 c Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Russell St., T416, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 2S1 b

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history: Received 22 July 2015 Received in revised form 9 September 2015 Accepted 21 September 2015 Keywords: Motorsport Spectator Driver Thrill seeking Speeding attitude Driving violation

a b s t r a c t Background: Motor racing includes high speed driving and risky maneuvers and can result in negative outcomes for both spectators and drivers. Interest in motorsports is also associated with risky driving attitudes and behaviors on public roads as well as with individual difference variables, such as sensation seeking. However, whether the links between motorsports involvement and risky driving tendencies differ for spectators and drivers has remained mainly unexamined. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between thrill seeking, attitudes toward speeding, and self-reported driving violations among a sample of motorsports spectators and drivers. Method: A web-based survey was conducted and sampled 408 members and visitors of car club and racing websites in Ontario, Canada. The questionnaire included measures of (i) motorsports involvement, (ii) thrill seeking (Driver Thrill Seeking Scale), (iii) attitudes (Attitudes toward Speed Limits on Roadways and Competitive Attitudes toward Driving Scale); (iv) self-reported driving violations (adapted from Driver Behaviour Questionnaire), and (v) background variables. Path analysis was performed to test the relationships among the variables. Results: For both spectators and drivers, thrill seeking directly predicted driving violations; competitive attitudes toward driving further mediated this relationship. Attitudes toward speed limits, however, mediated the relationship between thrill seeking and violations only for drivers. Discussion: We observed significant relationships among individual difference measures, motorsports involvement, speeding attitudes and violations that may inform road safety interventions, including differences in the relationships among thrill seeking, speeding attitudes, and violations for motorsports spectators and drivers. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Motor racing is one of the most popular sports in the world and commonly held in countries, such as Canada, Australia, and the United States (Tranter and Lowes, 2005). Motor racing is generally perceived in a favorable light, especially by young males (Tranter and Keeffe, 2004), although racing events can have both positive and negative effects on the general public and attendees (e.g.

∗ Corresponding author at: Population and Community Health Unit, Department of Family Medicine, Western University, Western Centre for Public Health and Family Medicine, 1151 Richmond Street, London, ON, Canada N6A 5C1. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (Z. Yıldırım-Yenier), [email protected] (E. Vingilis), [email protected] (D.L. Wiesenthal), robert [email protected] (R.E. Mann), [email protected] (J. Seeley). 1 21 Bayshore Drive Unit 7, Ottawa, ON, Canada K2B 6M7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2015.09.014 0001-4575/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

spectators, drivers) (Tranter and Lowes, 2005). As Tranter and Lowes (2005) state: “Urban leaders widely regard hosting a citybased motorsport event as a successful event-tourism strategy, one that can boost the image of cities involved; contribute to the local economy; and, especially, cultivate a “winner” image for the politicians who champion such spectacles” (p. 3). One of the perceived positive effects of motorsports for a community is economic. For example, Connaughton and Madsen (2007) examined the economic impact of the motorsports industry in North Carolina for 2005. They found the total economic impact to be $5.9 billion in increased total output, 27,252 in increased employment, nearly $1.7 billion in increased total employee compensation, and close to $2.8 billion in increased total value added. Similarly, Klacik and Cook (2004) identified motorsport as contributing to the Indianapolis economy. Yet others have found mixed or negative results (Coates and Gearhart, 2008; Fredline, 2005; Tranter

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and Lowes, 2005). For example, Fredline (2005) reported that in 2001 the Grand Prix, held in Melbourne, Australia, recorded losses of almost $6 million which were covered by the state government. Motorsport events can also have positive and negative effects on health status. Safety related messages, such as the importance of seat belt use, can be disseminated in such events (Tranter and Keeffe, 2004). Additionally, motorsports can provide a context for the development of safety features of vehicles (Tranter and Lowes, 2005). Individuals can also derive some social and psychological benefits from such events as feeling excitement and communal pride (Fischer et al., 1986; Mueller and Fenton, 1989). On the other hand, Avery et al. (1990) showed that motor racing is the second highest most dangerous sporting and leisure activity in terms of number of deaths and mean deaths per one million adult participations per annum. Moreover, collision and injury risks exist for both drivers and spectators during racing events (Tranter and Lowes, 2005; Tranter and Warn, 2008). Potential negative effects of these events further involve the promotion of products, such as cigarettes and alcohol, increased noise and air pollution and traffic disruption and delays (Fischer et al., 1986; Tranter and Keeffe, 2004; Tranter and Lowes, 2005).

1.1. Motor racing and risky driving on public roads In addition to negative outcomes on the racetrack, motor racing is associated with risky driving and collision risks on public roads. Fischer et al. (1986) showed that around the time of the Grand Prix held in Adelaide, South Australia in 1985, there was a 34% increase in causalities emanating from collisions on public roads, which were not accounted for by weather conditions or traffic disruption. The authors attributed such causalities to the off-track imitation of motorsports driving, which glorifies a range of risky driving behaviors such as high speed driving, dangerous overtaking, and tailgating (Tranter and Keeffe, 2004; Tranter and Warn, 2008). Two recent studies have further examined the link between interest in motorsports and risky driving off the track. Warn et al. (2004) found that interest in motor racing, which reflected a construct of childhood interest in motorsports and engagement in racing either as a spectator or as a driver, directly predicted self-reported driving violations and indirectly predicted violations through attitudes toward speeding (among males under 25 years of age). Similarly, Tranter and Warn (2008) found that being a motorsport fan (measured by two questions: “I am a motor racing fan” and “I enjoy watching motor racing”) predicted attitudes to speeding which, in turn, predicted speeding violations (among males over 25 years of age). Certain individual difference variables were shown to be related to interest in motorsports and risky driving. For example, Tranter and Warn (2008) found higher educational level and age were associated with less interest in motorsports and fewer speeding violations among their population-based sample. Sensation seeking is another prominent factor as motor racing can be a means for sensation seekers to gratify their inclination for novel, varied, and intense feelings and experiences (Zuckerman, 2001, 2015). Warn et al. (2004) found that sensation seeking directly predicted driving violations and indirectly predicted violations through interest in motorsport among their young male sample. Tranter and Warn (2008) further showed, among males, that sensation seeking positively predicted interest in motorsports and these two variables separately predicted speeding violations through speeding attitudes. Sensation seeking directly and positively predicted speeding violations among females. In this study, we adopted a thrill seeking measure as a subcategory of sensation seeking concept, as it is mostly related to interest in dangerous activities, such as motor racing and risky driving (Zuckerman, 2001).

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1.2. Theoretical framework for the relationship between motor racing and risky driving on public roads Tranter and Warn (2008) explained the relationship between interest in motor racing and on-road risky driving mainly based on the vicarious learning concept in Social Cognitive Theory (SCT; Bandura, 1986). According to SCT, individuals can acquire new behavior patterns as well as cognitive skills, knowledge, and evaluative standards just by observing other people’s behaviors and the results of these behaviors. Modeled behaviors can also strengthen or weaken inhibitions on already learned behaviors based on rewarding or punishing consequences (Bandura, 1986). In the motor racing context, spectators are exposed to particular acts performed and glorified, such as high speed driving, dangerous overtaking, and hard cornering, and may vicariously acquire these acts and related evaluative information, such as attitudes, norms, and beliefs about racing (Tranter and Warn, 2008; Warn et al., 2004). Furthermore, drivers’ high-level skills and crash-protective cars on the racetrack can decrease negative consequences, such as injuries, which can make spectators perceive racing as less dangerous (Tranter and Warn, 2008). Individuals are further likely to have vicarious emotional arousal when watching racing events as racing can be a source of excitement for some people, especially for thrill seekers and young males (Tranter and Keeffe, 2004; Zuckerman, 2001). This may then lead them to anticipate experiencing similar emotions if they are to perform the modeled risky behaviors (Bandura, 1986). Racing drivers, themselves, were further shown to have a risky tendency on public roads; Williams and O’Neill (1974) compared motor racing drivers’ and non-racing drivers’ safety records on public roads and showed that motorsport drivers had more speeding violations and a higher number of crashes than non-racing drivers. However, whether the relationship between motor racing involvement and risky driving attitudes and behaviors differ for drivers and spectators has remained mainly unexamined. While spectators are exposed to racing by observational means, drivers have direct experience of speeding and taking risks on the racetrack and thus learn interactively from the consequences of their own actions (Bandura, 1986). For example, they can have direct rewarding outcomes, such as the thrill of driving at high speeds or outmaneuvering other racing vehicles, which then may be transferred to on-road driving. Moreover, drivers’ high-level vehicle handling skills may affect their risk perception which in turn may trigger risky driving (Özkan et al., 2006). Based on these considerations, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of motorsports involvement with individual difference variables (i.e., age, education level, thrill seeking), speeding attitudes, and driving violations. Secondly and more importantly, we aimed to examine if these relationships differ for motorsports spectators and drivers.

2. Method 2.1. Procedure A web-based survey was conducted with visitors and members of car club and racing websites in Ontario, Canada. For this aim, an Internet search identified car club and racetrack websites in southern Ontario. These websites varied in level of activity on the website/forum, type of club (e.g., Mustang), membership size, coverage (e.g., province), and active administrators. The club’s or track’s listed contact persons were sent an electronic information letter to ask if they were willing to post information about and the link to the survey on their website. The clubs who agreed to participate posted our invitation on their website and club members or

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visitors were invited to fill out the survey. The survey began with an introduction to the study including the objective stating that we were interested in obtaining car club members’ opinions about various aspects of driving, road safety, and traffic legislation. After that, confidentiality and anonymity of participants’ responses were assured and contact information of our principal investigator was provided. Participants who consented to take part in the study filled out various scales about risky driving tendencies and behaviors and related individual difference variables. A $5 voucher for a national coffee shop chain was offered for those who completed the survey. There were a total of 111 clubs and racetracks with active email addresses out of 134 identified websites (83%). The data for the study were collected via Survey Monkey software, which started on June 2, 2010 and was completed on February 2, 2011. The response rate of the car club and racing websites to the survey was 26.1%. Before initiating the study, ethics approval of Western University Ethics Board was obtained. 2.2. Measures 2.2.1. Motorsports involvement Involvement in motorsports was measured with two items as “Have you ever attended an official racing event as a SPECTATOR?” and “Have you ever been a DRIVER (or passenger) in an official racing event?”. For the first comprehensive model, a categorical variable was formed based on these questions including categories of “0 = not involved; 1 = only spectators; 2 = drivers”. Separate analyses were performed with “only spectators” and “drivers”.2 2.2.2. Self-reported driving violations General driving violations were measured with a 16-item scale, created mainly from 11 questions used by Tranter and Warn (2008; based on the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ) originally developed by Reason et al., 1990) and the 5-item Self Report Driver Aggression Questionnaire (SRDAQ; Hennessy and Wiesenthal, 2001, 2005). The scale included all speeding and other violation questions from Tranter and Warn (2008), except for seatbelt use, and aggressive violation items of SRDAQ. The items were introduced with the phrase, “How likely would you” and participants reported their frequency of performing each behavior in general on a 6-point Likert type scale (scored 0 = never; 5 = nearly all the time). Factor analysis showed that the 16-item scale consisted of two factors as speeding violations with 5 items and aggressive violations with 8 items, leaving out three items about unofficial racing, red light running, and drink driving, which had loadings below the cut-off point (.30). As the main focus of this study was on speeding violations, the aggressive violations subscale was omitted from the analysis. The speeding violations subscale included items, such as “Disregard the speed limits late at night or early in the morning” and “Exceed the speed limit in populated areas”. 2.2.3. Speeding attitudes Two different attitude constructs were adopted to measure speeding attitudes. The first one concerned attitudes toward speed limits on roadways measured with 4 items for which participants were asked if they thought the current speed limits on different roadways (i.e., rural or country roads, two-lane highways, fourlane highways, roads in the city) should be changed (1 = lowered, 2 = kept the same, 3 = raised) (Vanlaar et al., 2008). Higher scores indicated speed limits should be raised. The second measure repre-

2 There was only one category where passengers were applicable, which was rally racing with 29 cases. Most of these cases also reported to be involved in other racing activities, such as drag racing or kart racing. Therefore, we called the “drivers/passengers” group as “drivers” throughout the paper, for brevity.

sented competitive attitudes toward driving and was measured with a 5-item scale (Patil et al., 2006) including items such as “It is fun to beat other drivers when the light changes” and “It is a thrill to out-maneuver other drivers”. Participants scored each item on a 4point Likert type scale (1 = strongly disagree; 4 = strongly agree) and higher scores indicated having a more competitive attitude while driving. 2.2.4. Thrill seeking A driving-specific thrill seeking measure called the Driver Thrill Seeking Scale (Stradling et al., 2004) was adopted in the current study. The 8-item scale included items, such as “I get a real thrill out of driving fast” and “I sometimes like to frighten myself a little while driving”. Participants responded to items on a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging from “1 = strongly disagree” to “7 = strongly agree”. Higher scores indicated a higher level of thrill seeking while driving. 2.2.5. Background information Participants answered questions about demographic information such as age, gender, and education level. Age was measured within six categories ranging from “1 = 16–24 to “6 = 65 and above”. Education level was assessed as the highest level of education participants have completed ranging from “1 = grade school” to “6 = university (graduate)”. Participants also reported driving related information, such as their driving frequency (i.e., number of driving hours per week). 2.3. Sample The data of this study were collected initially from 503 participants (428 male, 35 female, 40 unknown). When missing cases resulting from some participant attrition and some incomplete responses were omitted from the analysis, 440 participants remained in the dataset. Other missing cases were handled with listwise deletion which resulted in 408 participants (381 males, 27 females) in the final analysis. Participant age, measured in categories, were as follows: 98 individuals between 16 and 24; 101 individuals between 25 and 34; 44 individuals between 35 and 44; 82 individuals between 45 and 54; 60 individuals between 55 and 64; and 23 individuals at the age of 65 or above. Participants also indicated the highest education level they completed as grade school (6 individuals), high school (116 individuals), college (128 individuals), trade apprenticeship (45 individuals), undergraduate university degree (71 individuals), and graduate university degree (42 individuals). Whether participants held a driving license was checked and assured. Average driving frequency was 14.16 h a week (SD = 10.82 h). Regarding motorsports involvement, there were 48 participants (45 males, 3 females) who reported not attending motorsports, 136 only spectators (123 males, 13 females), and 224 drivers (213 males, 11 females) (see Table 1). This overall sample was used in the first analysis in which the relationships among all the variables were tested together. Specific analyses were done separately with “only spectators” and “drivers” in which thrill seeking, speeding attitudes, and speeding violations were tested together. 3. Results 3.1. Preliminary analysis Separate factor analyses were performed for scales of thrill seeking, competitive attitudes toward driving, and driving violations to examine the number of factors and factor structures. Principal axis factor analyses showed that thrill seeking and competitive attitudes toward driving were each single factors, with Cronbach alpha (˛) reliability scores of 0.88 and 0.83, respectively. Driving violations were found to include 2 factors, labeled speeding violations with

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Table 1 Means and standard deviations of the variables for different groups.

Not involved (N = 48) Spectators (N = 136) Drivers (N = 224)

Age

Education level

Thrill seeking

Attd. toward speed limits

Competitive attd. toward driving

Speeding violations

2.60/1.63 2.83/1.65 3.07/1.53

3.58/1.46 3.38/1.38 3.47/1.35

3.62/1.38 4.14/1.40 4.66/1.20

2.38/0.39 2.37/0.27 2.40/0.28

1.84/0.70 1.48/0.53 1.50/0.56

1.73/1.12 1.63/0.95 1.92/0.96

Table 2 Correlations among age, education level, thrill seeking, motorsports involvement, competitive attitudes toward driving, attitudes toward speed limits, and speeding violations. Variables

M/SD

1

2

1. Age 2. Education level 3. Thrill seeking 4. Motorsports involvement 5. Attitude toward speed limits 6. Competitive attitudes toward driving 7. Speeding violations

2.94/1.58 3.45/1.37 4.36/1.34 1.43/0.69 2.39/0.29 1.53/0.58 1.80/0.99

1 .14** −.25*** .10* −.22*** −.21*** .04

1 −.02 .01 .10* −.01 .10*

3

4

5

6

1 .04 −.13** .11*

1 .22*** .35***

1 .45***

1 .26*** .23*** .43*** .42***

Age categories ranged from (1) 16–24 to (6) 65 and above. Education level categories ranged from (1) grade school to (6) university, graduate. Motorsports involvement categories are: 0 = not involved; 1 = only spectators; 2 = drivers. Gender and driving frequency were controlled for their effects. * p ≤ .05. ** p ≤ .01. *** p ≤ .001.

5 items (˛ = 0.86) and aggressive violations with 8 items (˛ = 0.82). Consistent with the study aims, only the speeding violations factor was included in the main analysis. Partial correlations were computed among the variables by controlling gender and driving frequency as these variables can confound the investigated relationships (e.g., Parker et al., 1995). This correlation matrix was then used in the main analysis, i.e. path analysis. Means and standard deviations of and partial correlations among the variables are presented in Table 2. 3.2. Path analysis Path analysis was performed to test the relationships among the variables using LISREL 9 student version. Possible direct and indirect relationships among the variables were examined first as a whole, in line with the path model of the Tranter and Warn (2008) paper, and then separately for motorsports spectators and drivers. In order to assess the fit of the model to the data, relative chi square (chi square/degrees of freedom ratio; 2 /df), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), comparative fit index (CFI) and standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) were examined (Hu and Bentler, 1999; Hooper et al., 2008). For a good fitting model, the relative chi square value should be below 5 or, according to some researchers, below 2; RMSEA below .06; SRMR below .08; and CFI above .95 (Hu and Bentler, 1999; Hooper et al., 2008). The comprehensive model was tested including all the variables of age, education level, thrill seeking, motorsports involvement, competitive attitudes toward driving, attitudes toward speed limits, and speeding violations. It was shown that the model fitted the data poorly, 2 /df = 22.37/3; RMSEA = .13; SRMR = .04; CFI = .95. Separate models were tested including competitive attitudes toward driving in the first run and replacing it with attitudes toward speed limits in the second run. The model with competitive attitudes fitted the data well, 2 /df = 1.88/1; RMSEA = .05; SRMR = .01; CFI = 1.00 (see Fig. 1). Findings indicated that age positively predicted motorsport involvement (ˇ = .18, t = 3.72, p ≤ .001). Education level positively predicted speeding violations (ˇ = .09, t = 2.14, p ≤ .05). Thrill seeking predicted motorsports involvement (ˇ = .31, t = 6.39, p ≤ .001), competitive attitudes (ˇ = .50, t = 11.15, p ≤ .001), and speeding violations (ˇ = .27, t = 5.24, p ≤ .001). Motorsports involvement negatively predicted competitive attitudes (ˇ = −.26, t = −5.95, p ≤ .001), which in turn positively predicted speeding violations (ˇ = .36, t = 7.52, p ≤ .001). On the other hand,

the second model with attitudes toward speed limits fitted the data poorly, 2 /df = 14.49/1; RMSEA = .18; SRMR = .04; CFI = .94 and thus was not elaborated further. After testing the comprehensive model, relationships among thrill seeking, competitive attitudes toward driving, attitudes toward speed limits, and speeding violations were tested separately for spectators and drivers. Findings showed, for spectators, that the model fitted the data well; 2 /df = 1.58/1; RMSEA = .065; SRMR = .03; CFI = 1.00. Thrill seeking positively predicted attitudes toward the speed limits (ˇ = .17, t = 2.05, p ≤ .05) and speeding violations (ˇ = .21, t = 2.52, p ≤ .01). It also predicted competitive attitudes toward driving (ˇ = .54, t = 7.60, p ≤ .001), which in turn predicted speeding violations (ˇ = .44, t = 5.47, p ≤ .001) (see Fig. 2). For drivers, the model fitted the data well; 2 /df = 1.02/1; RMSEA = .01; SRMR = .02; CFI = 1.00. Thrill seeking directly predicted speeding violations (ˇ = .19, t = 2.98, p ≤ .01). Thrill seeking predicted competitive attitudes toward driving (ˇ = .39, t = 6.30, p ≤ .001), which in turn predicted speeding violations (ˇ = .27, t = 4.22, p ≤ .001). Thrill seeking also predicted attitudes toward the speed limits (ˇ = .23, t = 3.53, p ≤ .001), which in turn predicted speeding violations (ˇ = .28, t = 4.74, p ≤ .001) (see Fig. 3).

4. Discussion Findings of this study showed that the comprehensive model including one attitude construct, that is competitive attitudes toward driving, was the only working model among other models tested with the whole sample. This overall model indicated that there were significant relationships among individual difference variables, motorsports involvement, competitive attitudes and speeding violations. Accordingly, age positively predicted motorsport involvement. In our sample, mean age of drivers was higher than mean age of persons not involved in motorsports and spectators. As motorsport involvement is expensive, younger people may not be able to own a racing car and engage actively in motorsports like older drivers. Education level further positively, but weakly, predicted speeding violations. It may be that educated persons have greater financial resources to buy performance vehicles and thus drive them accordingly. These results were contrary to the results of Tranter and Warn (2008) probably because our sample was a purposive one including car and racing enthusiasts as compared to their population-based sample.

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Fig. 1. Comprehensive model with competitive attitudes toward driving (solid lines indicate significant paths).

Fig. 2. Relationships among thrill seeking, speeding attitudes, and speeding violations for spectators (solid lines indicate significant paths).

Thrill seeking was another prominent factor positively predicting motorsports involvement, competitive attitudes, and speeding violations. It is known that higher levels of thrill seeking, as a subcategory of sensation seeking, is associated with engaging in dangerous sports and activities (Zuckerman, 2001, 2015). In a similar line, motor racing and associated risky attitudes and behaviors can be means for satisfying thrill needs, as shown by the present findings which were consistent with other studies adopting sensation seeking measures (e.g., Warn et al., 2004). Additionally, motorsports involvement indirectly predicted speeding violations through competitive attitudes toward driving. Interestingly, it negatively predicted competitive attitudes, which in turn, positively predicted speeding violations. Motorsports involvement in this study represented the degree of actively engaging in motor racing and higher scores indicated involvement in motorsports as a driver. Its negative relationship with competitive attitudes indicated that those not involved in motorsports had relatively higher scores on competitive attitudes, which was also

indicated by the higher mean attitude values compared to drivers and spectators. As average age of those not involved in motorsports was lower compared to others, this specific group may not have the means to engage in motorsports actively and may be exposed to motor racing in other ways such as watching racing events on the TV or over the Internet. Alternatively, they may be involved in other forms of racing such as street racing. The relationship of motorsports involvement with street racing is also worth investigating, as enthusiasts may be willing to apply what they observe or experience in the motor racing context to the public roads. In our study, however, we aimed to examine everyday speeding violations as they were more prevalent than unofficial racing. Competitive attitudes toward driving, in turn, positively predicted speeding violations. Competitive attitudes have an emotional component which reflects satisfaction of racing other motorists on public roads. It may be that getting an emotional gratification from passing other motorists can lead the driver to engage in speeding violations.

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Fig. 3. Relationships among thrill seeking, speeding attitudes, and speeding violations for drivers (solid lines indicate significant paths).

Separate models showed that among both spectators and drivers, thrill seeking directly predicted speeding violations, consistent with the results of the comprehensive model. Competitive attitudes further mediated the relationship between thrill seeking and speeding violations. Competitive attitudes seem to play a key role in the observed relationships free from the effects of learning by observation or direct experience, as the relationships are valid for both groups. It can be said that motor racing is a context for making competitive attitudes salient. On the other hand, attitudes toward speed limits mediated the relationship between thrill seeking and speeding violations, but only for drivers. As drivers get direct reinforcement from their racing behavior, such as the thrill of driving fast, they may feel speed limits are associated with unrewarding outcomes. It is also known that if drivers perceive their vehicle handling skills to be high, this may bias their risk perception which may lead to risky driving behaviors (Özkan et al., 2006). Motorsports drivers may be prone to such an influence as they were shown to have a risky tendency on public roads, e.g. more speeding violations, as compared to non-racing drivers (Williams and O’Neill, 1974). This point should be further tested empirically in future studies. There are some limitations of this study. The first is that our sample was a purposive sample, which makes it hard to generalize the results to the population. Yet, we targeted people who are interested in cars and racing as this group may provide richer information about high-risk driving than a population-based sample (Vingilis et al., 2013). In this sense, our main focus was on those actively attending motorsports events as spectators or drivers. This limited focus on motorsport events necessitates the further examination of other enthusiasts who may not actively be involved in motorsports but follow racing activities on television or over the Internet. Considering that media (mainstream and social) can shape attitudes and behaviors by facilitating and motivating particular behaviors and arousing related emotions (see Bandura, 1989), future studies can examine if media content about motor racing can increase risky attitudes and behaviors. Another limitation is that males were overrepresented in the current sample, though they are involved in racing activities more than females (Spann, 2002). Gender was further treated as a control variable in this study because of its likely association with driving violations (Reason et al., 1990; Parker et al., 1995). Similarly, persons 55 years and

older were somewhat underrepresented, although we have good variance in our different age groups. Additionally, it is unknown how representative the sample is in relation to the car and racing enthusiast population or how similar the sample is to drivers in general because of the Internet sampling method, although current statistics indicate that automobile and racing enthusiasts are majority males with racing enthusiasts being somewhat younger (average age 42) than automobile enthusiasts (average age in mid to high 50s) (Goodyear, 2015; Hamer and Hamer, n.d.; Performance and Research, 2013; Reynolds, 1996; Ryval, 2014; Sass, 2014; WISS Auto Racing, 2015; Worldata, n.d.). In summary, this study indicated significant relationships among individual difference measures, motorsports involvement, speeding attitudes and violations that may inform road safety interventions, including differences in the relationships among thrill seeking, speeding attitudes, and violations for motorsports spectators and drivers. Considering that speeding is a common violation all around the world including Canada, this study pointed out contributing factors which can be considered in prevention efforts intended to decrease negative road safety outcomes. In this sense, attitude change campaigns aimed at decreasing speeding violations can target significant contributing factors, such as competitive attitudes toward driving. Furthermore, as certain roads can be associated with racing (Tranter and Lowes, 2005), some infrastructural changes can be considered.

Acknowledgments The authors thank Drs. William Newby, Peter Fischer, Kerry Armstrong, Nerida Leal, Ward Vanlaar, and Christine Wickens and P.O. Alvin Ward (ret.) for their contributions to the development of the questionnaire. This research was supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada. This research was also partly supported by a grant from AUTO21, a member of the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) program, which is administered and funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), in partnership with Industry Canada.

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