世論 What Japan Thinks

Here’s an interesting look with iShare at driving, looking in particular at poor driving habits.

Demographics

Between the 4th and 7th of January 2010 495 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.4% of the sample were male, 33.5% in their twenties, 31.9% in their thirties, and 34.5% in their forties.

In Q2SQ1 the issue of “paper drivers” is highlighted – paper drivers is a Japanese expression (it’s actually the English words that are used) that indicates people who are qualified on paper but never actually do much if any driving. I’m probably borderline paper myself as my driving is limited to renting a car just a handful of times every year.

In Q2SQ2, I wonder if we can assume that the 25% who drive to the speed limit are regular speeders? On empty motorways I might occasionally wander one or two kilometres per hour over the limit, but on busy urban highways and surface streets I do usually run just a little bit under the limit and I certainly do always maintain my distance from the car in front.

Research results

Q1: Have you ever been involved in a car accident, whether you were driving or not? (Sample size=495)

	All	Male N=274	Female N=221
Yes	51.7%	58.8%	43.0%
No	48.3%	41.2%	57.0%

Q2: Do you have a driving licence? (Sample size=495)

	All	Male N=274	Female N=221
Yes (to SQ1 to SQ4)	82.8%	87.6%	76.9%
No (to SQ5)	17.2%	12.4%	23.1%

Q2SQ1: Do you normally drive a car? (Sample size=410)

	All	Male N=240	Female N=170
Frequently	41.5%	47.5%	32.9%
Sometimes	34.9%	37.1%	31.8%
Almost never, never	23.7%	15.4%	35.3%

Q2SQ2: Do you drive at the posted speed? (Sample size=410)

	All	Male N=240	Female N=170
Always	25.4%	29.2%	20.0%
Usually	54.4%	57.9%	49.4%
Usually slower	14.9%	9.6%	22.4%
Always slower	5.4%	3.3%	8.2%

Q2SQ3: Has anyone riding in the car with you ever told you your driving is dangerous? (Sample size=410)

	All	Male N=240	Female N=170
Yes	34.9%	37.9%	30.6%
No	65.1%	62.1%	69.4%

The more often people drove at the posted speed (or over…) according to Q2SQ2, the more likely they were to have been told they were dangerous.

Q2SQ4: Have you ever felt when riding in a car that the driver was driving dangerously? (Sample size=410)

	All	Male N=240	Female N=170
Yes	84.9%	86.3%	82.9%
No	15.1%	13.8%	17.1%

Both more frequent drivers and those who had been involved in accidents were more aware of dodgy driving.

Q2SQ5: Have you ever felt when riding in a car that the driver was driving dangerously? (Sample size=85)

	All	Male N=34	Female N=51
Yes	68.2%	55.9%	76.5%
No	31.8%	44.1%	23.5%