Behaviour of BMW drivers on urban roads: a naturalistic study
ENPrevious studies classified BMW brand as status brand associated with more aggressive driving and higher risk of accident. There is still a great lack of knowledge about the behaviour of drivers of different car brands. This study aimed to compare driving behaviour of BMW, Volvo, and Volkswagen drivers on urban roads. A naturalistic observation was performed by one observer. Two urban road behaviours were observed during rush hours: signalling at the turn to the right where both turning and straight way is allowed and driving by public transportation lane which is forbidden if not turning right immediately. The total duration of observation was 11.5 hours. The behaviour of 1702 car drivers was recorded. The results revealed that BMW drivers did not differ from Volvo and Volkswagen drivers in signalling behaviour when intended to turn to the right. But BMW drivers used public transportation lane violating traffic rules significantly more often than drivers of other two car brands. Thus, BMW drivers demonstrated more aggressive intentional violations of traffic rules compared to drivers of Volvo and Volkswagen.
