Anger-provoking events in driving diaries: A content analysis

• A coding scheme of offensive driver behaviour was successfully applied to driving diaries.
• A coding scheme of perceived causation for offensive driver behaviour was piloted.
• The most frequently reported driver behaviour was weaving and cutting.
• The most frequently reported perceived cause of offensive behaviour was negligence.

A previously validated coding scheme of offensive driver behaviour was used to content analyse driving diary entries. A new perceived causation coding scheme was also developed to identify victims' perceptions of why events occurred. Inter-rater reliability of the behaviour coding scheme was very good (kappa = .81). The most frequently reported driver behaviours were weaving and cutting, which was included in 33% of all diary entries, followed by slow driving (20%), speeding (13%), perceived hostile driver displays (13%), and tailgating (11%). These results were contrasted with those of the previous applications of the coding scheme. Assessed independently across all diary entries, inter-rater reliability of the coding of three causation categories was within an acceptable range (kappa = .51, .41, .67 for retaliation, time urgency, and negligence, respectively). When applied exclusively to the critical diary entries identified by each participant as the most negative and upsetting, the reliability improved greatly (kappa = .60, .80, and .81). The most frequently reported source of perceived causation was negligence, involved in 15% of all diary entries and 41% of critical events, followed by time urgency (14% of all entries and 29% of critical events) and retaliation (9% of all entries and 11% of critical events). Future research applications of the content coding systems and implications of the findings for driver safety are discussed.