Introduction: This study is aimed at analysing the relationship between hazard perception and selfregulatory driving behaviour and to test the moderation effect of gender on this relationship. Methods: A sample of 240 Lithuanian older (60+ years) drivers participated in the study (48 percent female; aged 60-97 years). Lithuanian hazard perception test and Self-regulatory driving behaviour scale together with demographic questions were used. Results: Results revealed negative and weak correlation between self-regulatory driving behaviour and driving experience in years. Hazard perception and self-regulatory driving behaviour was not correlated. The moderation analysis showed moderation effect of gender: the relationship between hazard perception and self-regulatory driving behaviour was positive for female drivers only. Conclusion: Study highlights the role of gender on the relationship between self-regulatory driving behavior and hazard perception in the group of older drivers. Results also suggest that older drivers may not always perceive their own health and driving abilities. Recommendations for future studies and limitations are discussed.

OBJECTIVE:The age-related adaptive adjustments of driving behaviors, often referred to as self-regulation, are sometimes seen as a strategy to compensate for inferior driving skills. However, certain contradictions in the literature are observed that make such inferences less definitive. Data integration could aid in clarifying the link of interest. Against this background, we aimed at summarizing the existing evidence and determining the relationship between driving skills and self-regulation of driving in the sample of older people. METHODS:The current review was performed under the guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA; Moher et al. 2009). Seven databases were used to search for papers: ISI Web of Science, Scopus, ScienceDirect, APA PsycArticles, Academic Search Ultimate, MEDLINE, and Google Scholar. Studies published from the beginning of available records up to May 2025 were included in the review. In the search process, the titles, abstracts and full-texts were analyzed. RESULTS:Six papers were retained for the current review. The number of participants in the studies ranged between 61 and 888. A systematic review revealed mixed findings regarding the significance and direction of the relationship between driving skills and self-regulation of driving in older people. The results of the meta-analytic examination showed this relationship to be insignificant. CONCLUSION:The findings obtained imply that the adjustment of driving behaviors may depend on some other factors rather than driving skills. On the other hand, older drivers may compensate for declining abilities by avoiding very specific driving situations. This has not always been analyzed in sufficient detail in past research and was therefore not thoroughly explored in this review. Hence, future studies should adopt a more nuanced approach to address the existing research gaps.

INTRODUCTION:Previous research has identified the perception of penalties as one of the most important deterrents to road traffic offenses. This study investigated whether the perceived effectiveness and the perceived strictness of penalties for different traffic offenses are associated with prior punishment experience and evaluation perspective (personal - if participants were being punished themselves, vs. general - for punishing all drivers). METHOD:A convenience sample of 1,374 Lithuanian drivers participated in the survey (56.3% males; aged 18-77 years). Among them, 801 participants had no penalties for traffic offenses, 333 reported monetary fines in the last year, and 240 reported having their drivers license suspended at least once in their driving career. A scale with 10 specific penalties for traffic offenses was developed to measure the perceived effectiveness and strictness of penalties. Half of the participants evaluated the penalties as if they were personally sanctioned for each traffic offense (personal perspective), while the other half assessed the effectiveness and strictness of the penalties for drivers in general. RESULTS:The results indicated that the perceived effectiveness of penalties was related to the evaluation perspective, being higher for changing one's own behavior than for changing behavior in general. However, the perceived effectiveness of penalties was not related to prior punishment experience. Males and drivers who had experienced their license being suspended reported the highest perceived strictness of the penalties, whereas females and drivers with no prior punishment experience perceived penalties as the least strict. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS:These findings suggest the need for developing new ways of communicating penalties to different groups of drivers. Nevertheless, this research was exploratory in nature and further research is warranted.

IntroductionMate-seekers employ several strategies to become more attractive as mates. In the present study, we examined the use of 10 strategies for becoming more desirable as a mate in the Lithuanian cultural context.MethodsUsing a sample of 295 Lithuanian-speaking participants, we explored the frequency and types of strategies employed to enhance mate appeal.ResultsThe most frequently used strategy was “Enhance looks,” followed by “Show off abilities and talents” and “Demonstrate similarity.” The least used strategies were “Show off and exaggerate wealth” and “Drastic appearance changes.” The 10 strategies could be classified into two domains or main strategies, with participants indicating a more frequent use of “Develop and demonstrate desirable traits” followed by “Deceive about undesirable traits.” Additionally, sex differences and age differences were identified for several strategies.DiscussionThe findings highlight the prominence of certain strategies over others in the Lithuanian context, with a notable emphasis on developing and demonstrating desirable traits. The study also reveals variations in strategy use based on sex and age, suggesting that these factors influence mate-seeking behaviors.

Mokslo studijoje yra pristatomi atlikto tyrimo rezultatai, kuriame buvo siekiama atsakyti į klausimą, kokie psichologiniai veiksniai gali būti laikomi nuobaudų už KET pažeidimus (ne)veiksmingumo prielaidomis. Analizuojama, kokias nuostatas dėl nuobaudų išsako eismo dalyviai, kaip kelių eismo taisykles pažeidę ir nepažeidę vairuotojai vertina nuobaudų už skirtingo sunkumo KET pažeidimus paskirtį, teisingumą ir veiksmingumą. Taip pat pateikiamos tyrimo rezultatais pagrįstos rekomendacijos eismo saugumo didinimui bei vairuotojų mokymui.

Although the number of studies about the perception of traffic enforcement has increased, the importance of personality characteristics on these perceptions remain under-researched. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between the Dark Triad personality trait and the perceived effectiveness of traffic penalties for traffic offenders and non-offenders and to test whether BIS and BAS mediate this relationship. A convenience sample of 694 Lithuanian drivers participated in the study (55.3 percent males; aged 18-73 years). More than half (57.9 percent) of the drivers were non-offenders, while 42.1 percent reported having been sanctioned for at least one traffic offence in the last year. A scale containing ten specific sanctions for traffic offences was developed to measure the perceived effectiveness of traffic penalties. In addition, the Dirty Dozen and BIS/BAS scales were included in the questionnaire, together with a number of demographic questions. There was a weak negative correlation between the Dark Triad personality trait and the perceived effectiveness of traffic penalties. Non-offenders scored lower than traffic offenders on the BIS scale, but the perceived effectiveness of traffic penalties, the Dark Triad personality trait and the BAS scores did not differ between traffic offenders and non-offenders. The mediation analysis showed that BAS mediated the positive relationship between the Dark Triad personality trait and the perceived effectiveness of traffic penalties. However, BIS did not mediate this relationship. Therefore, the present study revealed two opposite mechanisms regarding the relationship the Dark Triad personality trait has with the perception of penalty effectiveness: a direct negative path and an indirect positive path via higher BAS.

This study aimed to test short-term effectiveness of hazard perception training in a group of experienced drivers and to evaluate the role of traffic safety attitudes, risky driving intentions, and driving self-efficacy on training effectiveness. Seventy experienced drivers volunteered to participate in the study: 38 attended online hazard perception testing and training sessions and 32 participated only in hazard perception testing sessions. A newly developed online group intervention of two sessions (based on the framework of hazard avoidance and delivered by a driving instructor) for hazard perception training was delivered to the experimental group. The control group received no training. Lithuanian hazard prediction test (LHP12) was used to measure the level of hazard perception at pre-test and post-test assessments. Additionally, self-reported questionnaires on traffic safety attitudes, risky driving intentions, driving self-efficacy, and socio-demographics were used in pre-test assessment. Training helped to increase hazard perception skills of experienced drivers. Experienced drivers who participated in training scored higher in post-testing compared to those who received no training. Higher driving self-efficacy was related to greater improvement of hazard perception skills after training. Traffic safety attitudes and risky driving intentions were not related to the outcomes of hazard perception training. The newly developed online program for hazard perception skills training was found to be effective in experienced drivers. Future studies should be based on the analysis of hazard perception training effectiveness in a larger sample of experienced drivers, as well as on the investigation of long-term hazard perception training effects.

A variety of road hazard perception training programmes have been proposed recently, based on the assumption that these skills contribute to lower crash rates across different countries. However, the long-term effectiveness of suggested programmes has been under-investigated. The main objective of this study is to explore the long-term effectiveness of online hazard perception training for experienced drivers and examine the moderating role of driving self-efficacy. Fifty-six experienced drivers (21 males and 35 females) were assigned to the experimental (n = 31) or the control (n = 25) group. The experimental group received two 45 min session interventions; the control group received no intervention. The effectiveness of the programme was tested by the change in scores of Lithuanian hazard prediction test (HPT) LHP12 that was conducted before training (pre-test), immediately after training (post-test) and six months after training (follow-up). The twelve-item Adelaide Driving Self-Efficacy Scale (ADSES; George et al., 2007) was used to measure self-reported driving self-efficacy at the pre-test. The results revealed a significant increase in hazard prediction scores immediately after training, but the short-term effect of training decayed at follow-up. Experienced drivers with higher self-efficacy developed better hazard prediction skills during training. The results confirmed short-term effectiveness of the programme.

Most countries around the world use the penalties’ system in order to increase compliance with road traffic rules. However, it can be argued that the most penalties’ systems are ineffective, as drivers do not change offending behavior due to received penalty and repeatedly violate them. The perceived fairness of these penalties may be related to the level of adherence to these traffic rules. Therefore, this research explored the perceived justice of penalties for road traffic rules in a sample of Lithuanian drivers and investigated the differences between offenders and non-offenders. The sample consisted of 358 participants (63.4 percent females, aged 18–75, mean age 35.2 years) who completed an online survey. Participants were asked to report how fair they believed penalties were for road traffic rule offences in general and using a list of 23 specific penalties, including: drink driving, speeding, dangerous maneuverings, illegal overtaking, handheld phone use while driving, etc. The survey measured demographic data, as well as data regarding driving exposure, traffic offences and crashes during the last 12 months. The results revealed that in general drivers perceived the penalties as fair or adequate. The answer “adequate/fair” was chosen most frequently for almost all penalties (from 41.1 to 71.3 percent), with only the penalty for carrying a child without a car seat (€30–50) being perceived as too mild (55.5%). Gender differences were found in the evaluation of the penalty for driving under the influence of alcohol, while age and driving frequency differences were found in the perceived fairness of the penalties for not using a seatbelt, aberrant driving and using a handheld mobile phone while driving. Drivers who reported no offences during the last year, perceived the penalties for speeding as being too mild, when compared to drivers with at least one penalty over the previous year. Contrarily, offenders reported the penalties for speeding as being too severe. Offenders, who experienced driving license suspension, perceived the penalties as being too severe for drink driving and aberrant driving than offenders who received monetary fines. In summary, both Lithuanian offenders and non-offenders generally perceived the penalties for traffic rule offences as adequate and fair, but individual differences and the experience of traffic sanctions were related to the perceived justice of specific penalties.

Scholars suggest that improving hazard perception (HP) skills among different road users can lead to safer driving. To this end, a small number of countries have developed a national hazard perception test for their licensing procedures. The purpose of the current research is to develop and validate a new video-based hazard prediction test for the Lithuanian driving context. Eighty-eight drivers participated in the study. Initially, 25 naturalistic clips were included and edited into a hazard prediction test following the "what happens next?" paradigm. The overall score of the test was higher for experienced drivers when compared with novices. On further inspection the overall group difference was driven by 12 clips. The Lithuanian Hazard Perception test HPT-LIT featuring static images (Tūskė et al., 2019) and Hazard Perception Questionnaire developed by White et al. (2011) were used to validate the new test. This new version of the test (12 clips, LHP12) showed acceptable psychometric properties. Drivers with less driving experience demonstrated poorer hazard prediction skills than experienced drivers. The results revealed a negative correlation between hazard prediction scores on LHP12 and crash involvement in the novice driver group, as well as a positive correlation between prediction scores and self-reported hazard prediction skills. It was concluded that the new Lithuanian hazard test shows potential for future research.

This paper explores effectiveness testing of a newly developed online hazard prediction training program for learner drivers. It also aims to evaluate the role of participants' driving self-efficacy and road safety attitudes on program effectiveness. Eighty learner drivers who participated in standard driving training took part in the study. Forty-two of them were assigned to the experimental group and thirty-eight - to the control group. The experimental group was exposed to 2 x 45 min. intervention sessions delivered by a trained driver instructor in an online format. The scores of driving self-efficacy and road safety attitudes were assessed by self-reported measures at pre-test. The effectiveness of the program was tested by the improvement of Hazard prediction test accuracy from pre-test to post-test. Results reveal that hazard prediction skills improved only slightly in both experimental and control groups. The training effect occurs only for learner drivers who are men (effect size - d = 0.73), whereas no significant effect is found for women participants. The difference between pre-test and post-test variable does not correlate with either driving self-efficacy or road safety attitudes, therefore, the hypothesis of moderation effect is rejected. The new online program for hazard prediction skills improvement shows promising results for learner drivers, especially among men. The authors of the study advise a replication of the gender effect on the program effectiveness, and a gender-tailored alteration for the program.