@article{ref1,
title="How to nudge drivers to reduce speed: the case of the left-digit effect",
journal="Transportation research part F: traffic psychology and behaviour",
year="2021",
author="Rubaltelli, Enrico and Manicardi, Dario and Orsini, Federico and Mulatti, Claudio and Rossi, Riccardo and Lotto, Lorella",
volume="78",
number="",
pages="259-266",
abstract="To decrease the negative consequences of a road crash, even a small reduction in driving speeds can make a significant difference. We examined the possible application of the left-digit effect as a nudge to reduce road speed. In the marketing field, this effect is based on reporting price tags that are characterized by a low leftmost number and a high rightmost number (e.g., a price tag of €14.99 rather than €15.00). We applied the same strategy to improve road safety. Participants were college students (43.75% female, mean age = 24.06 years in Study 1; 50% female, mean age = 23.53 years in Study 2) who were asked to drive in a simulator on a route that had both usual unmodified road signs (e.g., 50 km/h) and the same road signs increased or decreased by one unit (e.g., 49, 51 km/h). We compared the average median speeds in road segments with unmodified road signs with those in road segments with the corresponding modified signs. The average median speeds in the presence of a sign modified by the reduction of 1 km/h were significantly lower compared with the median average speeds recorded with unmodified signs. We showed that the application of psychological insights can reduce driving speeds and therefore increase road safety.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1369-8478",
doi="10.1016/j.trf.2021.02.018",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2021.02.018"
}