Bettina Schützhofer

• Research Director at sicher unterwegs - Verkehrspsychologische Untersuchungen GmbH

Children’s physical and cognitive development plays a crucial role in their ability to react appropriately in dynamic traffic situations. One key aspect of traffic safety is the ability to stop movement quickly and accurately after receiving a stop signal. Distraction is a major contributor to road accidents, especially among children who are easil...

Distraction is a major contributor to road accidents, especially among children who are easily distracted and may not be fully aware of the traffic situation. It is crucial to understand that children up to a certain age may struggle to halt their movement once initiated. This study conclusively demonstrates that the stopping distance, time, and de...

Amphetamine users as drivers In the present study, the data of 67 drug drivers who drove under the influence of amphetamines and/or ecstasy were compared with the data of a comparison group of 91 applicants for a bus driving licence. The central comparative variables collected in the context of the traffic-psychological assessments were data from t...

How often, how enjoyably and how well children can cycle in traffic depends, among other things, on the existing legal and infrastructural framework conditions. This exploratory study aimed to analyse their effects on the promotion of active and safe mobility for children and determine the necessary conditions for an infrastructure that is suitable...

According to Piaget's theory of cognitive development (1983), children find it difficult to abstract until they enter the formal-operational phase at the age of 12 on average. However, this is an important requirement for being able to reliably apply knowledge and rules in new situations, for example. The exploratory study investigated whether and,...

Driving under the influence of alcohol is one of the greatest dangers to the safety of road users not only in Germany, but across the rest of the world. An essential indicator for both punitive and corrective measures as well as for the prediction of recidivism is the blood alcohol concentration (BAC). This paper examines the relationships between...

Minimum Requirements for Fitness to Drive Put to the Test – Are the Mental Fitness Criteria for Bus Drivers Justified? Holders of and applicants for driving licences in categories D, D1, the associated trailer classes and the driving licence for pas�senger transport are subject to increased requirements in terms of mental performance in the course...

Für Fahrerlaubnisse der Klassen D, D1, die zugehörigen Anhängerklassen sowie die Fahrerlaubnis zur Fahrgastbeförderung werden erhöhte Anforderungen an die psychische Leistungsfähigkeit im Zuge der Fahreignungsbeurteilung gestellt. Die entsprechenden Grenzwerte wurden auf theoretischen Überlegungen basierend festgelegt, jedoch noch nie einer empiris...

A lot of (visual, auditory, social, emotional, psycho-motoric, intellectual and cognitive) competences are needed for safe traffic participation. Traffic competences develop during childhood and youth and there is a close relationship to brain maturity. Based on extensive literature analysis a comprehensive tabulation of empirically based developme...

The project “What’s up?” (2016 – 2018) targets the interdisciplinary promotion of active, safe, self-determined mobility of pupils, with a focus on the design of transport systems in the urban school environment. The following article describes selected results of the project’s workshops, which were conducted in five cooperation schools in the City...

Several theoretical models have been advanced in the literature to account for practice effects due to retesting. These models differ in their predictions regarding the extent to which item parameters can be assumed to be invariant across test administration sessions. Furthermore, the models also differ in their predictions regarding the effect of...

Making cities “inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals UN member nations agreed on. This presents a significant challenge to city, spatial and transport planners who are faced with climate targets and decreasing physical activity levels on the one side and limited public space, increasing populatio...

The decline in physical activity levels among children emphasizes a need for research on experiences related to children's active travel. The present study investigates the relationship between mode use on school trips and psychological well-being (PWB) of children. Data were collected from 152 primary school children in Lower Austria. The paper-an...

The present study tested predictions deduced from competing models advanced in the literature to explain practice effects in driving-related cognitive ability tests due to retesting. The models differ in terms of the processes assumed to be responsible for practice effects and make competing predictions with regard to the level measurement invarian...

The voluntary cycling test is an important milestone in traffic education in primary school. Cycling helps to develop traffic competences and traffic sense, it increases the mobility range of children and also improves sustainable mobility. On the other hand, data shows that beginning with school age more children have accidents due to cycling (Dro...

The article investigated the effect of faking on the dimensionality and mean scores of an objective personality test measuring subjectively accepted level of risk. Various studies conducted with standardized personality questionnaires have demonstrated that faking may distort both the dimensionality and mean scores. In contrast, the empirical evide...

Despite a wealth of literature supporting the predictive relevance of various driving-related ability and personality traits in predicting different aspects of traffic safety, these predictors have in previous studies been studied in isolation. The present study investigated the utility of combining these predictor variables in the prediction of sa...

Several studies demonstrate that juveniles first come into contact with alcohol and drugs at a very early age. The aim of the present study was to investigate juveniles' attitudes towards driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs as well as other traffic violations. In cooperation with the school authorities in charge representative sample s...