Living fast and showing off? Evaluating individual and social influences on risky behaviour

This project will use a data-driven approach to identify and evaluate individual and social influences on a pervasive and potentially lethal form of risk-taking behaviour (dangerous driving). I will combine a range of powerful analysis techniques, including multilevel modelling of collision data, automatic recording of smartphone telematics data and cutting-edge genetic analyses, to determine how driver and passenger characteristics interact to influence driving behaviour. Using novel technologies, access to large data sets, and an interdisciplinary approach I will analyse covariation between individual differences in risk-taking propensity and epigenetic markers of age acceleration, allowing me to test the predictions of causal hypotheses linking risk-taking, stress and patterns of ageing. This project has the potential to increase our understanding of individual and collective human behaviour in a way that both supports well-being (by informing interventions to reduce dangerous risk-taking) and advances industry growth (for the insurance sector and the development of autonomous vehicles). Through established links with the Devon & Cornwall Police and UK driver awareness charity The Honest Truth, insights from the project will be communicated directly to relevant groups (e.g. learner drivers) to maximise societal impact. Insights from this project will also improve our understanding of how genetics affects human health, by elucidating how epigenetic variation is related to human risk-taking behaviour as either a cause or a consequence of increased morbidity and mortality later in life.