Skip to main content
Full access
Clinical & Research News
Published Online: 1 October 2004

Driving Accidents Up After Terror Attacks

Scientific studies are revealing considerable information about terrorism's emotional and behavioral consequences. One of the most recent to come to light is negative driving behavior, American and Israeli sociologists have found.
The researchers studied the impact of terror attacks on Israelis' driving injuries and driving fatalities from 2001 to 2002. Terror attacks were not associated with the number of serious driving injuries, but did have a small association with minor driving injuries and a greater one on motor vehicle fatalities. Specifically, three days after attacks, fatal driving accidents spiked 35 percent, with the number of accidents increasing even more after very severe attacks to 69 percent.
By four days or more after terror attacks, however, the number of accidents returned to normal levels.
The researchers offered several possible explanations. The three-day lag in driving fatalities might be a delayed reaction to violence and stress or attributable to covert suicides. One reason to believe the latter hypothesis is that there was no increase in serious driving accidents at the same time that driving fatalities increased. Another reason is studies of imitative suicides, which found that well-publicized suicides were followed three days later by a rise in traffic fatalities.
The study, “Terror Attacks Influence Driving Behavior in Israel,” appeared in the September 20-24 online edition of theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesat<www.pnas.org>.

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

History

Published online: 1 October 2004
Published in print: October 1, 2004

Notes

Science is offering insights into how terrorism can affect people's psyches and behavior.

Authors

Details

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Export Citations

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.

Format
Citation style
Style
Copy to clipboard

View Options

View options

Login options

Already a subscriber? Access your subscription through your login credentials or your institution for full access to this article.

Personal login Institutional Login Open Athens login

Not a subscriber?

Subscribe Now / Learn More

PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5-TR® library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.

Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.).

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

Share

Share

Share article link

Share