Departmental news

New research by WMG at the University of Warwick has identified characteristics of aggressive driving – which impact both road users and the transition to self-driving cars of the future.

In the first study to systematically identify aggressive driving behaviours, scientists have measured the changes in driving that occur in an aggressive state. Aggressive drivers drive faster and with more mistakes than non-aggressive drivers – putting other road users at risk and posing a challenge to researchers working on self-driving car technology.

The research comes as a leading Detective Chief Superintendent, Andy Cox, warns of the perils of such driving – warning that the four-five deaths on UK roads daily are “predominantly caused by dangerous and reckless drivers”.

The study categorised aggressive driving behaviours and showed the key aspects of this dangerous driving style. Published in Accident Analysis and Prevention, it reported key findings:

• Aggressive drivers have a 5km/h mean faster speed than non-aggressive drivers;
  
  
• Aggressive drivers also exhibit more mistakes than control groups – such as not indicating when changing lanes;
  
  
• Aggressive driving is categorised as any driving behaviour that intentionally endangers others psychologically, physically, or both.
  
  

Lead author of the study Zhizhuo Su, PhD student, across both the Intelligent Vehicles Research Group and the Institute of Digital Healthcare at WMG, University of Warwick, said: “While it’s unethical to let aggressive drivers loose on the roads, participants were asked to recall angry memories, putting them in an aggressive state, while performing a driving simulation. These were compared to a control group, who weren’t feeling aggressive.

“This research is significant because, as the era of autonomous vehicles approaches, road traffic will be a mix of both autonomous and non-autonomous vehicles, driven by people that may engaged in aggressive driving. This is the first study to characterise aggressive driving behaviour quantitatively in a systematic way, which may help the autonomous vehicles identify potential aggressive driving in the surrounding environment."

Roger Woodman, Assistant Professor at WMG and co-author of the study, added: “Over the last few decades, road safety policies, infrastructure changes, and improved vehicle safety have significantly reduced road casualties. However, human error, which is often a result of aggressive driving, remains a leading cause of crashes. To make driving safer, our research focuses on methods for understanding the state of the driver, to identify risky driving behaviours, through the use of driver monitoring systems (DMS). This will enable the driver to be alerted when they are at an increased risk of an accident and allow the vehicle to deploy calming methods, such as altering the cabin noise level, playing relaxing music, or ultimately reducing the speed of the vehicle.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Cox, NPCC lead for fatal crash investigation and OCU Commander at the Metropolitan Police, added: ‘In the UK, on average between four-five people die every single day in a road crash. This widespread devastation is predominantly caused by dangerous and reckless drivers. Having met many bereaved families who live with the lifelong heartache of prematurely losing a loved one in such a violent manner, I recognise the need to instigate substantial change across the road safety sphere; which includes driving culture, standards and legislative options.

“Those drivers who choose to commit road crimes such as aggressive driving, intimidating other sensible and safe road users – should recognise the risk they pose to themselves and others, and frankly the law should remember that a driving licence is assigned after a person demonstrates themselves to be safe and earns the right to drive. We should seek to maintain high standards and ensure the system sees the right to drive as a privilege rather than an entitlement. Currently I think the balance favours the individual rather than the law abiding collective.”

Read the full paper here.

Ends

University of Warwick press office contact:

Annie Slinn
Communications Officer | Press & Media Relations | Email: annie.slinn@warwick.ac.uk

We are thrilled to announce that the University of Warwick has been ranked 12^th Best University for Work Experience by RateMyPlacement, in their inaugural Best University for Work Experience table.

The School of Life Sciences is proud of the work we do to support our students in accessing and engaging with quality work experience opportunities, from internships to yearlong placements.

Mineli, BSc Biomedical Science with Placement Year, currently on placement at Pfizer says:

“The University has been really helpful in providing a variety of resources that help students find work experience opportunities. Particularly within the School of Life Sciences, there are weekly 'Careers round-ups' which all students receive. These detail the latest updates and opportunities that companies are advertising - whether that be internship, placement of research opportunities.

The Careers and Placements team are dedicated to ensuring students can maximise their chances of securing a placement as well. They ensure students have access to mock interviews as well as providing useful feedback on applications.

The combination of all these services and resources has allowed Warwick students, myself included, to have the best possible chances of securing our ideal work experience, gaining a competitive advantage when entering the job market.“

‘Symposium on Adorno’s “Sexual Taboos and Law Today” – Sixty Years On’, held at the University of Warwick and on Zoom on 25 February 2023

This symposium was dedicated to Theodor W. Adorno’s essay ‘Sexual Taboos and Law Today’ and its contemporary relevance. It brought together junior and senior scholars from the fields of legal studies, psychoanalysis, pedagogics, social theory, and philosophy to revisit Adorno's controversial essay in times of #MeToo, identity politics, and heightened public concern for gender equality and transgender right.

The event was divided into three thematic panels and a roundtable discussion. Each panel engaged with one key dimension of Adorno’s text and its relevance today. Panel 1, composed of Prof. Christine Kirchhoff (IPU Berlin) and Prof. Julia König (University of Mainz), approached the text in light of recent developments in psychoanalysis; Panel 2, composed of Dr Marcel Stötzler (Bangor University) and Craig Reeves (Birkbeck), read Adorno’s essay in light of current research in social theory and sociology; Panel 3, composed of Prof. Nicola Lacey (LSE) and Dr Iris Dankemeyer, reflected on Adorno’s essay in light of recent transformations in the legal sphere and legal theory. The roundtable discussion, in which all speakers, with the exception of Prof. Lacey, participated, enabled all scholars to engage in detail with each other’s arguments and to reflect on the value of Adorno’s contribution.

Throughout this symposium – and, particularly, during the concluding roundtable discussion – it became clear that, rather than being outdated, Adorno’s reflections are still thought-provoking and productive. This was particularly evident in the context of the current punitive turn in legal theory and praxis, recent discourses of queer and transgender identities, and, more generally, the acute and challenging task, faced by scholars of legal and social theory, philosophy and psychoanalysis alike, to theorise desire in contemporary society.

List of papers and speakers:

• Christine Kirchhoff (International Psychoanalytic University, Berlin): Sexual Taboos and Law Today? Reflections from the Perspective of Psychoanalysis
• Julia König (University of Mainz): Reflections on the ‘Minors-Complex’ in Adorno’s ‘Sexual Taboos and Law Today’ and in Current Moral Panics

• Marcel Stoetzler (Bangor University): Law, Lust, and Otherness in the Society of Total Domination: On Adorno’s Essay ‘Sexual Taboos and Law Today’
• Craig Reeves (Birkbeck): Persecution, Punishment, and the Potential for Freedom: Reactualising Adorno's Critical Moral Psychology

• Iris Dankemeyer (University of Art and Design, Halle): Presumption of Innocence: On the Topicality of Adorno's Lines of Inquiry in 'Sexual Taboos and Law Today'
• Nicola Lacey (LSE): A Feminist Criminal Lawyer’s Retrospective on Adorno’s Text

The symposium was a great success. All six invited speakers gave original papers that were met with lively discussions. The interdisciplinary character of the event was particularly productive, and we were excited to witness fruitful scholarly exchange across disciplinary boundaries. The roundtable session at the end provided a good opportunity for speakers and the audience to reflect on the symposium’s theme.  

The results of this conference will be published – together with some additional contributions on Adorno’s essay ‘Sexual Taboos and Law Today’ – in a special issue of the Journal of Adorno Studies, a key journal within the field of critical theory research. This special issue will be edited by the conference organisers, Simon Gansinger and Antonia Hofstätter.

The symposium was attended by 30 people in person and 25 people online (excluding the organisers). Of these 55, fewer than 20 were affiliated with the University of Warwick, where the conference was held. At least 5 members of the general public came to Coventry from other parts of the UK (Oxford, London). Several online participants joined the meeting from mainland Europe and the US. Roughly half of in-person participants were postgraduate students (we cannot give a reliable number for online participants). Half of the in-person participants joined the conference dinner, which testifies to the great interest among audience members. 

The generous support by the HRC has been acknowledged on our website: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/philosophy/news/conference/adorno/

Professor Jane Hutton of Warwick Statistics has won the Royal Statistical Society 2023 Mardia interdisciplinary workshop prize. Four workshops will be held on aspects of Statistics and the Law.

In the latest (2023) QS World University rankings, Warwick is ranked 16th (4th in the UK) for Statistics and Operational Research, the highest for any subject group at Warwick.

Research by Michelle Kendall and Xavier Didelot estimates that the NHS COVID-19 app prevented around one million cases, 44000 hospitalisations and 9600 deaths.

Culture and Global Responsibility:  

Rethinking Habitability in the Age of the Anthropocene  

12-14 May 2023

Congratulations to James Poskett and Niels Boender for making the 2023 shortlist for the Warwick Awards for Teaching Excellence (Arts Faculty & PGR). Well deserved recognition of brilliant teaching! The winners will be announced on 27 June 2023.

The 2023 shortlist for the Warwick Awards for Teaching Excellence (WATE) have been released and Warwick Law School has two nominations. With more than 115 excellent educators, teams, and communities to choose from, the WATE judging panels deliberated long and hard to identify those going through to the next round. Dr Tor Krever has been nominated for the Social Sciences Faculty award and PhD student Priscilla Vitoh has been nominated for a Postgraduates who Teach award. Congratulations and best of luck to both of them. The winners will be announced on 27 June 2023.

A new report co-authored by Warwick economist Dr Stefania Paredes Fuentes for the Royal Economic Society (RES) explores how a student's socio-economic background influences their chances of becoming a professional economist in the UK.