Ryzykanci – bohaterowie czy ofiary? Kulturowe uwarunkowania ryzykownej jazdy młodych mężczyzn
Risk-takers – heroes or victims? Cultural determinants of young male drivers risky driving

Summary/Abstract: Young male drivers are proportionately more frequently involved in traffic accidents, including fatal ones, than are other gender and age groups. Recklesness and risky driving, deliberate driving violations and overestimate own driving skills have often been regarded as main causes of young male drivers’ accidents. The goal of this article is to answer the question: Is this young male drivers’ dangerous behaviour the effect of upbringing and assimilating cultural patterns of masculinity, which make men taking risk at all costs, even their lifes? The stereotype of masculinity contains traits which are conductive to take risk. Men are brought up in the way that bravery and risk taking are admired and socially reinforced in the Western culture. Thus risk taking, including risky driving, is the way to establish man’s masculinity and rise his status. There is a possibility that programmes increasing safety won’t be effective unless we change this adverse pattern of masculinity.

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