[Christmas 2019] The need for speed: observational study of physician driving behaviors [对速度的需求：医生驾驶行为的观察性研究]

• 分享：

BMJ 2019; 367 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l6354 (Published 18 December 2019)
Cite this as: BMJ 2019;367:l6354

Authors
André Zimerman, Christopher Worsham, Jaemin Woo, Anupam B Jena

Abstract
Objective To determine whether fast driving, luxury car ownership, and leniency by police officers differ across medical specialties.

Design Observational study.

Setting Florida, USA.

Participants 5372 physicians and a sample of 19 639 non-physicians issued a ticket for speeding during 2004-17.

Main outcome measures Observed rates of extreme speeding (defined as driving >20 mph above the speed limit), luxury car ownership, and leniency of the speeding ticket by police officers, by physician specialty, after adjustment for age and sex.

Results The sample included 5372 physicians who received 14 560 speeding tickets. The proportion of drivers who were reported driving at speeds greater than 20 mph was similar between physicians and a sample of 19 639 non-physicians who received a ticket for speeding (26.4% v 26.8% of tickets, respectively). Among physicians who received a ticket, psychiatrists were most likely to be fined for extreme speeding (adjusted odds ratio of psychiatry compared with baseline specialty of anesthesia 1.51, 95% confidence interval 1.07 to 2.14). Among drivers who received a ticket, luxury car ownership was most common among cardiologists (adjusted proportion of ticketed cardiologists who owned a luxury car 40.9%, 95% confidence interval 35.9% to 45.9%) and least common among physicians in emergency medicine, family practice, pediatrics, general surgery, and psychiatry (eg, adjusted proportion of luxury car ownership among family practice physicians 20.6%, 95% confidence interval 18.2% to 23.0%). Speed discounting, a marker of leniency by police officers in which ticketed speed is recorded at just below the threshold at which a larger fine would otherwise be imposed, was common, but rates did not differ by specialty and did not differ between physicians and a sample of non-physicians.

Conclusions Rates of extreme speeding were highest among psychiatrists who received a ticket, whereas cardiologists were the most likely to be driving a luxury car when ticketed. Leniency by police officers was similar across specialties and between physicians and non-physicians.