Investigating the role of behavioral factors in non-fatal accidents of urban and suburban driver

Abstract

Introduction: Road accidents are of the most important events, which cause death and injury of a large number of people and impose huge economic losses. According to previous studies, human factors are the main cause of traffic accidents. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of behavioral factors in driving-related non-fatal accidents. Material and Method: The present analytical study was carried out among 150 drivers of urban and suburban transportation system in Yazd province. The research tool was Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) which is consisted of two sections: demographic information and driving behavior. Result: 83/9 % of the participants reported to use safety belt nearly always. The highest deliberate violations, slips, and mistakes were belonged to drivers with age group of 18-25. Moreover, deliberate violations had a significant relationship with rage (P < 0.05). Survey of behavioral factors in terms of vehicle ownership type showed that “deliberate violations” and “slips and mistakes” high among personal bus drivers and state-owned bus drivers, respectively, which shows the significant association between these behavioral factors and ownership type. What is more, rates of deliberate and unintentional violations and slips were higher among those with a history of two times incidents (P < 0.004). Conclusion: The results revealed that behavioral factors such as age, type of vehicle ownership, and accident history played a significant role in occurrence of traffic accidents.

Keywords

• Driving behavior
• Behavioral factors
• Non-fatal accidents
• Suburban and urban drivers