Driver Anger Scale (DAS) Among Car Drivers: How Serious Are They?

Abstract

Nowadays, anger while driving on the road is a crucial issue in Malaysia. The anger of driver may lead to traffic crashes. Road accident issue is an important agenda in every country. Driver behaviour and attitude such as impatience, hasty and hot-tempered on the road has become one of the causes in road accidents. Uncontrolled anger will affect the behavior of oneself during driving and could cause an individual to display aggressive attitude. Therefore, this study is aimed to identify contributing factor in anger of drivers and evaluate the Driver Anger Scale (DAS) in Batu Pahat, Johor. In addition, this study also analyzes the relationship between driver anger and the factor of DAS. Cross sectional study method was conducted in this study by distributing 250 questionnaires to car drivers. The data collectied was analyzed by descriptive, chi-square test, correlation and regression analysis using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. The findings show that the discourtesy was reported as the most dominant factor contributing to driver anger. As a recommendation, to overcome driver anger issue, the authorities should prepare an action plan, promote and nurture public to practice good driving behaviour. Moreover, curriculum and driver training lesson should be improved to create better attitude among drivers. Drivers also should change their driving attitude by becoming safe drivers and exhibiting defensive driving skills on the road.