Road safety attitudes, perceptions and behaviours of taxi drivers in Hong Kong

What is it about?

By employing abbreviated versions of Driver Attitude Questionnaire (DAQ), Driver Risk Perception Questionnaire (DRPQ) and Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ), this study provides a profile of the self-reported attitudes, road safety perceptions and the extent of engagement in aberrant driving behaviours of a sample of taxi drivers (N = 135) and private car drivers (N = 134) to identify significant factors affecting the safety of the occupational drivers. The results show that taxi and private car drivers are more likely to report engaging in speeding violations, and believe speeding is more acceptable compared to the use of hand-held mobile device whilst driving, following too closely or overtaking. Regarding demographic factors, the results show that ownership, work mode and experience have significant influence on taxi drivers’ DAQ, DRPQ and DBQ reports. Bivariate analyses indicate that taxi drivers who report a higher level of aberrant driving behaviours also report less safe driving attitudes. However, an exception is found in factors related to speeding. The results show that taxi drivers who report high motivations for traffic violations also have higher chance to involve in violations. Furthermore, the research has identified a number of differences between taxi and private car drivers that may have an impact on the occupational drivers.

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Photo by Alexandria Gilliott on Unsplash

Photo by Alexandria Gilliott on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This study aims to examine the road safety attitudes, perceptions and risk-taking behaviour of a group of taxi drivers by applying a range of self-report driving measurement tools (i.e. DAQ, DRPQ and DBQ) in Hong Kong. In addition, this study strives to identify significant demographic factors affecting the road safety issues of taxi drivers and the association with risk-taking attitudes, risk perceptions with risky driving behaviours among them.Moreover, this study aims to distinguish the differences between taxi and private car drivers regarding risk-taking attitudes, risk perceptions, risky driving behaviours and motivations for traffic violations.