Sensation Seeking Behavior and Crash Involvement of Indian Bus Drivers

Abstract

Abstract Road crashes and environmental degradation are among the prominent issues of concern today in most of the developing economies particularly India. Buses, which are key mode of public transit in India, are unfortunately involved in a significant number of crashes in recent time. Bus driver's attitude and his ability to comprehend traffic situations aptly contributes largely to passenger safety. In this study the effect of sensation seeking behavior on crash involvement rates of bus drivers in India was investigated. Study was conducted to assess sensation seeking behaviors of sample bus drivers from Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). Assessment was conducted using a modified Zuckerman's Sensation seeking scale (ZSSS) form V questionnaire that included sub scales such as boredom susceptibility, disinhibition, experience seeking, and thrill and adventure seeking. The survey results were further related to their crash involvement histories through ratio analysis. Further a Generalized Linear Model with log link and Poisson error was developed to ascertain the influence of these traits on their crash involvement propensity. The results indicate that acute levels of Sensation seeking increased crash involvement rate in the tested drivers. Risk of severe crashes (major and fatal) was observed to be high in drivers with high levels of sensation seeking. Extreme levels of boredom susceptibility and disinhibition, and lower levels of thrill and adventure seeking were found to be dangerous in terms of road crash tendencies. These results highlight the importance of driver behaviour on road safety and also validate the use of ZSSS in behavioural studies of Indian bus drivers. Also, the need for setting efficient standards for behavioral evaluation, necessary for the scrutiny of transport vehicle drivers during their licensing and recruitment process in India has been stressed upon. Through this study it would also help in monitoring road safety attitude in transport vehicle drivers and help in reducing road fatalities and other related losses. Some specific recommendations with respect to KSRTC Bus drivers have been made in this paper in this regard.