Traffic Safety Policies for Saudi Women: Attitudinal Analysis

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the current Saudi traffic safety policies and how they are perceived by Saudi women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study was based on using a survey to define and calculate two sets of specific indicators, namely the Perceived Effectiveness Index (PEI) and the Commendation Index (CI), representing, respectively, the perception and acceptance of road traffic safety. The survey, which was conducted on a sample of Saudi women in Riyadh, demonstrated a high level of support for the ongoing road safety policies amongst the respondents, bringing to the fore some country-specific indications such as the low relevance of pedestrian crossing policies. The study aimed to contribute to an understanding of the specific gender aspects of transportation policies and their perception amongst the female population in Saudi Arabia to enable an understanding of the entire context of ongoing reforms in the Kingdom at various political, cultural, and societal levels. Our study, therefore, reveals potential strengths and provides an interdisciplinary contribution by drawing on the relevant literature in the field of travel behaviour and traffic safety policies and their perception amongst women. Saudi women’s attitudes towards 17 safety policies, including engineering, enforcement, education, and legislation policies, were examined. The policies were carefully designated to be practical and possible to implement. The analysis and assessment of the results obtained by the two indicators shed light on the participants’ acceptance, and hence their willingness, to cope with road safety policies, should they be implemented. The findings of this study showed that Saudi women’s attitudes to road safety policies were very positive; in particular, they showed sound support for enforcement policies.