Traffic Safety Culture Research Articles

Exploring trends and patterns in traffic safety culture of pedestrians: a bibliometric analysis

Exploring trends and patterns in traffic safety culture of pedestrians: a bibliometric analysis

Safety culture: from student to professional

Traffic safety culture, recently this definition is very often heard at conference calls of heads of services. What does this concept imply, how is it interconnected with safety management and why do these areas of work relate to the main tasks of the Russian Railways holding in the field of traffic safety and operation of railway transport? The article discusses the causes of traffic safety violations, which are associated with the influence of the human factor, violation of labor discipline, and improper performance of official duties. The main objective of the study is to find approaches to raising the level of safety culture among railway workers. Most often, when solving a certain task, it is necessary to go beyond it and consider issues that at fi rst glance do not relate to the essence of the problem, but the more you delve into the study, you come to conclusions that show the connection between themselves sometimes in the most unexpected and unpredictable way. How to improve the traffic safety culture among the company’s employees? Is it possible to correct employees whose professional experience has been assessed not for one year, but for decades? Is it possible to change the thinking of an employee whose professional experience has been assessed not for one year, but for decades? In my opinion, an employee who has been violating for many years will no longer be able to perform his job duties properly. This is a “professional” defect that cannot be corrected, because most often it was taught this way during an internship in production. Most cases could have been avoided because minor violations combined with certain factors are fatal.

Heart Zone as a measure to influence traffic safety culture: which factors influence culture change?

Measures to influence traffic safety culture in designated areas (e.g. schools) exist in several different countries across the world. The Norwegian traffic safety scheme Heart Zone is a measure that aims to influence the traffic culture within a specific geographical area. The study examines whether four Norwegian schools have managed to establish a Heart Zone traffic safety culture, factors facilitating and impeding the implementation of Heart Zone traffic safety culture and subsequent changes in parents' traffic safety behavior. The study is based on survey data from four Norwegian schools (n = 220) and qualitative interviews (n = 19). Although the level of implementation varies, results from the interviews and the survey suggest that the schools have established Heart Zone cultures, where large proportions of the parents drop the children off at the recommended drop-off zone, when driving, are attentive to students who come walking/cycling within the Heart Zone and walk or cycle when transporting children within the Heart Zone. The Heart Zone culture is related to changes in parents' traffic safety behaviors and reductions in dangerous traffic situations. The study identifies specific factors facilitating and impeding traffic culture change, related to enclosed geographical areas like the Heart Zone, developing an analytical model that researchers and future traffic culture measures like this can learn from.

Influencing factors on drivers’ support for traffic safety laws in Canada

Over the past few years, significant progress has been made in the road engineering, which along with the implementation of safety laws and regulations, has improved the overall road safety. However, traffic accidents and road injuries are still a leading global cause of death. The propensity of traffic violations and risky behaviors among drivers is closely linked to their perception of the threat associated with them, and the level of support for regulations. This study investigates the various components of drivers’ perceptions and their impact on the drivers’ support of safety laws through Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Additionally, factor analysis is employed to categorize interrelated responses into distinct factors. The findings indicate that drivers’ perception of social disapproval of risky driving behaviors and their awareness of safety problems significantly influence the drivers’ personal disapproval of risky driving behaviors. Notably, drivers' disapproval directly correlates with their support for laws prohibiting these behaviors. In light of these findings, this study suggests increasing public awareness and driver education regarding the risks associated with dangerous driving behaviors, particularly not-wearing seat belt and texting while driving. This recommendation aims to improve Canada’s traffic safety culture through the influence of social norm and understanding of the safety issues on the drivers’ personal perceptions and, subsequently, their support for traffic safety regulations.

Exploring the relationship between traffic resilience and driver behaviors through traffic climate

Traffic safety culture and climate have emerged as an integral part of road safety policy and practice in recent decades, resulting in an emphasis on a holistic approach to road safety through systems thinking. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between drivers' perceptions of traffic resilience and traffic climate and their impact on driver behaviors. A total of 216 drivers aged between 19 and 32 years completed an online questionnaire consisting of the Traffic Resilience Scale (TRS), the Traffic Climate Scale (TCS), the Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ), and the Positive Driver Behaviors Scale (PDBS). Serial mediation analyses were conducted to examine the objectives of the study. The results showed that drivers who perceived the traffic system as more resilient tended to perceive the traffic system as more functional and less externally demanding. The drivers' perceptions of traffic resilience were found to be directly related to the traffic climate and indirectly related to the driver behaviors through external affective demands and internal requirements. Increased traffic resilience was associated with increased aberrant behaviors and decreased positive behaviors through reduced external affective demands and internal requirements. These findings can be considered to make a unique contribution to the literature in understanding the motivations behind aberrant behaviors of drivers and highlight the need for road safety policies to take into account road users' perceptions of traffic resilience and traffic climate in order to better understand, predict, and modify road user behaviors for a safer traffic system.

Risk assessment of pedestrian red-light violation behavior using surrogate safety measures: Influence of human, road, vehicle, and environmental factors

Pedestrian red-light violation is one of the crucial causes of pedestrian crashes at urban intersections, which cause considerable injuries and casualties to this vulnerable road group of road users. The objective of this study is to evaluate the risk of pedestrian-vehicle collisions by clustering the pedestrians' red-light violations using surrogate safety measures. The present study utilized surveillance camera footage to collect data on pedestrians' red-light violations at two urban intersections in Babol City. Based on critical thresholds of post-encroachment time (PET), Time to Collision (TTC), and Gap Time (GT), three different risk levels of red-light violations were identified through the use of a K-means algorithm. Moreover, structural equation models were developed for each of the risk levels considering variables that are associated with four major components: human, environment, road, and vehicle. Lastly, policy insights into amending pedestrian behavior and promoting traffic safety culture were proposed, with an overarching emphasis on the human factor, due to its identified greater influence on the propensity for red-light violations.

Editorial: Vision zero: the safe system approach and traffic safety culture

Editorial: Vision zero: the safe system approach and traffic safety culture

Enhancing Safety in the Roadway Network through Traffic Safety Culture

Enhancing Safety in the Roadway Network through Traffic Safety Culture

Upskilling Professional Driving Instructors of Young Learner Drivers: What Are We Waiting For?

Decades of research and development to address young drivers’ over-involvement in road crashes has led to critical improvements in understanding and interventions, yet has mostly focused on young drivers or their parents. Driving instructors have a key role in the young driver safety system, yet substantially less attention has been paid to their accreditation and professional development specific to teaching young drivers. Neurobiological development during mid-to-late adolescence influences how young people drive and the inflated risks they face relative to adult learners. In this paper, we discuss several of our research studies and supporting literature to argue that: (a) adept higher-order professional instruction can improve young driver safety behaviour in ways that can reduce crashes; (b) instructors are willing to be upskilled in young driver specific training needs; and (c) young drivers currently lack adequate training in new motor vehicle features that can enhance their safety, as do many adults, creating further demand on the driver-training industry. Given this body of work, we argue that the field has sufficiently progressed to know both why and how we should innovate and transform the driver training industry in ways that will improve young driver safety. However, we also note current developments appear to be working against rather than towards improvements. Therefore, there is a need to prioritise and implement change, and to harness advantages of emerging technologies. Professional development opportunities for driving instructors not only have potential to benefit the industry and young drivers, but also parents; therefore, boosting traffic safety culture across the community.

Modelling the effect of traffic safety culture on road fatalities: linear and nonlinear stochastic frontier analysis

Modelling the effect of traffic safety culture on road fatalities: linear and nonlinear stochastic frontier analysis

Traffic Safe Municipality: a Norwegian approval scheme to facilitate development of a municipal traffic safety culture

This study examines the consequences of being approved as a Traffic Safe Municipality for municipal traffic safety culture, based on surveys (n = 2255) and interviews (n = 17) in 24 municipalities. Traffic Safe Municipality is an approval scheme for Norwegian municipalities, which defines criteria for systematic traffic safety work. Development of a positive municipal traffic safety culture is an explicit aim of the approval scheme. The respondents in the survey state positive consequences for the traffic safety culture in their own workplace after being approved as a Traffic Safe Municipality. The self-reported focus on traffic safety has increased among immediate managers and among colleagues, and it has become easier to address issues related to traffic safety in one's own workplace. In multivariate statistical analyses, we see that these changes are also linked to the respondents stating that they think more about traffic safety in their everyday work and they state that they behave safer in traffic during working hours. The study has also mapped factors that promote or impede implementation of Traffic Safe Municipality. Lack of resources in the municipality, time pressure, high workload and replacement of personnel may hamper implementation, while top managers' involvement throughout the implementation period is one of the most important prerequisites for successful implementation. We conclude that Traffic Safe Municipality can be interpreted as a measure to establish a traffic safety culture through the implementation of a safety management system in the municipality. Such systems are required as a measure to create a positive safety culture in a number of different high-risk sectors (aviation, nuclear power, oil, and gas). Our study is unique, since we apply this perspective in the municipal sector.

Роль родинного виховання у формуванні культури безпеки дорожнього руху, як чинника підвищення безпеки пішоходів

One of the main reasons for the high level of accidents in Ukraine is the low discipline of road users such as pedestrians. Sometimes their behavior is a struggle for an undesirable attitude to elementary traffic rules. Basically, such careless behavior can be observed among young people. Their recklessness and carelessness, both on the streets and on the roads, lead to tragic consequences. Among the two types of dangers that lead to traffic accidents namely the behavioral dangers depend on the traffic culture formed in a certain social environment. The formation of the appropriate level of road users’ culture requires the provision of conditions in the family, in the educational institution, in the workplace, as well as the corresponding socio-economic policy of the state regarding positive effect of safety on the streets and roads. The survey of students shows that only 40% of the respondents are aware of personal responsibility for their own safety. The study revealed that pedestrians’ low level of awareness of their personal responsibility for own safety requires changes in the formation of general safety culture and, accordingly, a road safety culture. Therefore, it is important to encourage young people to take responsibility for their own actions in matters of safety, and the role of family education has a direct impact on the formation of their road safety culture. The main emphasis in the education of children and youth should be on encouraging them to take responsibility for their own actions in any undertaking, and most importantly in matters of safety, in particular, by the parents’ own examples, their consistency in the system of teaching-requirements to the child-own actions. Keywords: pedestrian crossing, pedestrian, traffic safety culture, family education, traffic accident, responsibility.

Analysis of Human and Cultural Factors Causing Risk of Accidents in Jordanian Drivers

The major objective of this research paper is to investigate the Traffic Safety culture among Jordanian drivers, and to identify common aggressive behaviors, and its association to diverse social factors. An online survey questionnaire was distributed among drivers in Jordan; samples were collected in the Amman area in 2019. The data analysis of the survey was analyzed using the statistical program SPSS. The survey questions were based on methods found in the (AAA foundation’s Annual Traffic Safety Culture). It was found that drivers in Jordan have high exposure to traffic accidents, where one in eight drivers has been injured in a traffic accident, and nearly one in three Jordanians knows someone killed in an accident. 75% of participants consider aggressive driving as a very serious threat, 60% have honked the vehicles horn excessively within 30 days, 36% often failed to signal when turning or stopping. The most common behavior for drivers during the last 30 days according to the survey is “speeding through yellow light 85%, followed by lack of Seat belt use 80%, and followed by Mobile phone use while driving78%, and followed by Speeding on highways 61%. Male drivers were more aggressive, drivers were more exposed to car accidents, they were 1.3 times to get involved in a vehicle damage accident, and four times as female to get involved in a severe injury accident. In addition, significant differences in behavior were found among drivers when compared under surveillance of police and traffic cameras, and when there is no surveillance. 88% of drivers would never cross the red light, 60% would never use the mobile phone, and 75% would never speed if they knew there was a camera or if police were around. Preventive countermeasures were recommended to increase the safety culture awareness of drivers in Jordan.

Effectiveness of Early Traffic Awareness Socialization Program (SALUD) Through Technical Guidance

The safety of the road must be grown by each transportation actor in the form of honesty or willingness to form further awareness or awareness of the safety of road transport traffic. It needs a counseling method that can change the mindset and instill the traffic safety culture's mindset with strong roots from an early age. Awareness of traffic at an early age (SALUD) utilizing the "golden age" period has been implemented in many regions. The type of research used is quantitative descriptive research. The research sampling technique uses purposive sampling, namely the method of determining samples with certain considerations, which in this case is a consideration of the location of affordable provinces (West Java Province, Central Java Province, and Lampung Province) and the latest implementation. Primary data collection using questionnaires, observations, and documentation. Data collection was carried out by surveying the intermediate targets, namely ECCE teachers who are alumni of SALUD technical guidance. The measurement results are as follows: (1) the implementation of the SALUD technical guidance in Bandung Regency, Semarang, and Lampung Province shows an increase in understanding, (2) the planning level of SALUD Bandung Regency is high, Semarang is medium, and Lampung Province is still low, (3) the dissemination rate of SALUD Bandung Regency is very high, Semarang is very high, and Lampung Province is still very low, (4) the implementation level of SALUD Regency Bandung and Semarang are very high, Lampung Province is high.

The impact of Illinois’ comprehensive handheld phone ban on talking on handheld and handsfree cellphones while driving

Introduction: Distracted driving has been linked to multiple driving decrements and is responsible for thousands of motor-vehicle fatalities annually. Most U.S. states have enacted restrictions on cellphone use while driving, the strictest of which prohibit any manual operation of a cellphone while driving. Illinois enacted such a law in 2014. To better understand how this law affected cellphone behaviors while driving, associations between Illinois’ handheld phone ban and self-reported talking on handheld, handsfree, and any cellphone (handheld or handsfree) while driving were estimated. Methods: Data from annual administrations of the Traffic Safety Culture Index from 2012–2017 in Illinois and a set of control states were leveraged. The data were cast into a difference-in-differences (DID) modeling framework, which compared Illinois to control states in terms of pre- to post-intervention changes in the proportion of drivers who self-reported the three outcomes. Separate models for each outcome were fit, and additional models were fit to the subset of drivers who talk on cellphones while driving. Results: In Illinois, the pre- to post-intervention decrease in the drivers’ probability of self-reporting talking on a handheld phone was significantly more extreme than that of drivers in control states (DID estimate −0.22; 95% CI −0.31, −0.13). Among drivers who talk on cellphones while driving, those in Illinois exhibited a more extreme increase in the probability of talking on a handsfree phone while driving than those control states (DID estimate 0.13; 95% CI 0.03, 0.23). Conclusions: These results suggest that Illinois’ handheld phone ban reduced talking on handheld phones while driving among study participants. They also corroborate the hypothesis that the ban promoted substitution from handheld to handsfree phones among drivers who talk on the phone while driving. Practical Applications: These findings should encourage other states to enact comprehensive handheld phone bans to improve traffic safety.

Youths’ Perceptions of Road Safety Risk Behaviours in the Roadway Environment: A Study of College Students in The Gambia and Tanzania

Road traffic injury is the seventh leading cause of death in low-income countries, the tenth leading cause of death in resource-limited countries for all ages, and the leading cause of death for adolescents and youths worldwide. In this study, we seek to provide information on youths’ perceptions of risky road traffic safety behaviours. A self-administered survey on youths’ risk perceptions of road traffic crashes in The Gambia and Tanzania was distributed to students at universities in The Gambia and at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Tanzania. Risky behaviours and distractions were identified as the primary risk of crashes involving youths. Texting while driving (The Gambia 56.6%, Tanzania 83.7%, AOR = 1.72, 95% CI = 0.5, 5.88) or riding in cars whose drivers had been drinking alcohol (The Gambia 20.2%, Tanzania 59.7%, AOR = 3.12, 95% CI = 1.17, 8.36) were major concerns. These results indicate that the implementation of interventions to reduce driver distractions and impairment are needed in both countries. Prevention efforts should focus on not only roadway designs and vehicle factors, but also on the traffic safety culture and education of road users, especially the youth and young adults. These results fill a knowledge gap that will be beneficial to developing effective interventions to promote a traffic safety culture among youths.

Changing beliefs in the bayou city

Vision Zero has been changing traffic safety culture internationally since the 1990s, but in Houston, Texas it did not kick off until the 2010s. Houston presents challenges in scale and development patterns, which make for a slow, deliberate process when furthering a transportation paradigm shift towards zero traffic deaths. Bringing in leaders who champion and own Vision Zero has been key, and a traffic safety culture shift is happening at necessary places inside the City of Houston organization. However, transforming community-wide beliefs in a city like Houston requires meaningful engagement, clear strategies and sustained political will. City of Houston officials, stakeholders and residents are working to meet these challenges. This article will delve into the effort that has been made to change Houston’s transportation culture and the dire need for street safety improvements.

Talking on hands-free and handheld cellphones while driving in association with handheld phone bans

Introduction: Concurrent use of a cellphone while driving impairs driving abilities, and studies of policy effectiveness in reducing distracted driving have yielded mixed results. Furthermore, few studies have considered how hands-free phone use associates with handheld phone bans. It is not clear whether hand-held phone bans dissuade some drivers from using the phone while driving completely, or whether it simply promotes a shift to hands-free use. The present study estimates the association between handheld phone policies and self-reported talking on hands-free and handheld cellphones while driving. Methods: Our data consisted of 16,067 respondents to annual administrations of the Traffic Safety Culture Index from 2012-2017. Our primary exposure variable was handheld phone policy, and our primary outcome variables were self-reported talking on any phone, self-reported talking on a handheld phone, and self-reported talking on a hands-free phone while driving. We estimated adjusted prevalence ratios of the outcomes associated with handheld phone bans via modified Poisson regression. Results: Drivers in states with handheld bans were 13% less likely to self-report talking on any type of cellphone (handheld or hands-free) while driving. When broken down by cellphone type, drivers in states with handheld bans were 38% less likely to self-report talking on a handheld phone and 10% more likely to self-report talking on a hands-free phone while driving. Conclusions: Handheld phone bans were associated with more self-reported talking on hands-free phones and less talking on handheld phones, consistent with a substitution hypothesis. Handheld bans were also associated with less talking on any phone while driving, supporting a net safety benefit. Practical Applications: In the absence of a national ban on handheld phone use while driving, our study supports state handheld phone bans to deter distracted driving and improve traffic safety.

Assessing the Impact of Culture: A Systematic Analysis of Culture-Based Interventions and Evaluations

Over the last 20 years, transportation agencies have added culture-based approaches to the existing education, engineering, and enforcement (3E) strategies being used as a means of reducing traffic related injuries and fatalities. Despite this increased interest, there have been comparatively few evaluations of these interventions. At the same time, many other organizational types have adopted culture-based strategies either to improve safety or to enhance other elements of organizational performance. In aggregate, the evaluations of culture-focused interventions across a range of settings offer an untapped body of information about the models of culture being leveraged to affect change, the intervention strategies used to impact culture, the impacts of these strategies, and more. The research presented here used a systematic analysis of published, peer-reviewed evaluations of culture-based interventions designed to enhance traffic safety, safe workplaces, and effective practices more broadly, in order to more comprehensively understand the current state and impacts of culture-based theory and practices. This study seeks to build a clearer picture of the presence and robustness of current models of culture being utilized, as well as what evaluation strategies and designs are being used to assess culture-based initiatives, and further, what the robustness of the existing models and evaluation designs reveal about the efficacy of the original, culture-based interventions. Lastly, this analysis includes a preliminary examination of links between culture-based initiatives and systems theory/thinking, in an effort to identify conceptual ties between and/or empirical evidence supporting a relationship between the “Safe System” approach and traffic safety culture or other culture-based efforts. It is hoped that with a clearer understanding of the status of the field, it will be possible to make further progress in crafting, assessing, and refining theoretically robust and empirically grounded efforts to advance the efficacy of traffic safety culture and safe systems approaches.

Increasing Readiness to Grow Traffic Safety Culture and Adopt the Safe System Approach: A Story of the Washington Traffic Safety Commission

Growing traffic safety culture and adopting the Safe System approach are strategies to support achieving a vision of zero traffic fatalities and serious injuries. However, adopting these strategies requires organizational change. Change is more likely to occur and be sustained by growing organizational readiness for change. Change readiness is driven by perceptions that 1) the change aligns with the organization’s culture 2) the organization (e.g., leadership, staff), is committed to the change, and 3) the organization has the resources necessary to make the change. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission has been engaged in a change process that focuses on growing traffic safety culture and adopting the Safe System approach for many years. This article shares insights from their journey that other organizations can use to bolster their own change efforts.