Traffic Avoidance in Relation to Demographic Characteristics

Abstract

Driver behaviours are the main contributory factor which affect traffic safety negatively. These behaviours may occur intentionally such as violations or unintentionally such as mistakes. Additionally, avoidance behaviour which can be related to risky behaviour appears as an important factor that must be investigated. In traffic situations, drivers can exhibit avoidance behaviour for many reasons such as traffic conditions, bad weather conditions or their accident history. The aim of the present study is to examine the relationship between avoidance behaviour and demographic characteristics of the drivers. One hundred fifty-three males, 138 females, a total of 291 drivers participated in the study. The participants were asked to complete a questionnaire including a demographic information form and the Driving and Riding Avoidance Scale (DRAS). In the first step, DRAS was translated into Turkish and factor analysis was conducted. After that, to investigate the relationship between avoidance behaviour and demographic characteristics, hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. Results showed that avoidance behaviour is positively related to accident history while it is negatively related to age. Additively, female drivers showed more avoidance behaviour than male drivers. The findings are important for understanding avoidance behaviour, which has the potential to affect traffic safety.

Keywords

• avoidance,demographic characteristics,traffic safety

Sürücü Demografik Özelliklerinin Trafikte Kaçınma Davranışı ile İlişkisi

Abstract

Sürücülerin yolda sergiledikleri riskli davranışlar, trafik güvenliğini olumsuz etkileyen temel unsurlardandır. Genel çerçevede incelendiğinde bu davranışlar ihlaller gibi niyetli, ya da hatalar gibi niyet içermeyen davranışlardan oluşabilir. Bununla birlikte bu tür riskli davranışların ortaya çıkmasıyla ilişkilendirilebilecek kaçınma davranışı da başlı başına incelenmesi gereken bir unsur olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Sürücülerin hava durumu, trafik durumu, kaza geçmişi gibi pek çok nedenden dolayı kaçınma davranışı gösterdikleri görülmektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, sürücülerin demografik özelliklerinin kaçınma davranışı ile ilişkisinin incelenmesidir. Çalışmanın örneklemini 153 erkek, 138 kadın, toplam 291 katılımcı oluşturmaktadır. Veri toplamak amacıyla demografik bilgi formu ve Araç Kullanma ve Araca Binmekten Kaçınma Ölçeği kullanılmıştır. Öncelikle Araç Kullanma ve Araca Binmekten Kaçınma Ölçeği Türkçe’ye uyarlanıp faktör analizi ile uygunluğu test edilmiştir. Daha sonra demografik özellikler ve kaçınma davranışı arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemek adına aşamalı regresyon analizi uygulanmıştır. Bulgular, sürücülerin kaçınma davranışlarının kaza geçmişleriyle pozitif, yaş ile negatif yönde ilişkili olduğunu göstermiştir. Bununla birlikte kadın sürücülerin erkek sürücülere göre trafikte daha fazla kaçınma davranışı gösterdiği bulgulanmıştır. Sonuçlar trafik güvenliğini etkileyebilecek potansiyele sahip olan kaçınma davranışını ve bu davranışı gösteren sürücü profilini anlamak adına önemlidir.

Keywords

• kaçınma,demografik özellikler,trafik güvenliği

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