An assessment of the relationship between driving skills and driving behaviors among Chinese bus drivers

Abstract

To provide helpful suggestions to bus companies regarding reducing the number of bus accidents and improving public transportation safety, we further researched the relationship between driving skills and driving behaviors; bus drivers from six bus companies of the Hefei Bus Group were investigated. The reliability and validity of the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire, the Driver Skill Inventory, and 287 valid questionnaires were tested; the relationships between the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire and Driver Skill Inventory factors were explored; and their influence on traffic accidents was analyzed by structural equation modeling. Significant positive associations were found between driving experience and safety motive, whereas negative relationships were found between errors and safety motive. Safety motive has a negative effect on violations, and violations are the most important factor leading to traffic accidents. Therefore, bus companies should enhance safety education, and interventions should not only directly relate to the involvement of bus drivers in traffic accidents but also consider the role played by violations.

A Landscape of Research on Bus Driver Behavior: Taxonomy, Open Challenges, Motivations, Recommendations, Limitations, and Pathways Solution in Future

“…Conversely, younger male drivers who have lower education level and less experience were found to exhibit risky behavior, affecting the safety of the trip [48,51]. Bus safety is associated with drivers who exhibit less sensation-seek and high self-reporting features [53]. Another study confirmed a significant correlation between driver experience and safer bus trips [61].…”

“…The study focused on the experience of driver as a main factor and demonstrated that drivers with no experience are likely to be involved in accidents, violations, and lapses. Similarly, using DBQ, a survey on driving behavior was conducted among bus drivers in Hefei, China [53]. The study showed a significant correlation between the experience of driver and safe bus trips.…”

“…The range of driver performance measures is broadened to encompass a variety of parameters. About 90% of road crashes across the world is associated to human errors [53]. In these critical situations, drivers may be distracted by other secondary tasks that result in shorter time-gap for making decisions [56].…”

“…More studies in similar contexts are needed to provide better interpretation of the performance under different circumstances [7]. It is significant to establish incentive assessment system and afford monthly material-and mental-based rewards to outstanding drivers in order to promote good practices of traffic safety behavior [53]. Besides that, a system to manage driving at night is recommended and can be achieved by improving the street lighting and traffic signage and illuminating road markings [31].…”

“…The most prevalent samples utilized in prior studies included bus drivers [44,86], vehicle classes [10], and factors that affect driver behavior [60]. Secondly, the methods of data collection, such as reflective self-report assessments, can be inundated with biases [2,9,52,53,55,61,94,96]. Thirdly, there are limitations to the simulation and modelling approaches and procedures-for example, they ignore error in the observed module and focus only on the psychological purposes, instead of the physiology.…”