Traffic Safety Culture: Recent Publications

This study investigates the cultural implications of driver behaviour and its impact on road safety through the lens of Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ). The survey includes 741 drivers aged 18 and above from Kano State, Nigeria. The analysis identifies a three-factor model: Violations, Errors, and Aggressive Violations. The study compares these findings with two others from different regions and state in Nigeria, revealing significant differences in driver behaviour, thereby highlighting the influence of cultural factors. The analysis finds significant correlations between driver demographics and risky behaviours, with older drivers showing a higher risk of crashes. This indicates the importance of tailored road safety measures for different demographics. Efforts to curb risky behaviours encompass a multi-faceted approach. Improvements in road infrastructure, including lane expansion and pedestrian-friendly designs, foster safety while discouraging violations. Addressing factors like hawking and trading on roads is paramount to maintain driver focus. Furthermore, investment in comprehensive driver education, awareness campaigns, and advanced training programs is vital to reduce errors and aggressive driving behaviours. Recognising the cultural differences that influence driver behaviour in Nigeria is vital for creating a safer and more respectful traffic environment. Interventions tailored to specific cultural contexts are likely to be more effective than one-size-fits-all approaches. In conclusion, this study advocates for a holistic approach, integrating law enforcement, infrastructure enhancements, and driver education campaigns, to mitigate risky behaviours among drivers and enhance road safety.

The article is devoted to topical issues of increasing the guaranteed traffic safety level. The goal is to develop a systematic approach that allows reducing the risks of traffic safety violations. The article presents the analysis results on the effectiveness of implemented railway transport measures that contribute to improving the traffic safety level. It is established that implementation of a systematic approach is the most effective for achieving the goals of traffic safety. The systematic approach is based on the use of risk management tools, development of positive safety culture and process approach. The result of the study is a “traffic safety matrix”, which includes two interdependent blocks. In block 1, introduction of elements that ensure the transportation process is proposed: personnel, rolling stock and infrastructure. In block 2, the elements which ensure the transportation process safety are introduced – regulatory framework, technological process, performance improvement, law enforcement and supervision. This matrix gives an opportunity to optimally plan and implement safety measures, carry out timely implementation supervision, monitor the effectiveness of the measures used to assess the dynamics of traffic safety level and status. A “traffic safety matrix” based on a systematic approach can be compiled for any railway transport enterprise in accordance with available technical, informational, material, human resources and capabilities. This will allow transportation process participants to coordinate their activities in order to achieve the main result - improving the traffic safety level.

The International Board of Direction (IBOD) of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) took an important step by unanimously approving the ITE Safety Roadmap and Action Plan: Fostering a Cultural Shift Prioritizing Roadway Safety during its November 2024 meeting. This plan represents ITE’s commitment to advancing transportation safety as outlined in its 2024-2026 Strategic Plan. By addressing systemic challenges and fostering a safety-first culture among its members, this initiative underscores ITE’s goal to help eliminate roadway fatalities. This article provides an overview of the ITE Safety Roadmap and Action Plan.

While pedestrian safety is found in many Strategic Highway Safety Plans across the country, there may be potentially competing values and beliefs that influence the deployment of effective pedestrian safety strategies. Understanding shared values and beliefs among transportation stakeholders about pedestrian safety is critical to growing a positive traffic safety culture, deploying effective strategies to improve pedestrian safety, and ultimately achieving our nation’s goal of zero deaths on our roadways. This project sought to improve pedestrian safety by developing resources to assess and grow beliefs among transportation stakeholders to support the deployment of effective pedestrian safety strategies. This report includes a literature review, results from 10 stakeholder interviews, a survey created to reveal stakeholder beliefs about pedestrian safety and their understanding, support for, and engagement in pedestrian safety strategies, survey results, and a toolkit entitled: Tools and Resources to Improve Pedestrian Safety. The toolkit includes a resource focused on growing public participation and tools that address growing supportive beliefs to improve pedestrian safety, ways to prioritize pedestrian safety and bolster current approaches, telling your pedestrian safety story, engaging in meaningful conversations about pedestrian safety, and promoting pedestrian safety across the social environment.

The human factor is a prominent cause of traffic accidents. The formation of an individual’s driving style has been found to be influenced by a variety of variables. In this study, the goal is to examine the moderating effects of the country (Israel and Türkiye) and the traffic climate on the relationship between the motivation for safe driving and driving styles. A Background Information Form, a Safe Driving Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SD-SRQ), the Traffic Climate Scale (TCS), and the Multidimensional Driving Style Inventory (MDSI) were used as instruments; data was collected from 471 Israeli and 400 Turkish participants. The contribution of the interaction between the motivation for safe driving and the traffic culture/climate in Israel and Türkiye on driving styles was examined by a moderated moderation analysis. The analysis showed that the two countries are differently impacted by traffic climate and safe driving motivation. The study’s key finding is that while emotionally demanding traffic and autonomous forms of motivation and amotivation have an impact on the patient-careful driving style in Türkiye, traffic climate which is emotionally demanding and requires abilities and skills, together with controlled forms of motivation and amotivation have an impact on dissociative and anxious driving styles in Israel. Suggestions for further research as well as potential practical implications are discussed.

It is well known that the culture of a society impacts on driving behavior and road safety performance. However, it is difficult to quantify culture and to assess how culture interacts with other phenomena that affect road safety performance. This study aimed at understanding the relationship between national culture and road safety performance. It has used data from different sources to study these associations: WHO data on road crash fatality rates and gross national income, the values of the new Hofstede-Minkov dimensions of national culture, and ESRA data on behavior in traffic and support for policy measures in road safety. The paper discusses the associations between national culture and road crash fatalities, between risky behavior and road crashes, between national culture and subjective safety of road users, and between national culture and support for policy measures. The robustness of the impact of culture on road safety and public support for policy measures after controlling for fatality rate and economic development is also examined. The study shows the strong connection between road safety performance and national culture, in particular the tendency for independent thinking and judgement. This link is somewhat indirect because the underlying cause is partially the economic development level.

Until now, numerous empirical investigations have been conducted to examine the correlation between organizational justice and organizational trust. However, it is worth noting that little attention has been given to exploring the role of organizational justice and organizational trust perception on voluntary reporting behavior, which is critical in accessing valuable data for enhancing aviation safety. The purpose of this study is to propose a mediation model regarding the relationship between the voluntary non-reporting behavior of aviation employees and their organizational justice and organizational trust perceptions. The authors collected online survey data from a total of 800 employees that work in four different areas of aviation in Turkey. Organizational trust had no intermediary role in the influence of organizational justice over voluntary non-reporting. However, organizational justice had an intermediary role in the influence of organizational trust over voluntary non-reporting. Furthermore, a significant portion of the aviation employees involved in the study refrained from submitting voluntary reports concerning unsafe incidents they witnessed or suggestions to mitigate risks. This study serves as a pioneering effort, examining the mediating role of organizational trust in the relationship between organizational justice and voluntary non-reporting. Given its contextual relevance, the results provide valuable recommendations to practitioners, as it is the first study to explore the relationship between voluntary non-reporting, organizational trust, and justice within the aviation industry.

This paper gives an overview of the work of PIARC Working Group 3.1.1 ‘Specific road safety issues for LMICs’. The working group performed its activities in the period 2019–2023. We prepared two deliverables: (a) a literature review, and (b) an overview of illustrative examples. The review started from the notion that the road safety problem requires a multi-disciplinary approach. The safe system approach is generally considered as the central concept for this purpose and this starting point is also taken in this study. However new directions are needed to make the safe system concept work in LMICs. The period of the first UN Decade of Action for Road Safety has brought us a series of valuable problem analysis and overview articles prepared by a variety of institutions and institutes. As a PIARC working group we did not repeat this effort, but used it as a starting point to indicate which specific issues do require a boost in LMICs for the coming period up to 2030. We concluded that the following 12 issues deserve special attention. Strategical: (i) Sustainable Development Goals integral approach, (ii) safety culture, (iii) road safety management and leadership, (iv) building road safety expertise and science; Tactical: (v) transportation system as a whole, (vi) city design, architecture, land use, rural planning, (vii) cost effectiveness, (viii) legislation and enforcement; Operational: (ix) speed, (x) sustainable safe roads, (xi) vehicles as a safe system component, (xii) post-crash health care. As a result of our discussions and analyses we also concluded that it is worthwhile and necessary to make a distinction between the issues in terms of levels of approach. Making roads and vehicles safe may be considered as operational safety measures on a component level, whereas city design and transport system issues do represent a more tactical approach. On top of that, organisational and cultural aspects do have a more strategical nature. As in many managerial and planning tasks the distinction between strategical, tactical and operational levels of approach is needed in the road safety field. It illustrates that the Safe System concept asks for a multi-level vision, thus preventing a silo approach with a limited focus on human behaviour, safe roads or vehicle safety. A further analysis for each of the selected issues resulted in priority areas, i.e. topics that deserve special attention in the LMIC context. In a similar line of reasoning we also described illustrative examples, i.e. LMIC related before-after studies that show the perspective of certain measures on an evidence basis. Although we found some illustrative cases for each of these issues, our search for evidence based cases confirmed the findings from recent overview articles indicating the lack of LMIC related road safety research. A more widespread implementation of effective road safety measures in LMICs would require a stronger national commitment and leadership from the road safety agencies point of view in the first place. Moreover an evidence based policy asks for a strong national and regional knowledge infrastructure. Ultimately road safety policies and road safety research programs are to be considered as inseparable. A strong local knowledge infrastructure may thus become the basis for an effective national road safety policy.

South Korea, Japan and the United States are closely connected with politics and economics. Basically, those countries are similar economic structure in the manufacturing industry, but each country has a unique culture. Especially, Japan and the United States have similar industry structure and economical ability. And there are many studies different culture. In this study, the authors examine the actual risk factors that face with citizens in each country in the field of traffic safety. It is the research method that they compared with traffic-accidents risk and with traffic accident statistics from several points of view such as drivers, passengers, motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians. As the result, traffic culture does not mature enough to consider the other people in Korea. Namely, there is some relationship between traffic accident and culture. It needs matured traffic culture to decrease traffic accident.

Models of driver crash risks have been developed in high income countries (e.g., the contextual mediated model). However, the extent to which these models apply to motoring in low and middle income countries, which bear the majority of the world’s road crash fatalities is unknown. The authors investigate the applicability of a modified contextual mediated model which distinguishes between distal and proximal factors that increase crash liability. The model was applied to 404 UK and 478 Ghanaian motorists to examine the extent to which the processes underlying crash risk are culture specific. Path analyses showed that distal factors (e.g., anxiety, distracted driving susceptibility) predicted crash involvement directly and indirectly through errors, violations and hazard monitoring in both countries. Hazard monitoring was a significant predictor of crash involvement, independent of DBQ factors in both UK and Ghana, highlighting its importance in understanding driver behavior and crash risk. The findings provide empirical support for the usefulness of the revised contextual mediated model to explain driving behavior in Ghana as well as the UK.

Prioritizing occupational health and safety (OHS) in port operations is crucial for enhancing the industry’s competitiveness. This study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the international literature on OHS risks in port operations and identify key strategies for promoting worker well-being. A systematic literature review was conducted using the Knowledge Development Process – Constructivist – ProKnow-C method, resulting in the selection of 42 international articles. Risk and strategy characterization were based on the framework proposed by Makin and Winder (2008). The findings reveal that 33.3% of the analyzed articles address or justify their findings based on the three areas of ‘safe person,’ ‘safe system,’ and ‘safe place’ simultaneously in the port sector. The study highlights the need for future research to deepen knowledge in this area, improving in an integrated way the understanding of occupational risk areas and the strategies implemented by the Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS) in the port environment.

This project is a cooperative effort of participating state departments of transportation (DOTs) and other (traditional and non-traditional) organizations with a vested interest in positively affecting the traffic safety culture. As its third phase, this long-term partnership supports continual evolution and integration through research projects, developed tools, and implementation efforts. Collectively with its last two phases, the efforts completed by this pooled fund continue to develop and deliver tools and services to transform the national, state, and community-level traffic safety culture. The goals of this transformation are to: 1) Show a measurable shift in values, attitudes, and behaviors related to road safety, and maintain positive changes in culture shifts that must be sustained in traffic safety behavior for all motorized and non-motorized road users; 2) Recognize and define many different levels of cultural influence in traffic safety and create and implement tools that positively influence a sustainable shift in those cultural beliefs; 3) Create tools for practitioners that impact culture in their organization and communities; 4) Provide the framework to influence the driver risk-takers to comply with making safe choices behind the wheel, whether automatically, due to culture shifts, or because of influencers that one might identify with, such as peers or family. Through continual collaboration, implementing, and trying new approaches, traffic safety culture can be significantly improved to reduce fatalities and serious injuries for all motorized and non-motorized road users.

Motor vehicle incidents or apparatus crashes are a leading cause of firefighter fatalities in the United States. Nonuse of seat belts has been linked to some of these fatalities. This research seeks to understand the relationship between safety climate and seat belt use among firefighters, as findings will provide insights into factors that may bolster seat belt use and protect firefighters. Data were collected from 208 career firefighters working for a city fire department in the southeastern United States. Structural equation modeling was used to test a hypothesized model and to assess the relationships between organizational safety climate, work group safety climate and seat belt use. It was determined that positive perceptions of workgroup safety climate, as a higher order factor, comprised of supervisor support, horizontal cohesion, and vertical cohesion, was positively associated with seat belt use within a sample of firefighters. Organizational level safety climate did not have a significant relationship with seat belt use but did positively influence workgroup safety climate perceptions. Safety climate has been associated with safety compliance and participation behaviors, but more research was needed to specifically examine the impact of safety climate on seat belt use in firefighters. The findings point to the importance of safety climate as a leading indicator and predictor of seat belt use. Bolstering safety climate through safety programs, commitment to safety, effective communication, supportive supervisors and cohesion should ultimately aid in bolstering seat belt use among firefighters, which is important to curtailing firefighter injuries and fatalities.

Mitigating the injury and severity of road traffic accidents has become a crucial objective in global road safety efforts. Major road traffic accidents (MRTAs) pose significant challenges due to their high hazard and severe consequences. Despite their widespread impact, the complex causation mechanisms behind MRTAs have not been thoroughly and systematically investigated, which hinders the development of effective control strategies and policies. This study introduces an innovative high-order embedded mixed-method design to explore the causes of MRTAs, marking the first application of mixed-method approaches in road traffic accident research. The proposed approach consists of three phases: First, qualitative analysis utilizing grounded theory examines 95 MRTAs investigation reports to identify causal factors, establish a classification framework, and derive quantitative data. The second phase employs the decision experiment and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) for static quantitative analysis, quantifying interactions within the classification framework, and generating cause-effect diagrams. Finally, data and results from the first two phases are integrated to construct a system dynamics (SD) model and conduct sensitivity analysis, analyzing the impact of causal factors and their interactions on MRTAs casualties, thereby evaluating the effectiveness of various control strategies. The findings reveal that the causal factors of MRTAs can be categorized into five levels: “driver errors,” “vehicle, road and environment,” “supervisory deficiencies,” “organizational management and culture,” and “outside factors.” Complex interactions exist both among and within these levels, collectively influencing MRTAs. Moreover, in reducing MRTAs casualties, combined control strategies demonstrate significant superiority over single control strategies, especially when targeting key factors. It should also be noted that the importance ranking of causal factors dynamically adjusts with changes in the control environment, and the effectiveness of combined control strategies becomes more pronounced as the number of control factors increases. Specifically, comprehensive prevention strategies across all five levels exhibit the most remarkable efficacy. In conclusion, preventing MRTAs requires emphasizing the shared responsibility of all stakeholders and judiciously allocating control resources, while avoiding excessive reliance on interventions targeting any specific factor. This study provides a methodological foundation for a deeper understanding of the causation mechanisms behind MRTAs, and its results offer robust evidence to support the formulation of future prevention measures and policies.

Safety within aviation is defined by the effective management and mitigation of risks associated with aviation activities, encompassing direct aircraft operations and supporting functions. The safety management system (SMS), a holistic approach to proactively managing safety risks, is central to this endeavor. Comprising four integral components—safety policy and objectives, safety risk management, safety assurance, and safety promotion—the SMS hinges on a systematic risk management process. This study aims to understand the foundational principles for framing and executing organizational systems harmonized with the SMS and a risk-based approach within the realm of aviation maintenance organizations. Through a detailed literature review, this research discloses a concentrated focus on organizational factors, human factors, and managerial aspects within existing scholarship. Findings underscore the multifaceted nature of ensuring safety in aviation maintenance operations, clarifying the complicated bonds between organizational factors, human factors, and managerial aspects within this specialized context. Finally, the authors presented the essential characteristics of an SMS-integrated aviation maintenance organization, as derived from the comprehensive literature review.