Integration of Theory of Planned Behavior, Sensation Seeking, and Risk Perception to Explain the Risky Driving Behavior of Truck Drivers

Role of Trust, Risk Perception, and Perceived Benefit in COVID-19 Vaccination Intention of the Public

COVID-19 vaccination is an effective method for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. This study proposed and validated a theoretical intention model for explaining the COVID-19 vaccination intention (CVI) of the public. The theoretical intention model incorporated trust in vaccines, two types of risk perception (risk perception of COVID-19 and risk perception of COVID-19 vaccination), and perceived benefit into a theory of planned behavior (TPB). Structural equation modeling was utilized to test the theoretical intention model with data collected from 816 Chinese adults in China. The results confirmed the crucial role of trust in vaccines, risk perception, and perceived benefit in shaping the CVI of the public. In addition, TPB was found to be applicable in a research context. The theoretical intention model accounted for 78.8% of the variance in CVI. Based on the findings, several practical recommendations for improving COVID-19 vaccination rates were discussed.

Safety Climate Assessment in Fuel Stations in the West Java Region

Fuel station accidents still happen frequently all around the world. Accidents in fuel stations may cause harm to many. Fuel station environments must thus be managed well to maintain a high safety climate level. However, our literature review shows that research on the safety climate in fuel stations is scarce. This study attempts to assess the safety climate level in fuel stations in the West Java region, Indonesia. The aims of this research are to acquire the safety climate level of fuel stations, review safety climate dimensions which need serious improvement, and discover key aspects that impact the safety climate level. To achieve these goals, the Bahasa Indonesia version of the NOSACQ-50 questionnaire was used to assess the safety climate in 240 fuel stations; 678 responses were collected. The findings show that the safety climate level of fuel stations was, on average, 3.07, which is a fairly good score. Among all seven dimensions, workers’ safety priority and risk non-acceptance need the most improvement. Moreover, safety training is found to be the most influential aspect on safety climate because workers with training experience have higher safety climate perceptions. Ironically, more than 28% of respondents reported that they had not been properly trained. Therefore, fuel stations need to make sure that all employees have attended appropriate safety training. In this way, higher safety climate ratings can be achieved, hence moving forward to a safer working environment.

Mobile phone use among truck drivers: The application and extension of the theory of planned behavior

Commercial truck drivers are particularly exposed to the risks associated with distracted driving, especially with mobile phone use while driving (MPWD), due to their higher driving exposure (DE) (e.g., high driving frequency, long driving hours and distance). However, despite being identified as one of the major causes in truck crashes, truck drivers' MPWD behavior has received little attention. In the current work, the theory of planned behavior (TPB), extended with DE, was applied to explore the determinants of MPWD among commercial truck drivers in China and examine the correlations between drivers' DE and psychological factors. We conducted an Internet survey and collected 420 valid questionnaires, which measured truck drivers' 5 standard TPB variables, DE and demographics. Structural equation modelling was used to analyze the data from the survey. The results showed strong support for the application of the proposed TPB model in explaining truck drivers' MPWD behavior. Specifically, truck drivers' behavioral intention (BI) had the greatest direct positive effect on MPWD behavior, while perceived behavioral control (PBC) had no direct positive effect. Moreover, PBC, attitude (ATT) and DE were significantly and positively associated with BI, while subjective norm was insignificant. As expected, DE has significant positive effects on truck drivers' psychological factors underlying MPWD behavior, especially on ATT and PBC, indicating that truck drivers with higher DE tend to have more positive attitudes toward MPWD and feel more confident about performing this risky behavior. These results may have notable practical implications in providing theoretical support for management and intervention of commercial truck drivers.

Underestimated Risk Perception Characteristics of Drivers Based on Extended Theory of Planned Behavior

Aggressive driving behaviors due to drivers’ underestimation of risks are one of the major causes of traffic accidents. Due to the complexity of factors influencing risk perception, the mechanism of risk underestimation remains unclear. In this study, the theory of planned behavior (TPB) was extended by adding a new variable, namely drivers’ normlessness, forming an extended TPB (ETPB) framework to analyze the factors influencing risk underestimation and the extent of their influence. A total of 376 drivers’ perceived characteristics of risk underestimation were collected through an online survey, and a structural equation model was applied to investigate the effects of normlessness, behavioral attitudes, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control on the tendency to underestimate the risk. The results showed that the ETPB model can explain the variance in the underestimation risk behavior by 69%; perceptual behavior control, attitude, and subjective norm (in descending order) had significant positive effects on driver’s tendency to underestimate risk; the normlessness variable can directly promote attitude and underestimated risk behavior; drivers with low annual mileage, complete insurance coverage, and no prior accident experience were more likely to underestimate driving risk. The study contributes to understanding of risk perception characteristics and provide theoretical basis for reducing underestimated risk behavior.

Effect of educational intervention on safe traffic behaviors of high school male students in Iran, using the theory of planned behavior: a quasi-experimental study

BACKGROUND

Behavior change interventions in tackling road traffic injuries are a public health concern. Thus, this interventional research was to survey the effect of safe traffic behaviors among male students in Hamadan, Iran, utilizing theory of planned behavior.

METHODS

In this quasi-experimental study, 204 students were randomly selected through multistage sampling from male high school students of Hamadan city, west-central of Iran, and non-randomly allocated to control and intervention groups (102 students in every group). The self-administrate questionnaire was used for data collection in this research. Frequency (percentage) and mean (SD) were used for description. Cronbach alpha coefficient, content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI) were used for psychometric evaluation of questionnaire and paired/independent sample t-test was used for data analysis. All statistical analyses were done in SPSS 19 and significant level was considered 0.05.

RESULTS

In both groups, more than 50 % of students walked to school. The two study groups were homogeneous in terms of confounding variables (p >  0.05). The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed and the total Cronbach's alpha value was equal to 0.97. There was no significant difference in the score of safe traffic behaviors between the two groups before the intervention (p >  0.05). But after the intervention, the score in the intervention group was significantly increased (p < 0.05). Intragroup comparison also showed that only in the intervention group the score was significantly changed (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Theory of planned behavior is a suitable conceptual framework for planning the interventions to increase safe traffic behaviors in students.

Are Traffic Announcements Really Effective? A Systematic Review of Evaluations of Crash-Prevention Communication Campaigns

Communication campaigns are commonly used in the traffic and road safety sector to raise public awareness of the importance of avoiding risky road user attitudes and behaviors. Surprisingly few of these communication campaigns evaluate their effectiveness in a formal and comprehensive manner. The core aim of the present systematic review is to identify the type of studies that evaluate the effectiveness of campaigns in this sector, in order to identify and contrast their main findings. This systematic review followed the PRISMA methodology, by means of which the relevant articles based on the search term were identified. A total of 613 indexed articles were filtered, and a final set of 27 articles directly addressing the issue was analyzed. Search strategies were developed and conducted in WOS, Scopus, NCBI, Google Scholar and APA databases. The selected articles point out that, although advertisements alone have a certain positive effect, their effectiveness is substantially increased if they are accompanied by other preventive measures such as legislation or road safety education. In any case, more evaluations of traffic campaigns are needed to identify which techniques are effective and which are not, and which should therefore be replaced by new methods of behavior modification in future communication campaigns.