Effects of risky bus driving behaviors on motorcyclists’ and car drivers’ traffic safety perceptions in mixed traffic flow

Abstract

Objective

This study investigates traffic safety perceptions of motorcyclists and car drivers toward risky bus driving behaviors (RBDBs) in mixed traffic flow (MTF).

Methods

The study identified 10 RBDBs and employed images in a unique questionnaire survey. Further, permutation tests were employed to compare perceptions of motorcyclists in scenarios involving bus-motorcycle-car flow and bus-motorcycle flow and to compare their perceptions to those of car drivers’. Moreover, heteroskedastic generalized ordered logit regression models were utilized to predict traffic safety perceptions of motorcyclists and car drivers toward RBDBs.

Results

High-speed bus driving is perceived as the most dangerous situation, while continuous flashing of lights at vehicles in front is perceived as the least dangerous. The permutation test revealed that motorcyclists tend to perceive RBDBs as less dangerous in bus-motorcycle flow than in mixed flow with cars, while car drivers consider them safer than motorcyclists. The regression model revealed that among the RBDBs, bus moving at high speeds, abruptly overtaking, abruptly changing lanes, and suddenly pulling over at bus stops are perceived as the most dangerous by motorcyclists and car drivers. The study also discusses the relationships between the socio-demographic characteristics of motorcyclists/car drivers and their safety perception toward RBDBs.

Conclusions

These findings could inform the development of interventions to reduce RBDBs and improve traffic safety for motorcyclists and car drivers.

Keywords:

• Risky bus driving behaviors
• traffic safety
• motorcyclists’ perception
• car driver’s perception
• mixed traffic flow

Acknowledgments

The authors express gratitude to the Japanese government for their generous support. The authors are most grateful to the editors and the reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions.

Ethical approval

The questionnaire surveys were used in this study. The questions in the questionnaire are not a mentally burdensome content. Therefore, in this research study, we do not need the approval of the ethics committee.

Authors’ contribution

Conceptualization, Methodology, and Survey design: Vu Van-Huy and Nguyen Hoang-Tung. Data Collection and Analyses: Vu Van-Huy. Original Draft: Vu Van-Huy. Review and Editing: Nguyen Hoang-Tung and Hisashi Kubota.

Consent of survey participation

I would like to declare that all of the participants agreed and consented to participate in the questionnaire survey.

In the survey form, the authors noted that before asking any question, the surveyors need to ask about the survey participation of motorcyclists or car drivers. If the motorcyclists or car drivers agree to participate in the survey, the surveyors could continue to proceed with the questionnaire survey.

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, and Science and Technology, Japan, under Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho: MEXT) Scholarships.