Overworked and unsafe: a comparison of driving behaviour and safety culture according to driver types andworking hours

• Main Authors: Mohd Mahudin, Nor Diana, Sakiman, Muhamad Nurhisam
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) 2020
• Subjects: BF636 Applied psychology
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/85757/7/85757_Overworked%20and%20unsafe.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/85757/; http://www.ijrs.my/journal/article/view/13/10

Much debate on e-hailing and ride-sharing has been focused on the legality of their services, with systematic investigation into the differences in the perception, attitude, behaviour, and working hours among the drivers has only been marginally explored. This study addresses this gap using data from a survey of 80 drivers (Taxi: n = 40; E-hailing: n = 40). The Manchester Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (MDBQ) and the Safety Climate Questionnaire (SCQ) scores revealed that the e-hailing drivers reported a significantly higher safety climate perception than taxi drivers but no significant difference was obtained for unsafe driving behaviour. Age was a significant covariate only for safety climate perception. In terms of working hours, the results demonstrate that: (i) drivers who worked less than 12 hours per week reported significantly more unsafe driving behaviour than those who worked between 13 to 36 hours and 61 hours or more; (ii) drivers who worked less than 12 hours per week reported more positive safety climate perception compared to those who worked 61 hours or more; and (iii) drivers who worked between 13 to 36 hours had significantly higher safety climate perception scores than those who worked 61 hours or more. Further general linear model analyses showed a significant main effect of hours worked and an interaction effect of driver types and hours worked on unsafe driving behaviour scores. No main and interaction effects were found for safety climate perception scores. Possible explanations of the results and the implications of the study are discussed within the limitations of the data. Recommendations for addressing future trends in shared mobility are also offered.