The Effects of Driving Behavior Determinants on Dangerous Driving and Traffic Accidents : A path analysis study

Speeding while driving and drunken driving are widely recognized as being dangerous driving behaviors which often result in traffic accidents. For both young and elderly drivers, failures in coping with traffic conditions are what distinguishes these 2 groups from other drivers. In this study, we examined how Driving Behavior Determinants impact upon dangerous driving and traffic accidents. The Driving Behavior Determinants are known to consist of 3 sub-factors; risk sensitivity, law-abidance, and situational adaptability. From our results, we found what factors constitute the Driving Behavior Determinants sub-factors and how they impact upon speeding, drunken driving, the inability to cope with situations and traffic accidents. Speeding was affected by levels of risk sensitivity and law-abidance and law-abidance was the only factor impacting upon drunken driving. Speeding and drunken driving both significantly impact upon traffic accidents. Situational adaptability, however, did not show any significant effects on traffic accidents but it had a negative correlation with speeding. The results indicate that each human factor is involved in dangerous driving behaviors and traffic accidents in different ways, and we need to apply different solutions to reduce traffic accidents.