A cross "ethnical" comparison of the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ) in an economically fast developing country.

AIM

The aim of this study was to compare the driving behaviours of four ethnic groups and to investigate the relationship between violations, errors and lapses of DBQ and accident involvement in Qatar.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

The Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ) was used to measure the aberrant driving behaviours leading to accidents. Of 2400 drivers approached, 1824 drivers agreed to participate (76%) and completed the driver behaviour questionnaire and background information.

RESULTS

The study revealed that the majority of the Qatari (35.9%) and Jordanian drivers (37.5%) were below 30 years of age, whereas Filipino (42.3%) and Indian subcontinent (34.1%) drivers were in the age group of 30-39 years. Qatari drivers (52%) were involved in most accidents, followed by Jordanians (48.3%). The most common type of collision was a head on collision, which was similar in all four ethnic groups. The Qatari drivers scored higher on almost all items of violations, errors and lapses compared to other ethnic groups, while Filipino drivers were lower on all the items. The most common violation was the same in all four ethnic groups "Disregard the speed limits on a motorway". The most common error item observed was "Queing to turn right/left on to a main road". "Forget where you left your car" and "Hit something when reversing" were the two lapses identified in factor analysis.

CONCLUSION

The present study identified that Qatari drivers scored higher on most of the items of violations, errors and lapses of DBQ compared to other countries, whereas Filipino drivers scored lower in DBQ items.