Volume 13, No. 1, 2019
Received: 2018/11/26, Accepted:
Authors:
Hana Naghawi; Dalia Bannoura;
Abstract:
Recently, aggressive driving has become a topic of great concern among transportation officials and researchers. Aggressive driving can be defined as any behavior which will offend other drivers or as any unsafe driving behavior. This behavior may lead to a physical or psychological harm to the driver him/herself or other road users. Aggressive driving behaviors include horning, tailgating, speeding, running red light, flashing high beams and rude gesturing. This paper presents the results of a study conducted to develop a clear understanding of the current driving behavior in Jordan based on the socio-characteristics of drivers. The data needed for this study was obtained from a survey questionnaire. The results were analyzed in two levels. In the first level of analysis, all results were categorized based on gender. In the second level of analysis, all the results were
categorized based on two age groups (young drivers of age 18-29 and adult drivers of age ≥ 30 years). It was found that: 1) Jordanians adopted some of the worst driving habits, 2) there were significant differences between male and female drivers in the following driving behaviors: male drivers have a higher tendency to drive with
higher speeds than female drivers, which led to a higher tendency to drive at the middle of two lanes neglecting lane making, flashing high beams at other drivers and tailgating so they can overtake any vehicle that is driving slower than them, 3) there were statistically significant differences between male and female drivers in the gap
acceptance and location at which drivers stop to make any turn, 4) male drivers have a higher tendency to smoke while driving than female drivers; however, female drivers have a higher tendency to drink and/or eat, get busy with radio and use phone while driving than male drivers, 5) females have a higher tendency to use the horn while driving than males, finally 6) it was found that Jordanians have acceptance to some unfamiliar driving habits, such as: using hand as a tool for changing lanes as they describe it as a mandatory and easy tool for changing lanes, allowing kids to dangle themselves outside the vehicle’s window to have some fun and closing roads for special occasions, such as wedding and graduaton.
Keywords:
Aggressive driving, Driving behavior, Traffic safety, Young drivers, Adult drivers