International Journal of Transportation Engineering

International Journal of Transportation Engineering

Which Personality Types are More Prone to a Traffic Accident?

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
1 Department of Civil Engineering, K. N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
2 Department of Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Garmsar, Garmsar, Iran
Abstract
Every 24 seconds, one person dies in a traffic accident. The most considerable rate of road traffic deaths occurs in low and middle-income countries. As a result, it is critical to pay special attention to road safety in these countries. Road safety may be influenced by human, road, and vehicle variables. Despite significant investments in automotive and road building, long-term benefits are not yet comparable with these expenses; as a result, it is required to investigate the sources of this inefficiency in other instances. Academics have traditionally paid less attention to human psychological factors, the primary element determining accidents. Due to the complexity of the human being, continual and broad research to establish its characteristics might always be beneficial in the long run for improving road safety. Numerous elements influence driver behaviour, including the driver’s personality, identity, responsibility, haste, risk-taking, information, fear, loyalty, and experience. As a result, this study analyzed five personality traits of certified individuals residing in Tehran, Iran, using the standard 60-item NEO Five-Factor Inventory questionnaire (NEO-FFI). The impacts of these factors on the number of accidents over the last five years were also evaluated. The study employed a structural equation model and found that Neuroticism has a direct and significant association with the number of accidents during the previous five years. Contrary to this, agreeableness and openness had a significant and inverse relationship with the number of traffic accidents.
Keywords

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