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How Do Attitudes, Personality Traits, and Driver Behaviors Relate to Pedestrian Behaviors?: A Turkish Case Özlem Şimşekoğlu
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Izmir University of Economics, Department of Psychology, Balçova, İzmir, Turkey Accepted author version posted online: 03 Apr 2014.Published online: 19 Jun 2014.
Click for updates To cite this article: Özlem Şimşekoğlu (2015) How Do Attitudes, Personality Traits, and Driver Behaviors Relate to Pedestrian Behaviors?: A Turkish Case, Traffic Injury Prevention, 16:1, 84-89, DOI: 10.1080/15389588.2014.880785 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15389588.2014.880785
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Traffic Injury Prevention (2015) 16, 84–89 C Taylor & Francis Group, LLC Copyright ISSN: 1538-9588 print / 1538-957X online DOI: 10.1080/15389588.2014.880785
How Do Attitudes, Personality Traits, and Driver Behaviors Relate to Pedestrian Behaviors?: A Turkish Case ˘ ¨ OZLEM S¸I˙MS¸EKOGLU Izmir University of Economics, Department of Psychology, Balc¸ova, I˙zmir, Turkey
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Received 15 November 2013, Accepted 3 January 2014
Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the role of pedestrian attitudes and personality traits (social conformity and empathy) on pedestrian behaviors in a Turkish sample. An equally important aim of the study was to examine the association between pedestrian and driver behaviors. Method: The sample included 289 road users including pedestrians and drivers (169 females and 120 males). The participants’ age ranged from 15 to 78 years (M = 32.00, SD = 13.89). Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Results: A regression analysis showed that increased age, high level of satisfaction with traffic infrastructure and environment, safer attitudes toward pedestrian violations, and empathy were negatively related to risky pedestrian behaviors, whereas social conformity was positively related. Attitudes were the strongest predictor of pedestrian behaviors. In addition, bivariate correlation analysis showed that all dimensions of pedestrian and driver behaviors were positively correlated with each other, which indicates that a tendency to take risks remains the same regardless of the road user role (i.e., driver vs. pedestrian). Conclusions: Attitudes are strong predictors of pedestrian behaviors. A tendency to take risks as a pedestrian and as a driver is correlated. Results are discussed for their implications to traffic safety campaigns targeting increased pedestrian safety. Keywords: pedestrian attitudes, conformity, empathy, pedestrian behaviors, driver behaviors, Turkey
Introduction The high rate of pedestrian fatalities in traffic is a major traffic safety problem, especially in low- and middle-income countries, in which pedestrian and cyclist road traffic fatalities constitute over a third of road traffic deaths (World Health Organization 2013). Turkey is a middle-income country with a high rate of pedestrian fatalities and injuries. In 2011, for instance, pedestrian fatalities accounted for 18% (473) of the total road traffic fatalities (2882) and pedestrian injuries accounted for 17% (20,465) of the total road traffic injuries (115,410) in Turkey (Turkish National Police and Turkish Statistical Institute 2011). Similarly, according to the World Health Organization (2013) report on road safety, in 2010 pedestrian fatalities accounted for 16% of all road traffic fatalities in Turkey. Rapid motorization, lack of a suitable traffic infrastructure (e.g., insufficient pedestrian crossings) and national policies protecting nonmotorized road users, and low level of compliance to traffic rules and unsafe attitudes both among drivers and pedestrians are among the reasons for the low level of pedestrian safety in Turkey. The present study focuses on pedestrian attitudes and personality traits related to pedestrian behaviors in a Turkish sample.
Managing Editor David Viano oversaw the review of this article. ¨ Address correspondence to Ozlem S¸ims¸eko˘glu, Izmir University of Economics, Department of Psychology, Sakarya Cad. No. 156, Balc¸ova, I˙zmir, Turkey. E-mail: [email protected]
The role of pedestrian attitudes for pedestrian behaviors has been examined by previous studies (e.g., Diaz 2002; Evans and Norman 1998; Papadimitriou et al. 2013; Zhou and Horrey 2010). Papadimitriou et al. (2013), for instance, showed that in European countries, pedestrian attitudes and behaviors are directly linked to each other, such that pedestrians with negative attitudes toward safety measures and in-vehicle devices, such as speed-limiting devices, also show more risky pedestrian behaviors. According to the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen 1991), which is a social psychological model commonly applied to explain road user behaviors, attitudes are one of the predictors of behavioral intentions. Previous research that applied the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen 1991) to examine pedestrian behaviors showed that attitudes are significant predictors of behavioral intentions related to a range of pedestrian behaviors, such as road crossing (Evans and Norman 1998; Zhou and Horrey 2010) and violating traffic regulations (Diaz 2002). The majority of the studies examining the role of pedestrian attitudes on pedestrian behaviors are from high-income Western countries. However, the relationship between pedestrian attitudes and behaviors needs to be examined in developing middle-income countries, such as Turkey, to see whether pedestrian attitudes predict pedestrian behaviors in developing countries with lower levels of traffic infrastructure for pedestrians. Personality traits of the pedestrians could also be related to pedestrian behaviors. Despite the large number of studies that examine the role of personality traits, such as
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sensation-seeking, risk-taking, and aggressive tendencies, in driving behaviors (e.g., Schwebel et al. 2006; Ulleberg and Rundmo 2003), there are few studies that examine the role of such personality traits for pedestrian behaviors. However, similar to driver behaviors, pedestrian behaviors are also likely to be influenced by the personality characteristics of road users. For instance, Rosenbloom (2006) showed that highly sensation-seeking pedestrians crossed at a red light more than the low sensation-seekers. In addition, social conformity (i.e., adjusting one’s behavior to align with the norms of the group) appears as an important personality trait related to pedestrian road-crossing behavior. Pedestrians who scored high on social conformity reported a greater tendency to cross the road at the same time as other pedestrians (e.g., Zhou and Horrey 2009, 2010). Similarly, Yagil (2000) showed that pedestrians reported less likelihood for crossing at “don’t walk” signs when no other pedestrians were crossing. Another personality factor that might be critical for pedestrian behavior is empathy (i.e., the capacity to understand another person’s point of view or the result of such understanding). Though a small number of studies examined the role of empathy for driver behaviors (Owsley et al. 2003; Vassallo et al. 2007), to the author’s knowledge there is a complete lack of studies examining the role of empathy in pedestrian behaviors. Thus, in order to fill this gap, the present study aimed to examine the role of empathy in predicting pedestrian behaviors. In addition to pedestrian attitudes and personality traits, driving behavior is another possible correlate of pedestrian behaviors. People with risk-taking tendencies take risk in different domains of their lives; for instance, a young person using alcohol also tends to engage in risky sexual behaviors (e.g., unprotected sex) as well (Zuckerman and Kuhlman 2000). Similarly, it is likely that a road user with risk-taking tendencies takes risks in different traffic roles; for example, both as a driver and as a pedestrian. A previous study that examined the relationship between driving and pedestrian behaviors in a specific sample of ultra-orthodox Jewish road users found a significant positive correlation between risky driving and pedestrian behaviors (Taubman-Ben-Ari and Shay 2012). This previous study was from Israel, a high-income country, and used a homogenous sample; however, to gain a wider perspective of the connection between different road user behaviors, more studies, particularly from low- and middle-income countries, with more heterogonous samples are needed.
Parallel to the previous studies showing pedestrian attitudes as important predictor of pedestrian behaviors (e.g., Diaz 2002; Evans and Norman 1998; Papadimitriou et al. 2013; Zhou and Horrey 2010), it is hypothesized that pedestrian attitudes will also be an important predictor of pedestrian behaviors in the present sample. In regard to personality traits, empathy is expected to be positively related to safe pedestrian behaviors because pedestrians with an ability to understand the perspective of other road users can foresee and avoid risks more easily. However, conforming to others is expected to be negatively related to safe pedestrian behaviors because unsafe pedestrian behavior patterns are common in Turkish traffic environments. Finally, pedestrian and driver behaviors of the participants are expected to be correlated.
Aims
Measurement and Instruments
The present study aims to investigate how pedestrian attitudes, personality traits (conformity and empathy), and driver behaviors relate to pedestrian behaviors in a Turkish sample. The specific aims of the study are listed below:
Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire, which included items related to demographic information (e.g., age, gender, education); satisfaction level with the traffic infrastructure and environment; a newly developed pedestrian attitudes scale, the Pedestrian Behaviour Scale (Grani´e et al. 2013); measures of empathy (Loewen et al. 2010) and conformity (Mehrabian and Stefl 1995); and the Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ; Reason et al. 1990). Satisfaction level with traffic infrastructure and environment were measured with 9 items (α = .76) related to various traffic infrastructure targeting pedestrians, such as frequency
1. To examine the role of pedestrian attitudes in predicting pedestrian behaviors. 2. To examine the roles of conformity and empathy in predicting pedestrian behaviors. 3. To examine the associations between pedestrian and driver behaviors.
Method Sampling and Procedure A total of 289 road users, including 139 (48%) drivers, participated in the study. In order to include more people from urban neighborhoods into the study, the data were collected from 2 populous cities in Turkey, I˙zmir (n = 239) and I˙stanbul (n = 50). I˙zmir and I˙stanbul are 2 large cities in Turkey with a high population density and similar traffic infrastructure. Both cities receive migrants from different parts of Turkey. Because young pedestrians constitute a greater risk in traffic, the present study aimed to collect the data from a relatively young sample. The characteristics of the sample are reported in Table 1. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire survey, and participation in the survey was voluntary. The questionnaires were delivered to students at 3 universities, 2 in I˙zmir and one in I˙stanbul, with the help of research assistants, who were trained how to apply questionnaires correctly and objectively. Convenience sampling was used in data collection; thus, the students were asked to fill in the questionnaires themselves and to distribute it to acquaintances from different age and occupation groups and sociodemographic neighborhoods. Before data collection, all participants were informed about the nature of the study and assured of the confidentiality of their responses. Sampling and data collection procedures were identical in I˙zmir and I˙stanbul. Completion of the questionnaire took approximately 20 minutes. Of 450 questionnaires delivered, 289 were returned, resulting in a response rate of 64%.
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Table 1. Sample characteristics
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N (%) Age Gender Males Females Education Primary/secondary school Vocational school High school University Marital status Married Divorced/separated Widow/widower Single Religion Islam Others Daily hours spent in traffic as a pedestrian
M
SD
32
13.89
120 (58.5) 169 (41.5) 23(8) 34 (11.9) 155 (54.2) 74 (25.9) 98 (34) 11 (4) 2 (1) 178 (61) 262 (92.6) 21 (7.4) 2.43
1.09
of pavements, over- and underpasses, traffic lights, and separated roads for pedestrians. Response alternatives ranged from 1 = not satisfied at all to 5 = very satisfied. To the author’s knowledge, there is no validated measure of pedestrian attitudes; therefore a new scale was developed to measure attitudes toward pedestrian safety. The scale included 15 items related to evaluations of violations and regulations relevant for pedestrian safety (e.g., It is acceptable to violate the rules as a pedestrian when I am in a hurry). Four of the items were adopted from the Attitudes Towards Driving Scale (Iversen and Rundmo 2004) for pedestrians; for example, “It is difficult to obey the traffic rules related to pedestrians because they are very complicated.” Response alternatives ranged from 1 (completely disagree) to 5 (completely agree). Items were recoded so that higher scores indicate safer pedestrian attitudes. The Pedestrian Behaviour Scale (Grani´e et al. 2013) was used to measure the frequency of risk-taking pedestrian behaviors. The original scale consists of 20 items related to transgressions, lapses, aggressive behaviors, and positive behaviors. Items related to positive behaviors were not included in the present study; thus, a total of 17 items from 3 dimensions were used: transgressions (e.g., “If there are many pedestrians who are crossing at red light, I follow them”), lapses (e.g., “Sometimes I forget to look to road properly because I talk with people next to me”), and aggressive behaviors (e.g., “I get angry with another road user [driver, bicyclist, etc.] and insult him/her”). The original English items were translated into Turkish by language experts proficient in both Turkish and English. In addition to the original items, the scale consisted of 10 new items related to pedestrian behaviors commonly observed in the Turkish pedestrian environment (e.g., “Even though they are safer, I often do not use the overpass bridges because they are too difficult to use”). The response options ranged from not at all (1) to never (5), with higher scores indicating higher levels of risk-taking behavior. Empathy was measured using the Empathy Quotient 8 Scale (Loewen et al. 2010), which is a validated scale including 8 items; for example, “I am good at predicting how someone will feel.” Conformity was measured using the Conformity
Scale (Mehrabian and Stefl 1995), which includes 10 items about social conformity; for example, “I often rely on, and act upon, the advice of others.” Both of the instruments were scored on a scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5), with higher scores indicating higher levels of empathy and conformity. Both scales were originally in English; therefore, they were translated into Turkish by experts proficient in both languages. Finally, driver behaviors were measured using the 28-item DBQ (Reason et al. 1990), which included 16 driving errors/lapses (e.g., underestimate the speed on an oncoming vehicle when overtaking) and 12 driving violations items (e.g., disregarding the speed limits). The DBQ was translated into Turkish and validated in previous studies conducted among ¨ ¨ ¨ Turkish drivers (Lajunen and Ozkan 2004; Sumer and Ozkan 2002). Only participants with driving licenses were asked to rate the DBQ items. Response alternatives ranged from never (1) to almost always (6), with higher scores indicating more driving errors/lapses and violations. Statistical Analyses Characteristics of the sample were examined using descriptive statistics. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted in order to examine whether pedestrian attitudes, conformity, and empathy predicted pedestrian behaviors. Demographic variables (age, gender, and education), number of hours spent per day in traffic as a pedestrian, and pedestrian satisfaction with the road traffic infrastructure and environment were entered in the first block as the control variables. Attitudes toward pedestrian safety were entered in the second block and personality traits (empathy and conformity) were entered in the final block to see whether they added to the explained variance above and beyond the control and attitude variables. Finally, Pearson’s bivariate correlations were calculated to examine the associations between pedestrian and driver behaviors for the participants with driver’s licenses.
Results Dimensionality of the Scales Dimensionality of the Pedestrian Attitudes and Behaviors scale was examined in a previous study using the same sample (see Nordfjaern and S¸ims¸eko˘glu 2013). The pedestrian attitudes scale consisted of two dimensions, labeled “Attitudes towards general rule violations and pedestrian safety” (e.g., “There should be severe punishment for pedestrians who walk on red lights”; α = .73) and “Attitudes towards pragmatic violations” (e.g., “When I am in a hurry it is acceptable to violate regulations when walking in traffic”; α = .66; Nordfjaern and S¸ims¸eko˘glu 2013). Pedestrian behaviors, on the other hand, consisted of 3 dimensions labeled “Transgressions” (e.g., “If there are many pedestrians who are crossing at red light, I follow them”; α = .87), “Attentive violations” (e.g., “Sometimes I forget to look to road properly because I am thinking about something else”; α = .86), and “Aggressive behaviors” (e.g., “I get angry with another road user [driver, bicyclist,
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Table 2. Mean and SD for dimensions of the measures Measures
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Satisfaction with traffic infrastructure Pedestrian behaviors Transgression Attention violations Aggressive behavior Attitudes toward pedestrian safety Attitudes toward general rule violations and pedestrian safety Attitudes toward pragmatic violations Conformity Empathy Driver behaviors Violations Errors/lapses
Mean
Table 3. Correlations between pedestrian and driver behaviors SD
2.77
0.68
2.47 1.85 1.83
0.73 0.69 1.02
4.00
0.64
3.46 2.76 3.75
0.84 0.57 0.63
2.06 1.83
0.85 0.79
etc.] and insult him/her”; α = .84; Nordfjaern and S¸ims¸eko˘glu 2013). Unidimensional Empathy (Loewen et al. 2010; α = .76) and Conformity (Mehrabian and Stefl 1995; α = .68) scales also had satisfactory reliability indices. Based on the wellestablished dimensionality of the DBQ, 2 dimensions labeled as driving errors/lapses (α = .93) and driving violations (α = .90) were used for the present study. Composite scores were calculated for all dimensions to be used in the further analyses. Means and standard deviations for all dimensions are provided in Table 2. Predictors of Pedestrian Behaviors A hierarchical multiple regression analysis results showed that increased age (β = −0.14, P < .05) and satisfaction level with the traffic infrastructure and environment (β = −0.12, P < .05) were negatively related to risky pedestrian behaviors, indicating that as age and satisfaction with pedestrian related traffic infrastructure increase, risky pedestrian behaviors decrease. In regard to pedestrian attitudes, both safer attitudes toward rule violation and risk (β = −0.13, P < .05) and attitudes toward pragmatic violations (β = −0.34, P < .001) were negatively related to risky pedestrian behaviors, which shows that attitudes are significant predictors of pedestrian behaviors. In terms of personality traits, empathy was negatively (β = −0.19, P < .001) and conformity was positively (β = 0.13, P < .05) related to risky pedestrian behaviors as expected. Relationship Between Pedestrian and Driver Behaviors In order to examine the relationship between pedestrian and driver behaviors, Pearson’s bivariate correlations were calculated (see Table 3). All dimensions of pedestrian behaviors (attentive, aggressive, convenience violations) and driver behaviors (driving violations and errors/lapses) were positively correlated with each other, indicating that participants who report risky pedestrian behaviors also tend to report risky driver behaviors. In addition, in order to examine the possibility that associations between driver and pedestrian behaviors dimensions are caused by similar worded items in Pedestrian Behaviors Scale and DBQ, bivariate correlation analysis at
Dimensions 1. Pedestrian attentive violations 2. Pedestrian aggressive violations 3. Pedestrian convenience violations 4. Driving violations 5. Driving errors/lapses ∗P
1 1
2
3 ∗
4 ∗
5 ∗
0.47
0.60
0.55
0.56∗
1
0.40∗
0.55∗
0.29∗
1
0.43∗
0.41∗
1
0.57∗ 1
< .01.
the item level was conducted. Overall correlation coefficients between driver and pedestrian behaviors items were low to moderate (ranging from r = 0.04 to r = 0.53, P < .001), which indicates that driver and pedestrian behaviors are 2 different constructs. In particular, correlation coefficients between similarly worded items related to risk behaviors in both scales, such as “risk behavior as a driver and pedestrian when intoxicated” (r = 0.38, P < .01) were calculated and showed moderate correlations.
Discussion The present study investigated the role of pedestrian attitudes, empathy, and conformity in pedestrian risk behaviors in urban environments. In addition, the association between pedestrian and driver behaviors was examined. The results supported the expectations of the study. Increased age was negatively related to risky pedestrian behaviors, indicating that risky behaviors are more common among young pedestrians. This finding is in line with previous studies showing the association of young age with unsafe pedestrian behaviors and attitudes (e.g., Diaz 2002; Papadimitriou et al. 2013). Greater propensity to take risks among young people can explain the negative association between younger age and unsafe pedestrian behaviors. As hypothesized, attitudes toward pedestrian safety were significant predictors of pedestrian behaviors, parallel to the previous findings showing pedestrian attitudes as significant predictors of behavioral intentions related to various pedestrian behaviors, such as road crossing (Diaz 2002; Evans and Norman 1998; Zhou and Horrey 2010). Safer attitudes toward rule violation and risk and pragmatic violations were negatively related to risky pedestrian behaviors. These findings are in line with the assumptions of the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen 1991), which shows attitudes as an important determinant of behavioral intentions. In regard to personality traits related to pedestrian behaviors, as expected, social conformity was positively related with risky pedestrian behaviors. Pedestrians with a greater tendency toward social conformity are likely to follow the example of other pedestrians; for example, by crossing the road in an unsafe way if other pedestrians are also crossing the road in the same way (see also Zhou and Horrey 2009, 2010). Therefore, if unsafe pedestrian behaviors, such as crossing at red lights and not using pedestrian crossings, are more common in a traffic environment, conforming to other pedestrians is likely
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88 to result in risky pedestrian behaviors. Despite the presence of traffic regulations and rules regarding pedestrian, informal norms based on practical rather than safety targets have an important influence on pedestrian behaviors in Turkey. This could explain why reported conformity was positively related with risky pedestrian behaviors in the present study. Empathy, on the other hand, was negatively related to risky pedestrian behaviors, indicating that a lower level of empathy is associated with risk-taking behaviors among pedestrians. A low level of empathy is also associated with unsafe behaviors among young drivers (e.g., Vassallo et al. 2007) and the present study extends previous work to the domain of pedestrian safety. Traffic is a complex system requiring the interaction of different types of road users, such as drivers and pedestrians. In addition to formal rules and regulations, empathy and ability to take the perspective of other road users seem essential for safe interaction between road users. Therefore, a pedestrian with a lower level of empathy may have difficulties in understanding the perspective and intentions of both other pedestrians and also drivers and consequently take more risks compared to a pedestrian with a higher level of empathy. The present findings showed that all dimensions of pedestrian and driver behaviors were positively correlated with each other, which replicates the findings of study by Taubman-BenAri and Shay (2012) showing that risk-taking behaviors in the role of pedestrian and driver are highly correlated in an ultraorthodox Jewish sample of road users. Despite the differences in sample characteristics and income level of the countries involved, both studies clearly indicates that a tendency to take risks remain the same regardless of the road user role (i.e., driver vs. pedestrian). Therefore, risk-taking tendency can be considered as a general propensity that guides the behavior in different traffic roles and situations. For instance, a driver showing risky driving behaviors is also likely to show risky pedestrian behaviors and, correspondingly, a driver with a careful driving style is also likely to show safe pedestrian behaviors. The present findings also support the previous studies on risk-taking tendency of individuals showing that individuals who take risks in one domain of their lives, such as health, are also likely to take risks in other domains (Zuckerman and Kuhlman 2000). Convenience sampling used in the present study might result in uncontrolled variance and some possible biases in the results due to differences in environmental conditions participants were exposed to. However, by controlling the effect of participants’ level of satisfaction with road traffic infrastructure and environment on the results, potential biases due to different environments was minimized. In addition, using a population registry to obtain random sampling is difficult in Turkey due to barriers to access and use as a researcher and substantial costs of using the population registry. Thus, despite some potential problems, convenience sampling was preferred in the present study. An uequal number of respondents in Izmir (n = 239) and I˙stanbul (n = 50) might be considered as another limitation of the present study; however, these are 2 populous cities in Turkey that are similar to each other in several domains, such as having large population with immigrants from different parts of Turkey. Because comparing I˙zmir and I˙stanbul in terms of pedestrian safety was not an
S¸ims¸eko˘glu aim of the present study, the unequal number of respondents from the 2 cities is not expected to be a major drawback for the present results. Another limitation of the study might be the self-reported nature of the data, which might cause social desirability bias and common method bias (i.e., variance that is attributable to the measurement method rather than the measured constructs; Podsakoff et al. 2003). Low to moderate correlations between the driver and pedestrian behaviors items indicate that these are 2 different constructs. In addition, similarly worded items related risk behaviors on pedestrian and driver behaviors scales (e.g., drinking and driving and risky pedestrian behaviors while under the influence of alcohol) were moderately correlated. Thus, possible common method bias in the present study is mitigated. Future studies that measure individuals’ driver and pedestrian behaviors at different points in time and combine observational and survey methods to study pedestrian behaviors and attitudes in larger and more representative samples are needed. Despite the limitations, the present study has a number of strengths. Firstly, this study is one of the very few studies (e.g., R¨as¨anen et al. 2007) examining pedestrian behaviors and attitudes in Turkey, where pedestrian safety research has considerable potential to contribute to pedestrian safety. In addition, the role of personality traits, such as conformity and empathy, in pedestrian behaviors has largely been overlooked by previous studies; therefore, examining the role of these traits in pedestrian behaviors can be counted as a strength of the present study. Finally, examining the association between pedestrian and driver behaviors to determine whether road users take risks consistently in different traffic roles (i.e., as a driver and pedestrian) is another strong aspect of the present study. Previously, the relationship between pedestrian and driver behaviors had only been examined in a homogenous sample; that is, ultra-orthodox Jewish road users (TaubmanBen-Ari and Shay 2012). The present study extended this work by examining the association between pedestrian and driver behaviors in a more representative and heterogenous sample in a middle-income country.
Implications The present results have some implications that can be considered by traffic safety campaigns targeting increased pedestrian safety in Turkey. Because attitudes toward pedestrian safety were the strongest predictor of pedestrian behaviors, promoting safe attitudes toward traffic rules and violations should be one of the aims of traffic safety campaigns targeting increased pedestrian safety. In particular, participants reported less safe behaviors and attitudes related to pragmatic violations, such as crossing at a red light when in a hurry, indicating that justification of risky behavior by practical reasons is common among Turkish pedestrians. Therefore, another potentially important aim of traffic safety campaigns is to reduce the acceptability of practical issues as a justification for risky behavior among Turkish pedestrians. In addition to changing pedestrian attitudes in a safer way, engineering changes related to traffic infrastructure targeting pedestrians, such as increasing the number of pedestrian crossings and providing over- and
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Pedestrian Behaviors in Turkey underpasses that meet the needs of pedestrians, are needed to reduce risky pedestrian behaviors. Also, stricter traffic regulations and law enforcement regarding pedestrians and drivers should be applied to increase pedestrian safety. Pedestrians are a vulnerable road user group; therefore, meeting the needs of pedestrians in the traffic environment should be a priority. However, unlike most European countries where pedestrians are a priority and are protected in traffic, drivers and their needs are a priority in the Turkish traffic environment. Thus, to increase pedestrian safety in Turkey, more severe sanctions might be introduced for drivers who are involved in accidents with pedestrians. Finally, because there is an association between pedestrian and driver risk-taking behaviors, rather than aiming to reduce these 2 types of behaviors separately, targeting to reduce general risk-taking tendencies among all road users may be a more effective strategy for road safety campaigns.
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How Do Attitudes, Personality Traits, and Driver Behaviors Relate to Pedestrian Behaviors?: A Turkish Case Özlem Şimşekoğlu
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Izmir University of Economics, Department of Psychology, Balçova, İzmir, Turkey Accepted author version posted online: 03 Apr 2014.Published online: 19 Jun 2014.
Click for updates To cite this article: Özlem Şimşekoğlu (2015) How Do Attitudes, Personality Traits, and Driver Behaviors Relate to Pedestrian Behaviors?: A Turkish Case, Traffic Injury Prevention, 16:1, 84-89, DOI: 10.1080/15389588.2014.880785 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15389588.2014.880785
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Traffic Injury Prevention (2015) 16, 84–89 C Taylor & Francis Group, LLC Copyright ISSN: 1538-9588 print / 1538-957X online DOI: 10.1080/15389588.2014.880785
How Do Attitudes, Personality Traits, and Driver Behaviors Relate to Pedestrian Behaviors?: A Turkish Case ˘ ¨ OZLEM S¸I˙MS¸EKOGLU Izmir University of Economics, Department of Psychology, Balc¸ova, I˙zmir, Turkey
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Received 15 November 2013, Accepted 3 January 2014
Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the role of pedestrian attitudes and personality traits (social conformity and empathy) on pedestrian behaviors in a Turkish sample. An equally important aim of the study was to examine the association between pedestrian and driver behaviors. Method: The sample included 289 road users including pedestrians and drivers (169 females and 120 males). The participants’ age ranged from 15 to 78 years (M = 32.00, SD = 13.89). Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Results: A regression analysis showed that increased age, high level of satisfaction with traffic infrastructure and environment, safer attitudes toward pedestrian violations, and empathy were negatively related to risky pedestrian behaviors, whereas social conformity was positively related. Attitudes were the strongest predictor of pedestrian behaviors. In addition, bivariate correlation analysis showed that all dimensions of pedestrian and driver behaviors were positively correlated with each other, which indicates that a tendency to take risks remains the same regardless of the road user role (i.e., driver vs. pedestrian). Conclusions: Attitudes are strong predictors of pedestrian behaviors. A tendency to take risks as a pedestrian and as a driver is correlated. Results are discussed for their implications to traffic safety campaigns targeting increased pedestrian safety. Keywords: pedestrian attitudes, conformity, empathy, pedestrian behaviors, driver behaviors, Turkey
Introduction The high rate of pedestrian fatalities in traffic is a major traffic safety problem, especially in low- and middle-income countries, in which pedestrian and cyclist road traffic fatalities constitute over a third of road traffic deaths (World Health Organization 2013). Turkey is a middle-income country with a high rate of pedestrian fatalities and injuries. In 2011, for instance, pedestrian fatalities accounted for 18% (473) of the total road traffic fatalities (2882) and pedestrian injuries accounted for 17% (20,465) of the total road traffic injuries (115,410) in Turkey (Turkish National Police and Turkish Statistical Institute 2011). Similarly, according to the World Health Organization (2013) report on road safety, in 2010 pedestrian fatalities accounted for 16% of all road traffic fatalities in Turkey. Rapid motorization, lack of a suitable traffic infrastructure (e.g., insufficient pedestrian crossings) and national policies protecting nonmotorized road users, and low level of compliance to traffic rules and unsafe attitudes both among drivers and pedestrians are among the reasons for the low level of pedestrian safety in Turkey. The present study focuses on pedestrian attitudes and personality traits related to pedestrian behaviors in a Turkish sample.
Managing Editor David Viano oversaw the review of this article. ¨ Address correspondence to Ozlem S¸ims¸eko˘glu, Izmir University of Economics, Department of Psychology, Sakarya Cad. No. 156, Balc¸ova, I˙zmir, Turkey. E-mail: [email protected]
The role of pedestrian attitudes for pedestrian behaviors has been examined by previous studies (e.g., Diaz 2002; Evans and Norman 1998; Papadimitriou et al. 2013; Zhou and Horrey 2010). Papadimitriou et al. (2013), for instance, showed that in European countries, pedestrian attitudes and behaviors are directly linked to each other, such that pedestrians with negative attitudes toward safety measures and in-vehicle devices, such as speed-limiting devices, also show more risky pedestrian behaviors. According to the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen 1991), which is a social psychological model commonly applied to explain road user behaviors, attitudes are one of the predictors of behavioral intentions. Previous research that applied the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen 1991) to examine pedestrian behaviors showed that attitudes are significant predictors of behavioral intentions related to a range of pedestrian behaviors, such as road crossing (Evans and Norman 1998; Zhou and Horrey 2010) and violating traffic regulations (Diaz 2002). The majority of the studies examining the role of pedestrian attitudes on pedestrian behaviors are from high-income Western countries. However, the relationship between pedestrian attitudes and behaviors needs to be examined in developing middle-income countries, such as Turkey, to see whether pedestrian attitudes predict pedestrian behaviors in developing countries with lower levels of traffic infrastructure for pedestrians. Personality traits of the pedestrians could also be related to pedestrian behaviors. Despite the large number of studies that examine the role of personality traits, such as
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sensation-seeking, risk-taking, and aggressive tendencies, in driving behaviors (e.g., Schwebel et al. 2006; Ulleberg and Rundmo 2003), there are few studies that examine the role of such personality traits for pedestrian behaviors. However, similar to driver behaviors, pedestrian behaviors are also likely to be influenced by the personality characteristics of road users. For instance, Rosenbloom (2006) showed that highly sensation-seeking pedestrians crossed at a red light more than the low sensation-seekers. In addition, social conformity (i.e., adjusting one’s behavior to align with the norms of the group) appears as an important personality trait related to pedestrian road-crossing behavior. Pedestrians who scored high on social conformity reported a greater tendency to cross the road at the same time as other pedestrians (e.g., Zhou and Horrey 2009, 2010). Similarly, Yagil (2000) showed that pedestrians reported less likelihood for crossing at “don’t walk” signs when no other pedestrians were crossing. Another personality factor that might be critical for pedestrian behavior is empathy (i.e., the capacity to understand another person’s point of view or the result of such understanding). Though a small number of studies examined the role of empathy for driver behaviors (Owsley et al. 2003; Vassallo et al. 2007), to the author’s knowledge there is a complete lack of studies examining the role of empathy in pedestrian behaviors. Thus, in order to fill this gap, the present study aimed to examine the role of empathy in predicting pedestrian behaviors. In addition to pedestrian attitudes and personality traits, driving behavior is another possible correlate of pedestrian behaviors. People with risk-taking tendencies take risk in different domains of their lives; for instance, a young person using alcohol also tends to engage in risky sexual behaviors (e.g., unprotected sex) as well (Zuckerman and Kuhlman 2000). Similarly, it is likely that a road user with risk-taking tendencies takes risks in different traffic roles; for example, both as a driver and as a pedestrian. A previous study that examined the relationship between driving and pedestrian behaviors in a specific sample of ultra-orthodox Jewish road users found a significant positive correlation between risky driving and pedestrian behaviors (Taubman-Ben-Ari and Shay 2012). This previous study was from Israel, a high-income country, and used a homogenous sample; however, to gain a wider perspective of the connection between different road user behaviors, more studies, particularly from low- and middle-income countries, with more heterogonous samples are needed.
Parallel to the previous studies showing pedestrian attitudes as important predictor of pedestrian behaviors (e.g., Diaz 2002; Evans and Norman 1998; Papadimitriou et al. 2013; Zhou and Horrey 2010), it is hypothesized that pedestrian attitudes will also be an important predictor of pedestrian behaviors in the present sample. In regard to personality traits, empathy is expected to be positively related to safe pedestrian behaviors because pedestrians with an ability to understand the perspective of other road users can foresee and avoid risks more easily. However, conforming to others is expected to be negatively related to safe pedestrian behaviors because unsafe pedestrian behavior patterns are common in Turkish traffic environments. Finally, pedestrian and driver behaviors of the participants are expected to be correlated.
Aims
Measurement and Instruments
The present study aims to investigate how pedestrian attitudes, personality traits (conformity and empathy), and driver behaviors relate to pedestrian behaviors in a Turkish sample. The specific aims of the study are listed below:
Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire, which included items related to demographic information (e.g., age, gender, education); satisfaction level with the traffic infrastructure and environment; a newly developed pedestrian attitudes scale, the Pedestrian Behaviour Scale (Grani´e et al. 2013); measures of empathy (Loewen et al. 2010) and conformity (Mehrabian and Stefl 1995); and the Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ; Reason et al. 1990). Satisfaction level with traffic infrastructure and environment were measured with 9 items (α = .76) related to various traffic infrastructure targeting pedestrians, such as frequency
1. To examine the role of pedestrian attitudes in predicting pedestrian behaviors. 2. To examine the roles of conformity and empathy in predicting pedestrian behaviors. 3. To examine the associations between pedestrian and driver behaviors.
Method Sampling and Procedure A total of 289 road users, including 139 (48%) drivers, participated in the study. In order to include more people from urban neighborhoods into the study, the data were collected from 2 populous cities in Turkey, I˙zmir (n = 239) and I˙stanbul (n = 50). I˙zmir and I˙stanbul are 2 large cities in Turkey with a high population density and similar traffic infrastructure. Both cities receive migrants from different parts of Turkey. Because young pedestrians constitute a greater risk in traffic, the present study aimed to collect the data from a relatively young sample. The characteristics of the sample are reported in Table 1. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire survey, and participation in the survey was voluntary. The questionnaires were delivered to students at 3 universities, 2 in I˙zmir and one in I˙stanbul, with the help of research assistants, who were trained how to apply questionnaires correctly and objectively. Convenience sampling was used in data collection; thus, the students were asked to fill in the questionnaires themselves and to distribute it to acquaintances from different age and occupation groups and sociodemographic neighborhoods. Before data collection, all participants were informed about the nature of the study and assured of the confidentiality of their responses. Sampling and data collection procedures were identical in I˙zmir and I˙stanbul. Completion of the questionnaire took approximately 20 minutes. Of 450 questionnaires delivered, 289 were returned, resulting in a response rate of 64%.
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Table 1. Sample characteristics
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N (%) Age Gender Males Females Education Primary/secondary school Vocational school High school University Marital status Married Divorced/separated Widow/widower Single Religion Islam Others Daily hours spent in traffic as a pedestrian
M
SD
32
13.89
120 (58.5) 169 (41.5) 23(8) 34 (11.9) 155 (54.2) 74 (25.9) 98 (34) 11 (4) 2 (1) 178 (61) 262 (92.6) 21 (7.4) 2.43
1.09
of pavements, over- and underpasses, traffic lights, and separated roads for pedestrians. Response alternatives ranged from 1 = not satisfied at all to 5 = very satisfied. To the author’s knowledge, there is no validated measure of pedestrian attitudes; therefore a new scale was developed to measure attitudes toward pedestrian safety. The scale included 15 items related to evaluations of violations and regulations relevant for pedestrian safety (e.g., It is acceptable to violate the rules as a pedestrian when I am in a hurry). Four of the items were adopted from the Attitudes Towards Driving Scale (Iversen and Rundmo 2004) for pedestrians; for example, “It is difficult to obey the traffic rules related to pedestrians because they are very complicated.” Response alternatives ranged from 1 (completely disagree) to 5 (completely agree). Items were recoded so that higher scores indicate safer pedestrian attitudes. The Pedestrian Behaviour Scale (Grani´e et al. 2013) was used to measure the frequency of risk-taking pedestrian behaviors. The original scale consists of 20 items related to transgressions, lapses, aggressive behaviors, and positive behaviors. Items related to positive behaviors were not included in the present study; thus, a total of 17 items from 3 dimensions were used: transgressions (e.g., “If there are many pedestrians who are crossing at red light, I follow them”), lapses (e.g., “Sometimes I forget to look to road properly because I talk with people next to me”), and aggressive behaviors (e.g., “I get angry with another road user [driver, bicyclist, etc.] and insult him/her”). The original English items were translated into Turkish by language experts proficient in both Turkish and English. In addition to the original items, the scale consisted of 10 new items related to pedestrian behaviors commonly observed in the Turkish pedestrian environment (e.g., “Even though they are safer, I often do not use the overpass bridges because they are too difficult to use”). The response options ranged from not at all (1) to never (5), with higher scores indicating higher levels of risk-taking behavior. Empathy was measured using the Empathy Quotient 8 Scale (Loewen et al. 2010), which is a validated scale including 8 items; for example, “I am good at predicting how someone will feel.” Conformity was measured using the Conformity
Scale (Mehrabian and Stefl 1995), which includes 10 items about social conformity; for example, “I often rely on, and act upon, the advice of others.” Both of the instruments were scored on a scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5), with higher scores indicating higher levels of empathy and conformity. Both scales were originally in English; therefore, they were translated into Turkish by experts proficient in both languages. Finally, driver behaviors were measured using the 28-item DBQ (Reason et al. 1990), which included 16 driving errors/lapses (e.g., underestimate the speed on an oncoming vehicle when overtaking) and 12 driving violations items (e.g., disregarding the speed limits). The DBQ was translated into Turkish and validated in previous studies conducted among ¨ ¨ ¨ Turkish drivers (Lajunen and Ozkan 2004; Sumer and Ozkan 2002). Only participants with driving licenses were asked to rate the DBQ items. Response alternatives ranged from never (1) to almost always (6), with higher scores indicating more driving errors/lapses and violations. Statistical Analyses Characteristics of the sample were examined using descriptive statistics. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted in order to examine whether pedestrian attitudes, conformity, and empathy predicted pedestrian behaviors. Demographic variables (age, gender, and education), number of hours spent per day in traffic as a pedestrian, and pedestrian satisfaction with the road traffic infrastructure and environment were entered in the first block as the control variables. Attitudes toward pedestrian safety were entered in the second block and personality traits (empathy and conformity) were entered in the final block to see whether they added to the explained variance above and beyond the control and attitude variables. Finally, Pearson’s bivariate correlations were calculated to examine the associations between pedestrian and driver behaviors for the participants with driver’s licenses.
Results Dimensionality of the Scales Dimensionality of the Pedestrian Attitudes and Behaviors scale was examined in a previous study using the same sample (see Nordfjaern and S¸ims¸eko˘glu 2013). The pedestrian attitudes scale consisted of two dimensions, labeled “Attitudes towards general rule violations and pedestrian safety” (e.g., “There should be severe punishment for pedestrians who walk on red lights”; α = .73) and “Attitudes towards pragmatic violations” (e.g., “When I am in a hurry it is acceptable to violate regulations when walking in traffic”; α = .66; Nordfjaern and S¸ims¸eko˘glu 2013). Pedestrian behaviors, on the other hand, consisted of 3 dimensions labeled “Transgressions” (e.g., “If there are many pedestrians who are crossing at red light, I follow them”; α = .87), “Attentive violations” (e.g., “Sometimes I forget to look to road properly because I am thinking about something else”; α = .86), and “Aggressive behaviors” (e.g., “I get angry with another road user [driver, bicyclist,
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Table 2. Mean and SD for dimensions of the measures Measures
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Satisfaction with traffic infrastructure Pedestrian behaviors Transgression Attention violations Aggressive behavior Attitudes toward pedestrian safety Attitudes toward general rule violations and pedestrian safety Attitudes toward pragmatic violations Conformity Empathy Driver behaviors Violations Errors/lapses
Mean
Table 3. Correlations between pedestrian and driver behaviors SD
2.77
0.68
2.47 1.85 1.83
0.73 0.69 1.02
4.00
0.64
3.46 2.76 3.75
0.84 0.57 0.63
2.06 1.83
0.85 0.79
etc.] and insult him/her”; α = .84; Nordfjaern and S¸ims¸eko˘glu 2013). Unidimensional Empathy (Loewen et al. 2010; α = .76) and Conformity (Mehrabian and Stefl 1995; α = .68) scales also had satisfactory reliability indices. Based on the wellestablished dimensionality of the DBQ, 2 dimensions labeled as driving errors/lapses (α = .93) and driving violations (α = .90) were used for the present study. Composite scores were calculated for all dimensions to be used in the further analyses. Means and standard deviations for all dimensions are provided in Table 2. Predictors of Pedestrian Behaviors A hierarchical multiple regression analysis results showed that increased age (β = −0.14, P < .05) and satisfaction level with the traffic infrastructure and environment (β = −0.12, P < .05) were negatively related to risky pedestrian behaviors, indicating that as age and satisfaction with pedestrian related traffic infrastructure increase, risky pedestrian behaviors decrease. In regard to pedestrian attitudes, both safer attitudes toward rule violation and risk (β = −0.13, P < .05) and attitudes toward pragmatic violations (β = −0.34, P < .001) were negatively related to risky pedestrian behaviors, which shows that attitudes are significant predictors of pedestrian behaviors. In terms of personality traits, empathy was negatively (β = −0.19, P < .001) and conformity was positively (β = 0.13, P < .05) related to risky pedestrian behaviors as expected. Relationship Between Pedestrian and Driver Behaviors In order to examine the relationship between pedestrian and driver behaviors, Pearson’s bivariate correlations were calculated (see Table 3). All dimensions of pedestrian behaviors (attentive, aggressive, convenience violations) and driver behaviors (driving violations and errors/lapses) were positively correlated with each other, indicating that participants who report risky pedestrian behaviors also tend to report risky driver behaviors. In addition, in order to examine the possibility that associations between driver and pedestrian behaviors dimensions are caused by similar worded items in Pedestrian Behaviors Scale and DBQ, bivariate correlation analysis at
Dimensions 1. Pedestrian attentive violations 2. Pedestrian aggressive violations 3. Pedestrian convenience violations 4. Driving violations 5. Driving errors/lapses ∗P
1 1
2
3 ∗
4 ∗
5 ∗
0.47
0.60
0.55
0.56∗
1
0.40∗
0.55∗
0.29∗
1
0.43∗
0.41∗
1
0.57∗ 1
< .01.
the item level was conducted. Overall correlation coefficients between driver and pedestrian behaviors items were low to moderate (ranging from r = 0.04 to r = 0.53, P < .001), which indicates that driver and pedestrian behaviors are 2 different constructs. In particular, correlation coefficients between similarly worded items related to risk behaviors in both scales, such as “risk behavior as a driver and pedestrian when intoxicated” (r = 0.38, P < .01) were calculated and showed moderate correlations.
Discussion The present study investigated the role of pedestrian attitudes, empathy, and conformity in pedestrian risk behaviors in urban environments. In addition, the association between pedestrian and driver behaviors was examined. The results supported the expectations of the study. Increased age was negatively related to risky pedestrian behaviors, indicating that risky behaviors are more common among young pedestrians. This finding is in line with previous studies showing the association of young age with unsafe pedestrian behaviors and attitudes (e.g., Diaz 2002; Papadimitriou et al. 2013). Greater propensity to take risks among young people can explain the negative association between younger age and unsafe pedestrian behaviors. As hypothesized, attitudes toward pedestrian safety were significant predictors of pedestrian behaviors, parallel to the previous findings showing pedestrian attitudes as significant predictors of behavioral intentions related to various pedestrian behaviors, such as road crossing (Diaz 2002; Evans and Norman 1998; Zhou and Horrey 2010). Safer attitudes toward rule violation and risk and pragmatic violations were negatively related to risky pedestrian behaviors. These findings are in line with the assumptions of the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen 1991), which shows attitudes as an important determinant of behavioral intentions. In regard to personality traits related to pedestrian behaviors, as expected, social conformity was positively related with risky pedestrian behaviors. Pedestrians with a greater tendency toward social conformity are likely to follow the example of other pedestrians; for example, by crossing the road in an unsafe way if other pedestrians are also crossing the road in the same way (see also Zhou and Horrey 2009, 2010). Therefore, if unsafe pedestrian behaviors, such as crossing at red lights and not using pedestrian crossings, are more common in a traffic environment, conforming to other pedestrians is likely
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88 to result in risky pedestrian behaviors. Despite the presence of traffic regulations and rules regarding pedestrian, informal norms based on practical rather than safety targets have an important influence on pedestrian behaviors in Turkey. This could explain why reported conformity was positively related with risky pedestrian behaviors in the present study. Empathy, on the other hand, was negatively related to risky pedestrian behaviors, indicating that a lower level of empathy is associated with risk-taking behaviors among pedestrians. A low level of empathy is also associated with unsafe behaviors among young drivers (e.g., Vassallo et al. 2007) and the present study extends previous work to the domain of pedestrian safety. Traffic is a complex system requiring the interaction of different types of road users, such as drivers and pedestrians. In addition to formal rules and regulations, empathy and ability to take the perspective of other road users seem essential for safe interaction between road users. Therefore, a pedestrian with a lower level of empathy may have difficulties in understanding the perspective and intentions of both other pedestrians and also drivers and consequently take more risks compared to a pedestrian with a higher level of empathy. The present findings showed that all dimensions of pedestrian and driver behaviors were positively correlated with each other, which replicates the findings of study by Taubman-BenAri and Shay (2012) showing that risk-taking behaviors in the role of pedestrian and driver are highly correlated in an ultraorthodox Jewish sample of road users. Despite the differences in sample characteristics and income level of the countries involved, both studies clearly indicates that a tendency to take risks remain the same regardless of the road user role (i.e., driver vs. pedestrian). Therefore, risk-taking tendency can be considered as a general propensity that guides the behavior in different traffic roles and situations. For instance, a driver showing risky driving behaviors is also likely to show risky pedestrian behaviors and, correspondingly, a driver with a careful driving style is also likely to show safe pedestrian behaviors. The present findings also support the previous studies on risk-taking tendency of individuals showing that individuals who take risks in one domain of their lives, such as health, are also likely to take risks in other domains (Zuckerman and Kuhlman 2000). Convenience sampling used in the present study might result in uncontrolled variance and some possible biases in the results due to differences in environmental conditions participants were exposed to. However, by controlling the effect of participants’ level of satisfaction with road traffic infrastructure and environment on the results, potential biases due to different environments was minimized. In addition, using a population registry to obtain random sampling is difficult in Turkey due to barriers to access and use as a researcher and substantial costs of using the population registry. Thus, despite some potential problems, convenience sampling was preferred in the present study. An uequal number of respondents in Izmir (n = 239) and I˙stanbul (n = 50) might be considered as another limitation of the present study; however, these are 2 populous cities in Turkey that are similar to each other in several domains, such as having large population with immigrants from different parts of Turkey. Because comparing I˙zmir and I˙stanbul in terms of pedestrian safety was not an
S¸ims¸eko˘glu aim of the present study, the unequal number of respondents from the 2 cities is not expected to be a major drawback for the present results. Another limitation of the study might be the self-reported nature of the data, which might cause social desirability bias and common method bias (i.e., variance that is attributable to the measurement method rather than the measured constructs; Podsakoff et al. 2003). Low to moderate correlations between the driver and pedestrian behaviors items indicate that these are 2 different constructs. In addition, similarly worded items related risk behaviors on pedestrian and driver behaviors scales (e.g., drinking and driving and risky pedestrian behaviors while under the influence of alcohol) were moderately correlated. Thus, possible common method bias in the present study is mitigated. Future studies that measure individuals’ driver and pedestrian behaviors at different points in time and combine observational and survey methods to study pedestrian behaviors and attitudes in larger and more representative samples are needed. Despite the limitations, the present study has a number of strengths. Firstly, this study is one of the very few studies (e.g., R¨as¨anen et al. 2007) examining pedestrian behaviors and attitudes in Turkey, where pedestrian safety research has considerable potential to contribute to pedestrian safety. In addition, the role of personality traits, such as conformity and empathy, in pedestrian behaviors has largely been overlooked by previous studies; therefore, examining the role of these traits in pedestrian behaviors can be counted as a strength of the present study. Finally, examining the association between pedestrian and driver behaviors to determine whether road users take risks consistently in different traffic roles (i.e., as a driver and pedestrian) is another strong aspect of the present study. Previously, the relationship between pedestrian and driver behaviors had only been examined in a homogenous sample; that is, ultra-orthodox Jewish road users (TaubmanBen-Ari and Shay 2012). The present study extended this work by examining the association between pedestrian and driver behaviors in a more representative and heterogenous sample in a middle-income country.
Implications The present results have some implications that can be considered by traffic safety campaigns targeting increased pedestrian safety in Turkey. Because attitudes toward pedestrian safety were the strongest predictor of pedestrian behaviors, promoting safe attitudes toward traffic rules and violations should be one of the aims of traffic safety campaigns targeting increased pedestrian safety. In particular, participants reported less safe behaviors and attitudes related to pragmatic violations, such as crossing at a red light when in a hurry, indicating that justification of risky behavior by practical reasons is common among Turkish pedestrians. Therefore, another potentially important aim of traffic safety campaigns is to reduce the acceptability of practical issues as a justification for risky behavior among Turkish pedestrians. In addition to changing pedestrian attitudes in a safer way, engineering changes related to traffic infrastructure targeting pedestrians, such as increasing the number of pedestrian crossings and providing over- and
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Pedestrian Behaviors in Turkey underpasses that meet the needs of pedestrians, are needed to reduce risky pedestrian behaviors. Also, stricter traffic regulations and law enforcement regarding pedestrians and drivers should be applied to increase pedestrian safety. Pedestrians are a vulnerable road user group; therefore, meeting the needs of pedestrians in the traffic environment should be a priority. However, unlike most European countries where pedestrians are a priority and are protected in traffic, drivers and their needs are a priority in the Turkish traffic environment. Thus, to increase pedestrian safety in Turkey, more severe sanctions might be introduced for drivers who are involved in accidents with pedestrians. Finally, because there is an association between pedestrian and driver risk-taking behaviors, rather than aiming to reduce these 2 types of behaviors separately, targeting to reduce general risk-taking tendencies among all road users may be a more effective strategy for road safety campaigns.
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