Revision of the driver behavior questionnaire for Chinese drivers' aberrant driving behaviors using naturalistic driving data

Yujun Jiao; Xuesong Wang; David Hurwitz; Gengdan Hu; Xiaoyan Xu; Xudong Zhao

doi:10.1016/j.aap.2023.107065

Revision of the driver behavior questionnaire for Chinese drivers' aberrant driving behaviors using naturalistic driving data

Accid Anal Prev. 2023 Jul:187:107065. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2023.107065. Epub 2023 Apr 8.

Authors

Yujun Jiao¹, Xuesong Wang², David Hurwitz³, Gengdan Hu⁴, Xiaoyan Xu¹, Xudong Zhao⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Transportation Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China; The Key Laboratory of Road and Traffic Engineering, Ministry of Education, Shanghai 201804, China.
² School of Transportation Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China; The Key Laboratory of Road and Traffic Engineering, Ministry of Education, Shanghai 201804, China; Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Chinese-German Institute of Mental Health, Shanghai Pudong New Area Mental Health Center, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai 200124, China. Electronic address: wangxs@tongji.edu.cn.
³ School of Civil and Construction Engineering, Oregon State University, 1491 SW Campus Way, Corvallis, OR 97333, United States.
⁴ School of Humanities, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai 200092, China.
⁵ Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Chinese-German Institute of Mental Health, Shanghai Pudong New Area Mental Health Center, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai 200124, China.

PMID: 37167077
DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2023.107065

Abstract

The Manchester Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) is a widely used self-reported measure of aberrant driving behaviors. It provides a standardized way of evaluating drivers' safety awareness and motivation, but the effectiveness of the DBQ's application in different regions can be influenced by culture, social norms, and time period. Several studies have adjusted DBQ items to reflect driver behavior native to particular regions or times, but few have used objective measurements to make proper adjustments. A naturalistic driving study (NDS) provides vehicle kinematic data and in-vehicle videos that objectively capture actual driving behaviors. The gender, age, and driving experience characteristics of aberrant driving behaviors were analyzed, and, based on comparisons between the DBQ self-reported driving behaviors and those observed in the Shanghai, China, NDS, the existing items from the Manchester DBQ were subsequently adjusted. Sixty-two types of real-world aberrant driving behaviors were extracted from 490 valid crash and near crash events observed in the Shanghai NDS. Aberrant driving behavior rates were calculated for individual characteristics (gender, age, and driving experience), and factor rates were calculated based on the three DBQ factor types of violation, error, and lapse. Results revealed that (a) male drivers, drivers in their thirties, and those with three to five years of driving experience demonstrated higher rates of aberrant driving behaviors; and (b) there were weak correlations between observed NDS factor rates and self-reported DBQ scores, and only slight differences among drivers divided by factor rate level (e.g., high violation rate). The questionnaire calibrated for Chinese drivers includes 23 items. Five of the original 24 DBQ items were modified, eight were left unchanged, eleven were deleted, and ten field-observed combined behaviors were added. In addition to the importance of adjusting the DBQ for today's Chinese drivers, this study provides a method for objectively modifying DBQ items in the future in accord with observed driving behaviors in an NDS.

Keywords: Aberrant driving behavior rate; Chinese drivers; Driver behavior questionnaire; Factor rate; Naturalistic driving study.

MeSH terms

Accidents, Traffic / prevention & control
Automobile Driving*
China
East Asian People
Humans
Male
Surveys and Questionnaires