Affiliation(s)
1. Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul 34098, Turkey
2 Department of Evidence for Population Health Unit, School of Epidemiology and Health Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
3. Department of Psychology, İstanbul Medipol University, Kavacik, 34810 Beykoz, İstanbul, Turkey
4. Safety Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Middle East Technical University, Ankara 06800, Turkey
5. Department of Civil Engineering , Faculty of Engineering, University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
6. Department of Transportation Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL 61820-6983, USA
ABSTRACT
No study has been conducted
to determine the relationship between RTC (road traffic crashes) and
depression, anxiety and stress scale (DASS-21), tiredness, fatigues and
sleeping. The aim of the
present study was to examine the effect of aggressive driver behaviour, fatigue
and sleeping on RTC comparison between commercial taxi and
minibus/van/pick-up cars drivers. A cross-sectional study included a representative
sample of 2,300 drivers of which
1,786 drivers (77.6%) agreed to participate. The Manchester DBQ (Driver
Behaviour Questionnaire) was used to measure the aberrant driving behaviours
leading to accidents. The study is based on the measurement using the depression
anxiety stress scales (DASS-21). Participants
completed a DASS-21
questionnaire with items related to socio-demographic information, BMI (body mass index), driving
experience, fatigue , sleeping,
adherence to traffic laws (including speed limits and wearing seat belt), and
drivers’ driving records. Univariate and
multivariate statistical analyses were performed.
In a representative sampling, the age distribution of
the participants ranged from 25 to 65 years with the mean age 38.3±10.2 and the mean annual mileage
(km) per month was 14,587±1,741 (p < 0.001).
There was a significant difference found between both group minibus/van/pick-up
and commercial taxi drivers regarding of their age group (p < 0.001),
education (p = 0.003),
history of accident (p = 0.003),
seat belt use (p = 0.022)
time of accident (p = 0.005); crossing red light (p < 0.001),
excessive speed limits (p = 0.002),
BMI group (p =
0.022), physical activity (p = 0.003), annual
mileage in km (p < 0.001),
number of working days (p = 0.010) and hours (p = 0.030); number of sleeping hours (p =
0.025), CD
music listening (p = 0.010), mobile phone use (p = 0.001),
soft drinking (p = 0.002) and cigarette smoking habit (p < 0.001).
When the history of RTC was assessed, minibus/van/pick-ups were more likely to
be involved in accidents compared to commercial taxi drivers and there was a
highly statistically significant difference between both groups. Furthermore, minibus/van/pick-up drivers have more sleeping disorders
and fatigue severity compared to commercial taxi drivers. This study revealed
that minibus/van/pick-up drivers exhibited more depression, anxiety and stress
symptoms compared to commercial taxi drivers. DASS-21 variables were found to contribute significantly to
the explanation of the RTC involvement rate.
Chronic fatigue and acute sleepiness, and overtime or
heavy work-load on car drivers significantly increases the risk of a car crash which a car occupant can
be injured or killed. Reductions in RTC may be achieved if fewer people drive
when they have fatigue or are sleepy or have been deprived of sleep or drive
during rush hours.
KEYWORDS
Aggressive behavior,
sleeping fatigue, violation, driving accident.
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