|
Abstract
|
OBJECTIVE: Involvement in car crashes is higher among Israeli Arabs compared to Jews. This study characterized Perceived Descriptive Driving Norms (PDDN) within and outside Arab towns/villages and estimated their association with involvement in car crashes.
METHODS: Arab drivers (594) living in 19 towns and villages were interviewed in a face-to-face interview. The questionnaire included questions about involvement in car crashes, PDDN within and outside the towns/villages, attitudes toward traffic safety laws, traffic law violations and socioeconomic and demographic variables. PDDN represent individuals' perception on how safe other people typically drive. The low scores indicate a low percentage of drivers performing unsafe behavior (safer driving related norms). A structural equation modeling analysis was applied to identify factors associated with PDDN and involvement in car crashes.
RESULTS: A large difference was found in PDDN within and outside the towns/villages. Mostly, the respondents reported higher rates of unsafe PDDN within the towns/villages (mean 3.76, SD 0.63) and lower rates of PDDN outside the towns/villages (mean 2.12, SD 0.60). PDDN outside the towns/villages were associated with involvement in a car crash (r = -0.12, p<0.01), but those within the towns/villages were not. Within the towns/villages, attitudes towards traffic laws and PDDN were positively associated with traffic law violations (r = 0.56, p<0.001; r = 0.11, p<0.001 respectively), where traffic law violations were directly associated with involvement in a car crash (r=-0.14, p<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: Unsafe PDDN may add directly and indirectly to unsafe driving and involvement in car crashes in Arab Israelis. As PDDN outside towns/villages were better, increased law enforcement within towns/villages may improve these norms and decrease involvement in car crashes.
Language: en |