Behind the wheel: Probing into personality, skills, and driving behavior's role in bus rapid transit crashes

Personality traits and driving skills are significantly associated with driving behaviors and crashes. In the case of professional bus drivers, the relationships amongst these variables have not been sufficiently examined in terms of road crashes. Therefore, this study seeks to examine the relationship between personality traits, driving skills, driving behaviors, and crash involvement among Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) drivers.

The study employed a comprehensive data collection strategy involving self-reported questionnaires, including the driver behavior questionnaire, driver skill inventory, and Big Five inventory, alongside Global Positioning System (GPS)-extracted speeding data from a sample of 166 drivers. To explore the relationship between variables, the study utilized the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) as the analytical method.

The findings reveal that self-reported violations and actual speeding performed by drivers were positively associated with crash involvement, whereas positive driving behavior negatively influences violation, errors, speeding and crash involvement. The study also found that the safety skills were negatively associated with violations, errors, and speeding, while higher perceptual-motor skills were associated with higher instances of speeding violations, resulting to a higher possibility of getting involved in a crash. Finally, the study reveals that certain personality traits (extraversion and neuroticism) were positively associated with violations, errors, and speeding, leading to a higher risk of getting involved in crashes, whereas certain personality traits (conscientiousness and agreeableness) were associated with safe driving.

The study findings offer valuable insights into the predictors of crashes among professional BRT drivers, which can be used to enhance driving practices, ensuring the safety of the public. Moreover, these findings provide transportation agencies with better management and decision-making capabilities to implement effective interventions to improve road safety.