ABSTRACT AN EXAMINATION OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF TRAFFIC REGULATIONS AND DEFENSIVE DRIVING AMONG A SELECTED SAMPLE OF SAUDI ARABIAN PRIVATE CAR OWNERS By Jallel A. Saif The Problem A modern accident reporting system helps policy makers plan and organize future programs. These programs should be based on complete information about the average driver such as his age, education, occupation, past acci dent involvement, and the other human factors involved, such as place of residence and purpose of car usage. In developing nations, including Saudi Arabia, the accident reporting system is not as yet well developed to meet these requirements, subsequently the policymakers experience many difficulties in planning; therefore, this study has been undertaken with two objectives. 1 Jallel A. Saif First, to compile basic statistics concerning var ious aspects of the traffic situation in the Arab World in relation to the world, and Saudi Arabia in relation to the Arab World, utilizing such information as concerns the number of fatalities, number of injuries, number of cars, and other related factors with an emphasis on Saudi Arabia. The second purpose was to examine the knowledge of a sample of a growing universe— the private car owner (operator). The knowledge tested concerned (a) road signs, (b) the road rules and regulations, and (c) general safety information. This information and certain personal data compos ing a profile image of the average Saudi private car owner (operator, driver) was analyzed. A questionnaire was administered throughout the country of Saudi Arabia. The data were gathered and anal yzed . One-way analysis of variance was used to determine the relationship between the test scores and the level of education and occupation, and the test scores in relation to accident and non-accident drivers. 2 Jallel A. Saif A chi-square test was used to determine the per sonal characteristics in relation to accident involvement. The Major Findings The following is a summary of the major findings of this study. 1. The Arab World contains less than 1 percent of the total cars of the World, while Saudi Arabia con tains 7.74 percent of the total cars of the Arab World— thus one car per 4 8 Saudi citizens, as op posed to one car per every 68 persons in the Arab World. 2. Fatalities due to car accidents in the Arab World make up 4.72 percent of the world traffic fatal ities, while Saudi Arabia has 6*7 2 percent of those within the Arab World. 3. Injuries in the Arab World amount to less than 1 percent of world traffic injuries. 3 Saudi Arabia Jallel A. Saif contributes 1.94 percent to these— almost 2 percent of the Arab World injuries. The first hypothesis, which concerned knowledge of subjects in three areas related to safe driving as measured by our questionniare, was not rejected on the grounds that the sample showed a lack of knowl edge on all parts of the test, particularly the area of international road signs as evaluated by standard criteria. The second hypothesis, which concerned the relation of education and occupation to test score, was also not rejected on the grounds-that the overall test score and the score on each part of the test did show a relationship to education and occupation. The first sub-hypothesis, which concerned the rela tionship between test score and accident involve ment, was not rejected on the grounds that a low score on the test was correlated with accident involvement and a high score correlated with less accident involvement. Jallel A. Saif 7. The second sub-hypothesis, which concerned the re lation of accident involvement and certain personal attributes, was both rejected in part and supported in part. Our data showed that there was no rela tionship between rural-urban residence, age, pur pose of car usage, geographical location, income, kilometers driven, means of obtaining driver's li cense, or years of driving experience. There was a relationship between accident involvement and occu pation and education. 8. A profile image of the average Saudi operator-driver was constructed. He came from a rural area, he was about 30 years of age, he used the car for work and pleasure, he came from the western part of the country, he has an income of between 6,0 00-10,00 0 Riyals (= $1500-$2500), he drove between 5,0009,000 kilometers annually. He obtained his driver's license through passing the interview and the road test and he has 5 years of driving experience. A government employee, he has an intermediate educa tion. One out of two has an accident record. 5 AN EXAMINATION OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF TRAFFIC REGULATIONS AND DEFENSIVE DRIVING AMONG A SELECTED SAMPLE OF SAUDI ARABIAN PRIVATE CAR OWNERS By Jallel A. Saif A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY College of Education 1973 ProQuest Number: 10008703 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest. ProQuest 10008703 Published by ProQuest LLC (2016). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 4 8 1 0 6 - 1346 © Copyright JALLEL A. SAIF 1973 Dedicated to my parents and To those people who address themselves to traffic safety problems in Saudi Arabia. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The writer wishes to express his sincere apprecia tion and acknowledges a debt of gratitude to Dr. Robert 0. Nolan, chairman of the advisory committee, for the encour agement, guidance, and assistance throughout this disserta tion. Appreciation is also expressed to other helpful members in the advisory committee— Dr. William A. Mann, Professor Ralph F. Turner, and Dr. Donald L. Smith. Appreciation goes to Lieutenant General Al-Tybe Al-Tunsi, general director of the Public Security Depart ment in Saudi Arabia, for his encouragement and Brigidier Yahia Al-Mouallimi for his assistance. Special thanks is expressed to all the Arab World embassies in Washington, D.C., and to Mr. Jacques Roman, legal officer, Treaty Section for the United Nations; Mr. Alsaeed Alsaeed Al-Kubani, Third Secretary for the Arab League in Cairo, and Mr. W. G. Kennedy, International Road Federation Director in Geneva. Finally deep gratitude goes to the many American friends who encouraged me to achieve my goals. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES........................................ ix LIST OF F I G U R E S ........................................ xii LIST OF GRAPHS......................................... xiii Chapter I. II. THE NATURE OF THE P R O B L E M ................... 1 Introduction .............................. 1 Purpose of the S t u d y ..................... 4 The Importance of the Study............... 6 Definition of Terms....................... 7 Hypotheses ................................ 9 Sub-Hypotheses ............................ 10 Basic Assumptions......................... 10 Limitations of the S t u d y ................. 11 Organization of Chapters ................. 12 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE................ 14 The Importance of R e s e a r c h ............... iv 14 TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont.) Chapter III. IV. Page A g e .................................... 19 A t t i t u d e s .............................. 20 Driving Experience..................... 21 Occupation.............................. 21 Socio-Economic Status ................. 22 Knowledge, Information, andEducation . 22 Rural-Urban Residence ................. 23 The Problem Internationally............... 24 PROCEDURES.................................... 51 Purpose of the C h a p t e r ................... 51 The Sample.............................. 51 The Development of the Instrument . . . 54 Pilot S t u d y ............................ 54 Content of the Questionnaire........... 56 Gathering the Data..................... 58 Analysis of Data....................... 60 Summary.................................... 63 ANALYSIS OF DATA.............................. 65 Preparation of Data for Statistical A n a l y s i s ................................ 65 Results of the Statistical Analysis . . v 66 TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont.) Chapter Page Accident Involvement and Personal A t t r i b u t e s .............................. 85 Summary....................................... 100 V. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS .............................. 105 Summary....................................... 105 Statement of the Problem..................105 Summary of Statistics Concerning the International Traffic Problem............. 106 F i n d i n g s ..................................... 108 Rural-Urban Residence ................. 110 A g e ....................................... 110 Purposes of Car U s a g e ....................Ill Geographical Location ................. Ill Income..................................... Ill Kilometers Driven ..................... 112 The Means of Obtaining a Driver's L i c e n s e ................................ 112 Driving Experience........................ 113 Occupation................................ 113 E d u c a t i o n ................................ 114 The Profile Image............................ 114 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont.) Chapter Page Conclusions and Recommendations............. 115 Education and Occupation as Related to the Test Scores................................ 117 E d u c a t i o n ................................ 117 Occupation................................ 118 Accident Involvement and Personal A t t r i b u t e s ................................ 119 Rural-Urban Residence ................. 120 A g e ....................................... 121 Purposes of Car U s a g e ....................121 District.................................. 122 Income.....................................123 Kilometers Driven ..................... 123 Means of Obtaining L i c e n s e s ............. 124 Driving Experience........................ 125 Occupation................................ 125 E d u c a t i o n ................................ 127 D i s c u s s i o n .................................. 128 Suggested Safety Program................. 128 Objectives................................ 130 Reporting System.......................... 13 2 vii TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont.) Chapter Page Determining Causes........................ 134 Plan for A c t i o n .......................... 134 Organization, Administration, and S u p e r v i s i o n ............................ 135 Motor Vehicle Administration............. 136 Traffic Engineering ................... 139 Law E n f o r c e m e n t ....................... 14 0 Public Relations.......................... 142 R e c o r d s ................................ 14 3 Law Ordinances............................ 144 E d u c a t i o n ..............................14 5 Evaluation and Improvement............... 153 Recommendations for a Safety Program. . 154 APPENDIX A .............................................. 157 APPENDIX B ............................................ 19 0 APPENDIX..C .............................................. 200 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................. 213 viii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 2.1. SELECTED STATISTICS FOR THE 2.2. SELECTED STATISTICS CONCERNING ACCIDENTS IN THE ARAB WORLD 2.3. 4.1. 4.2. 4.3. 4.4. 4.5. 4.6. 4.7. ARAB WORLD 1971 . 40 47 ROAD NETWORKS IN KILOMETERS IN NINE ARAB STATES 48 RELATIONSHIP OF EDUCATION TO TEST SCORE IN THE AREA OF INTERNATIONAL ROAD SIGNS. . . . 68 RELATIONSHIP OF EDUCATION TO TEST SCORE IN THE AREA OF RULES AND R E G U L A T I O N S 70 RELATIONSHIP OF EDUCATION TO TEST SCORE IN THE AREA OF GENERAL SAFETY INFORMATION. . . RELATIONSHIP OF EDUCATION TO TEST SCORE IN THE AREAS OF INTERNATIONAL ROAD SIGNS, RULES AND REGULATIONS, AND GENERAL SAFETY INFORMATION 71 73 RELATIONSHIP OF OCCUPATION TO TEST SCORE IN THE AREA OF INTERNATIONAL ROAD SIGNS. . . . 75 RELATIONSHIP OF OCCUPATION TO TEST SCORE IN THE AREA OF RULES AND R E G U L A T I O N S 76 RELATIONSHIP OF OCCUPATION TO TEST SCORE IN THE AREA OF GENERAL SAFETY INFORMATION. . ix . 78 LIST OF TABLES (cont.) Table 4.8. 4.9. 4.10. 4.11. Page RELATIONSHIP OF OCCUPATION TO TEST SCORE IN THE AREAS OF INTERNATIONAL ROAD SIGNS, RULES AND REGULATIONS, AND GENERAL SAFETY I N F O R M A T I O N ................................ 79 RELATIONSHIP OF ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT TO TEST SCORE IN THE AREA OF INTERNATIONAL ROAD S I G N S ...................................... 80 RELATIONSHIP OF ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT TO TEST SCORE IN THE AREA OF RULES AND REGULATIONS. 82 RELATIONSHIP OF ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT TO TEST SCORE IN THE AREA OF GENERAL SAFETY I N F O R M A T I O N ................................ 83 4.12. RELATIONSHIP OF ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT TO TEST SCORE IN THE AREAS OF INTERNATIONAL ROAD SIGNS, RULES AND REGULATIONS, AND GENERAL SAFETY INFORMATION....................... 84 4.13. DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLE ACCORDING TO RURALURBAN RESIDENCE AND ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT. 4.14. 4.15. 4.16. 4.17. 4.18. . 87 DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLE ACCORDING TO AGE OF DRIVERS AND THEIR ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT. .. 88 DISTRIBUTION OF THE SAMPLE ACCORDING TO CAR USAGE AND ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT.......... 90 DISTRIBUTION OF THE SAMPLE ACCORDING TO DISTRICT AND ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT ........ 91 DISTRIBUTION OF THE SAMPLE ACCORDING TO INCOME AND ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT ........... 93 DISTRIBUTION OF THE SAMPLE ACCORDING TO KILOMETERS DRIVEN ANNUALLY AND ACCIDENT I N V O L V E M E N T ............................. x 94 LIST OF TABLES (cont.) Table Page 4.19. DISTRIBUTION OF THE SAMPLE ACCORDING TO MEANS OF OBTAINING LICENSES AND ACCIDENT INVOLVE 95 MENT................................... 4.20. DISTRIBUTION OF THE SAMPLE ACCORDING TO DRIVING EXPERIENCE AND ACCIDENT INVOLVE MENT................................... 97 4.21. DISTRIBUTION OF THE SAMPLE ACCORDING TO OCCUPATION AND ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT . . . . 4.22. DISTRIBUTION OF THE SAMPLE ACCORDING TO THEIR EDUCATION AND ACCID'ENTINVOLVEMENT. xi 98 . 99 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1. 2.2. 2.3a. 2.3b. Page Area of the Arab World and Saudi Arabia, 1971........................................ 28 Population of the Arab World and Saudi Arabia, 1971........... ... ................. 29 Number of Vehicles in the Arab World, 1971, Compared to Total W o r l d ............. 30 Number of Vehicles in Saudi Arabia, 1971, Compared to Arab World...................... 31 2.4. Car Ownership per Person, 1971.. . . . . . . 32 2.5a. Fatalities in the Arab World and Saudi Arabia...................................... 37 Number of Traffic Injuries in the Arab World and SaudiArabia, 1971............... 42 Model for Traffic Safety Program and Traffic Accident Prevention ........................ 131 2.5b. 5.1. xii LIST OF GRAPHS Graph 2.1. Page Increase in Cars in the Arab World (top) and Saudi Arabia (bottom) ................. 34 2.2. Increase in Traffic Deaths from 1967-1971 . . 35 2.3. Death Rate per 100,000 Persons in Three Arab States Leading in Number of Fatalities. . . 38 The Number of Traffic Accidents per 100,000 People in Saudi Arabia Compared to Other Selected Arab Countries, 1 9 7 1 ............. 41 Injury Rate per 100,000 People in Three Arab States Leading in Number of Injuries. . . . 43 2.4. 2.5. 2.6a. 2.6b. 2.7. Traffic Deaths per 100,000 People in Saudi Arabia and Selected Arab Countries, 1971. . 44 Traffic Deaths per 10,000 Cars in Saudi Arabia and Other Selected Areas of the W o r l d ...................................... 45 Number of Fatalities per 100 Million Kilom eters in Selected Arab States and Western Countries, 1968 ............................ 46 xiii CHAPTER I THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM Introduction Throughout the ages, the history of mankind has closely reflected the history of transportation. According to Walter D. Ladd, "The traffic problem is as old as man's first effort to go from one place to another."'*' The same author contends that the first efforts at regulation stemmed from the problem of which of two meeting travelers should first move aside on a narrow lane and to which side. 2 The first signs probably originated in solution to the same type of practical problem. Road traffic accidents in large numbers, however, are of comparatively recent origin in the more highly de veloped countries and are beginning to be a problem in less ^Walter D. Ladd, Organizing for Traffic Safety in Your Community (Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas, 1959), p. 4. 2 Ibid., p . 4. 1 2 developed countries, where preventative tools will be more effective, since they may be applied immediately, before the problem becomes too complex. Therefore, it becomes very important that the lessons learned by highly motorized countries should be made fully available and applied when ever practicable in countries where motorization is devel oping . The deaths from road traffic accidents are growing in importance as countries become more highly developed and the number of accidents increases concomitantly. For ex ample, two deaths were registered in 18 96 in Great Britain due to motor vehicles. 3 In 1970, in the same country the number of fatalities increased to 6,883. States one death was registered in 1899. 4 5 In the United In 1971, in the same country, the deaths resulting from car accidents rose g to 55,000 people. From these small beginnings a stream of deaths and injuries has followed. 3 L . G . Norman, Road Traffic Accidents— Epidemology Control and Prevention (Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 1962), p. 9. 4 Statistics of Road Traffic Accidents in Europe (New York: UN, 1970), p. 9. 5 L. G. Norman, op. cit., p. 9. c J. L. Recht, "The 1971 Traffic Story-Rate Down," Traffic Safety, Vol. 72, No. 3 (1972), p. 28. 3 The size of the problem and the human loss involved is indicated by the fact that in 1970 there were more than 205 thousand people killed and more than 8.5 million people . . . 7 injured world-wide in road accidents. The tragedy of road traffic accidents is that they particularly involve the young and adventurous. For example, as mentioned, the deaths in the United States as a result of road traffic accidents amounted to 55,000. Nearly one-third of all motor vehicle accident vic- tims were of and between the ages of 15-24. g Beside the pain and suffering caused by unfortunate death or permanent disability, a tremendous economic loss to nations arises as a result of road traffic accidents— these economic losses, involving medical and surgical treatment, the loss of the services and the efficiency of the injured person. The magnitude of the problem is indicated by the fact that in 1971 the total cost as the result of the road traffic accidents in the United States was estimated to be $14,300,000,000.9 7 International Road Federation, World Statistics 1966-70, Geneva. 8 J. L. Recht, op. c i t ., p. 28. 9 Ibid., p. 28. 4 World-wide, the economic loss as estimated by the World Health Organization in 19 67 was more than 40 billion dollars. This amount is equivalent to three times the aid given to developing countries from developed nations.^ These figures indicate a serious economic loss to the people of the world which should be taken into considera tion in planning the future. Purpose of the Study The first purpose of this study is to compile basic statistics concerning various aspects of the traffic situa tion in the Arab World, and particularly Saudi Arabia, as these compare to various world traffic statistics. review of major sources of information, After a such as, The Inter national Road Federation, World Health Organization, U.N. publications, etc., the conclusion was reached that there exist few or no sources where basic information concerning the Arab World had been gathered. Therefore, this study ^ United Nations Conference on Road Traffic, Vienna, Austria, 7 October-8 November 1968. Translated by the Office of Transportation for the Arab League, Cairo. 5 undertook to perforin this task. Where information was not available, an attempt was made to gather it, mainly through personal correspondence with the appropriate agency of each government. A second purpose was to examine the knowledge of a sample group representing an important growing uni verse of drivers in Saudi Arabia, that is, private drivers, using a mailed questionnaire. In 1970, 23,820 drivers' li censes were issued for the whole country and of these 19,178 can be classified as private drivers.^ The knowledge tested concerned (a) road signs, (b) the road rules and regulations, and (c) general safety information. This information and certain personal data compose a profile image of the average Saudi driver includ ing his age, education, driving experience, number of acci dents involved in, purpose of car ownership, rural or urban residence, district, income, and occupation. ^Statistical Department of Traffic in Riyadh, Car Registration and Classification, 1970 [obtained from per sonal correspondence]. 6 The Importance of the Study A modern accident reporting system helps policy makers plan and organize future programs. These programs should be based on complete information about the average driver— his age, education, jobs, accidents involved in, location, purpose of driving, etc. In the developing na tion of Saudi Arabia, the accident reporting system is not well developed or organized. Subsequently, the policymaker experiences many difficulties in planning successful pro grams . This study, the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia, and probably in the Arab World, intends to give a general profile image of the average male private car owner in Saudi Arabia. This type of study was highly recommended by the first Traffic Conference for the Arab World held in Cairo, Egypt, 20-25 May 1972. 12 The conference emphasized the fact that increasing numbers of persons are killed every year in road traffic accidents and pointed to the immediate need for scientific research as a major means of 12 Recommendation of the First Traffic Conference for the Arab World Held in Cairo, 20-25 May, 1972, Amend ment 7, p . 7 . 7 discovering ways to communicate with drivers most effec tively. Furthermore, the conference pointed out that any study of this nature should be published and disseminated among the Arab States for maximum benefit. A study of Saudi Arabia, part of the Arab World, would not be benefi cial to that country alone but also to the rest of the Arab World. Definition of Terms Accident: An event or occurrence which is unexpected or undesigned, which has an element of chance or probability, and which has undesirable results. Arab World: 13 The eighteen countries of Algeria, Bahrein, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Moracco, N. Yemen, Egypt, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, S. Yemen, Sudan, Syria, Tunesia, U.A.E. 13 (Union of Arab Emerates). . . . J. Stannard Baker and William R. Stebbms, Jr., Dictionary of Highway Traffic, p. 2. 8 Bus: Every motor vehicle designed for carrying more than 10 passengers and used for transportation of persons. Car (passenger): passengers. 14 Every device used for the transport of In addition to the driver's seat, it should have at most eight seats or those used for the transport 15 of goods that do not exceed 3.500 kg (7,700 p ds). Defensive Driving: Driving to prevent accidents in spite of the incorrect actions of others and adverse conditions. Driver: 16 Any person who drives and has actual physical con- trol of a vehicle. Fatal Accidents: 17 Implies the inevitability or actual oc- currence of death a disaster. 14 18 Ibid., p. 20. 15 United Nations Conference on Road and Motor Transport, Geneva, 23 August-19 September, 194 9, New York: UN Publication, p. 62. 16 Motor Fleet Safety Quiz, Traffic Safety, Nov., 1972, Vol. 72, No. 11, p. 21. 17 18 Baker and Stebbms, o p . c i t ., p. 58. Webster's New World Dictionary (Cleveland and New York: The World Publishing Company, 1962), p. 9 Kilometer: meters A unit of length or distance equal to 1,0 00 (3,280.8) feet or 5/8 of mile. eter = 0.386 square mile. One square kilom- 19 Nan-Fatal Injury Accident: An accident in which at least one person is injured, and no injury terminates fatally. Truck: 20 Every motor vehicle designed and used primarily for transportation of proper t y . ^ Vehicle: Every device upon or by which any person or prop erty may be transported or drawn upon highway, excepting devices moved by human power. 22 Hypotheses It was hypothesized that due to the lack of exten sive driving tests, and the lack of overall emphasis through the media or educational channels concerning knowledge of road signs and road rules and regulations: ^ Ibid., p . 804 . 20 21 Baker and Stebbins, o p . c i t ., p. 141. Ibid., p. 268. 22 Ibid., p. 268. 10 1. The sample group overall would show a basic lack of knowledge on all parts of the test. 2. The test scores will show a relationship to the personal attributes of individuals, especially edu cation and occupation. Sub-Hypotheses 1. The scores on the test are related to the accident involvement of respondents, i.e., a low score on the test is related to having had one or more accidents. 2. As stated above, test scores will vary according certain personal attributes. personal attributes to Therefore these same (and others) are also related to accident involvement. Basic Assumptions For the purpose of this study, the assumptions have been made that: 11 1. The use of the questionnaire was appropriate for the kind of information needed. The questionnaire was designed to reveal information about the aver age male private car owner in Saudi Arabia includ ing driving knowledge, age, occupation, purpose for using the car, average annual kilometers driven, education, accident involvement, average annual income, etc. Since females are forbidden by law to drive in Saudi Arabia, this study considers only males. 2. Test was adequate for the purpose of the study. 3. Those taking the test would be cooperative. 4. A questionnaire can be designed which will collect suitable information about the individual. Limitations of the Study 1. Some difficulties would be found in obtaining the same number of subjects regionally since the South and the North are particularly inaccessible. 12 2. Government employees were more available than the other categories of drivers, such as students, com pany employees, and businessmen; therefore, they will predominate as respondents, although the exact proportions of each group in the society are un known and therefore whether this study represents those proportions is also unknown. 3. Due to the lack of accurate population statistics, maps or directories, a random mailed sample was not possible. Organization of Chapters Chapter I introduced the developing score of driv ing problems, and the increasing effect of these on the world scene. Chapter II discusses the lack of traffic studies in the Arab World. However, a general overview of the extent of traffic problems, a growing concern in the Arab World, will be presented as these are related to the number of cars, the number of accidents, and factors involved. Arabia will be emphasized. Saudi 13 Chapter III will be concerned with the research design and methodology that was used. Chapter IV will contain the statistical description and analysis of data. Chapter V includes the summary of the major find ings, conclusions, and recommendations. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE The Importance of Research Accident statistics are a main concern of road safety research since they supply basic information con cerning the relative importance of the various factors which contribute to accidents. This information is often subsequently used as a guideline and method of preventing road accidents and also to assist in determining the direc tion of further investigation. They then again become use ful as indicators of how successful the measures taken to reduce accident problems have been, that is, they provide a record of the trends taking place in accident situations. The total accident picture is most easily obtained by recording the number of accidents over several years and the factors involved, and the number of behicles registered from year to year. This information can be used not only 14 15 to estiriiate future growth, but also to help plan new roads and new traffic policies.1 According to Aaron and Strasser, The component parts of the traffic accident problem are identified as (1) the driver, (2) the highway, (3) the vehicle. Each of these are closely related to theories of traffic accident * causation. Without question, the human element is the single most important factor in the cause of traf fic accidents. Basically such accidents are due to driver failure, carelessness, or violation of man-made laws or forces of nature. Estimates from several studies indicate that the human ele ment is responsible for 80-8 5 percent of all traffic accidents.^ T. W. Forbes concurs when he writes that, "It has been clear almost from the first studies that errors, lapses and limitations of automobile drivers were involved in 7 5-90 percent and, at least in part, responsible for a vast majority of mishaps." 3 These authors continue by saying that approximately 10 percent of traffic accidents are caused by unsafe Dept, of Scientific Research, Research on Road Safety (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1963), p . 7. 2 J. E. Aaron and M. K. Strasser, Driver and Traffic Safety Education (New York: The MacMillan, 1966), p. 12. 3 T. W. Forbes, Human Factors in Highway Traffic Safety Research (New York: Wiley Interscience, 1972), p. 3. 16 highway conditions. Often these are due to highways which have not been modernized, poor maintenace, and improper traffic devices.^ Another 5 percent of traffic accidents are probably caused by mechanical deficiencies. The au thors, however, mention that recent studies conducted at Harvard University "suggest that the percentage of mechan ical failures causing traffic accidents is considerably more than this number." 5 This study concerns itself with the human element, that is, the driver— his age, experience, education, and knowledge of the other two factors mentioned above, the highway and the vehicle. According to Albert P. Weiss and A. R. Lauer, who wrote in the 193 0's, the traffic problem was just beginning to be considered as a social problem in America. Traffic accidents up until this time were regarded as chance occur£ rences. Accidents were regarded as fortuitous events in 4 Ibid., pp. 13-16. 5Ibid., p . 16. A. Weiss and A. Lauer, Psychological Principles in Automotive Driving (Columbus: Ohio State University, 19 31), p. 11. 17 the past, according to A. G. Arbous and J. E. Kerrich, Accidents are no longer regarded as en tirely fortuitous events and the inevitable price to be paid for technological advance ment. Events which were previously consi dered to be chance-determined are now re garded as preventable and causes which were hitherto regarded as beyond the control of the individual are now seen in many cases as intimately related to his psychophysiological make-up.^ Arbous and Kerrich conclude that conditions at the time of an accident are varied and complex? hence, the inability to apply simple solutions. Since it is now realized that accidents caused by chance but by human factors which can are not be analyzed, this study will attempt to take a basic step in understand ing the human factor, that is, to construct a profile image of the average private car owner in Saudi Arabia, based on factors such as age, education, driving experience, knowl edge and attitudes, and skill. A number of other studies and Ph.D. dissertations were helpful in suggesting the format of A the questionnaire used to obtain this information. similar study by A. R. Lauer constructs a type of profile image of the average American driver. Considered 7 A. G. Arbous and J. E. Kerrich, "The Phenomenon of Accident Proneness," Industrial Medicine and Surgery, XXII (April, 1953), p. 141. 18 here only is his study concerning male drivers, since this study is concerned only with male drivers. He stated that, The average male driver is in the neigh borhood of 35 years of age. He drives a car between 4 and 5 years old with approximately forty thousand miles on the speedometer. The average male driver has driven about 20 years and travels slightly over ten thousand miles a year in his automobile. We should say this is the mode. This mileage is reached between the ages of 25 and 30. The mileage of male drivers builds up from around 4,000 at 16 to something over 13,000 at 27, then gradually goes down until the age of 40 when it levels off until about 55, after which there is a second drop down to about age seventy. Mile age then levels off again until about 7 5 or 80 . . . . The average male drives his car around 8,000 miles during the year in the daylight. This individual is just short of having completed a high school education. Ultimately about six males out of ten are caught and booked for violating traffic ordinances. One in ten has a serious accident annually. One in eight has a major reportable accident.® The factors discussed by Lauer in constructing his profile image have been the subject of study by other groups. In order to indicate why Lauer might have chosen itself with these same factors, certain recent studies stressing the importance of age, attitudes, driving g A. R. Lauer, Psychology of Driving (Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas, 1960), pp. 73-74. 19 experience, occupation, socio-economic status, education, skill, and rural-urban residence in relation to safe driv ing are briefly discussed. Age has been a much discussed factor. In 1938, a national committee prepared a comprehensive report on this topic by analyzing 19,000 Connecticut driver records and concluded that younger drivers had an undue proportion of accidents.^ More recent studies support this finding and are summarized by T. W. Forbes. Accidents and convictions for traffic of fenses generally decrease with increasing age; however, when miles driven are taken into ac count, then both young and old drivers have poorer driving records than do middle-aged groups. A recent publication reporting addi tional findings from the 19 64 California Driver Record Study indicates there are dif ferences in violation patterns as a function of age. Specifically . . . those violations most prevalent among young drivers reflect a greater propensity for risk-taking behavior. 9 Motor Vehicle Traffic Conditions in the U.S., Part 6, House Document No. 46 2 (Washington: U.S. Govern ment Printing Office, 1938), p. 52. 20 while the violations most common among old drivers may be associated with increasing de crements in physical and judgmental skills that are known to occur with increasing a g e . Attitudes Attitudes are important to safe driving. Attitudes have been defined by W. A. Mann as, "a psychological set to react to certain stimuli in a pre-determined direction with a pre-determined f o r c e . A t t i t u d e s , determined by a large and complex number of factors may affect youngsters' or adults' attitudes toward driving, which is essentially a social relationship. Depending on the individual's atti tudes, driving may be seen as competitive and unassociated with responsibility. Serious consequences, including acci dent involvement, may result. Other studies, such as that by A. R. Lauer, confirm the importance of attitudes. 12 "^T. W. Forbes, op. cit., p. 80. ^ W i l l i a m A. Mann, Building Attitudes for Safety (article), Highway Traffic Safety Center, Mich. State Uni versity, pp. 4 and 6. 12 A. R. Lauer, The Psychology of Driving (Spring field, 111.: Charles C. Thomas, 1960), p. 85; see also Herbert J. Stack, "Physical, Mental and Emotional Factors," in ENO Foundation, The Motor Vehicle Driver, His Nature and Improvement (Saugatuck, Conn.: ENO Foundation, 1949), p. 53. 21 Driving Experience Available information seems to indicate that, in general, the more miles driven, the greater the exposure to risk, although exposure in urban areas could be expected to be greater than in rural areas. For example, T. W. Forbes concludes that "accidents and convictions increase with increasing mileage." 13 Occupation As of yet, there exists little conclusive data re garding the relationship between safe driving and occupation. According to several different sources, 14 this dif ficulty may be due to the interaction between occupation and other variables such as education and socio-economic level. 13 14 T. W. Forbes, op. cit., p. 80. Ibid., p. 81? and H. J. Stock and M. K. Moran, "Accident Repeaters and Chronic Violators," in ENO Founda tion, op. c i t ., p. 105. 22 Socio-Economic Status Some of the same difficulties exist in the study of socio-economic level as exist with regard to occupation. Contradictory data cause the results to be inconclusive. For example, Weiss and Lauer, Brody, and the ENO study could find no significant relationship; however, DeSilva found that a poor accident record and low socio-economic status were rel a t e d . ^ Knowledge, Information, and Education Again it is evident that more research is necessary to determine precise relationships between different vari ables and safe driving. While one study indicated that accident repeaters and nonrepeaters did not vary in terms of their knowledge and information of such things as, rules of the road, traffic signs, and facts pertaining to the automobile and highway; another study 16 has shown that non repeaters were better informed than repeaters as measured 16Ibid., pp. 103-104. 23 by various standard tests. A related study concerning edu cational background (as opposed to simply general knowledge and information) indicates a significant relationship be tween educational level and driving record, poor records being found to correspond to lower educational levels. 17 Rural-Urban Residence It would be expected that the accident rate for those in urban areas would be higher than in the less con gested rural areas. This expectation is in fact borne out by studies in both the U.S. and Great Britain. M. D. Kramer reported that, " . . . 80 percent of the drivers involved in accidents (in nineteen states, 1947) lived in urban areas." 18 More recently, studies in Great Britain showed that, The lowest accident rates are on motorways and rural roads in open country, and the highest in the centres of large towns. Fatality rates are low in towns but high 17 18 T. W. Forbes, op. cit., p. 81. David Montoe and E. J. Honeycutt, "Accident Records and Driver Performance," in ENO, o p . c i t ., p. 9. 24 on unrestricted main roads leading into large towns.19 While the above mentioned factors might therefore be expected to affect the accident involvement of an indi vidual, the country or area of the world in which he is situated will also straongly affect his driving experience and accident involvement, since it provides the individ ual's driving context. Therefore the following information deals with traffic internationally, especially in the Arab World and Saudi Arabia, which provides the context for the average driver studied in this paper. The Problem Internationally Problems resulting from road traffic have not stopped in the developed nations, but have spread to devel oping nations as well, representing the price of moderniza tion and convenience. A mutual international approach to road safety has therefore become not only necessary but of pressing importance. 19 Dept, of Scientific Research, Road Research Laboratory, Research on Road Safety (London: Her Majesty's Stationary Office, 1963), p. 41. 25 Exchange of ideas and information on safety matters is of great value since problems are shared and one country may gain much from the past experience and solutions ap plied by another nation. International research isolating common factors involved in accident causation will thus play an increasingly important role. A dramatization of the problem may also make the driver more aware of his re sponsibilities, both within his own nation and others. To provide information on the total situation within which the average Saudi Arabian private car owner drives, an attempt was made to review some pertinent char acteristics of the traffic picture in Saudi Arabia. Since analogous in-depth studies, such as those mentioned in the preceding section executed primarily in the United States, have not yet been carried out in the Arab World, this information will consist largely of sta tistical information concerning the magnitude of the prob lem, the number of fatalities, injuries, and other factors. For comparative purposes, Saudi Arabia was examined rela tive to certain selected countries and the Arab World, and in turn, the Arab World was examined in relation to the rest of the world. It is hoped that not only will this 26 information provide a background for the following discus sion, but will also create an awareness of and concern about the growth of the problem in Saudi Arabia and the Arab World. Information on studies or basic statistics was se cured by sending letters to the embassies, traffic depart ments, public relations departments, and transportation departments of each state involved. Requests for this same information were also sent to most international orga nizations which concern themselves with road traffic, e.g., the International Road Federation (IRF) in Washington and Geneva, the United Nations, the International Criminal Po lice Organization in Paris (INTERPOL), Automobile Manufac turers Association in the U.S., the U.S. Department of Com merce, and World Touring and Automobile Organization don) . (Lon University Microfilms (Ann Arbor) were also con tacted with regard to any internationally oriented studies (see Appendix A ) . Most of these international organiza tions, however, lacked basic information on the Arab World with regard to the number of fatalities and the number of injuries, and were largely unable to report any known studies concerning the Arab World. 27 In an attempt to fill in this knowledge gap, the following section gives a compilation of information as obtained from the above mentioned sources within the Arab states, with the emphasis on Saudi Arabia. As shown in Figure 2.1, the Arab World consists of 8.8 percent of the total world area, with Saudi Arabia, which is itself rather large, comprising 18 percent of the Arab World's area. The population of the Arab World shown in Figure 2.2 is relatively large; however, the population of Saudi Arabia is small considering its large land area. Figure 2.3a shows that the Arab World as a whole has as yet a small number of cars. However, Saudi Arabia, as shown in Figure 2.3b, has a relatively large number of cars, and is the fifth leading nation of the eighteen Arab states in terms of car ownership per capita (Figure 2.4). The rapid increase in number of cars in Saudi Arabia prob ably reflects the fact that the younger generation is ob taining a better education. This leads to increased job mobility, both from city to city, and also within the city as the young people move about to follow employment oppor tunities. Not only is the car increasingly necessary for 28 AREA ARAB WO R L D 11,953,107 WORLD ARAB SO. KM. 135,781,000 ( 8 . 8 %) SQ. KM. WORLD AREA SAUDI ARABI A 2,149,690 ARAB SQ. KM. ( 18 %) WORLD 11,95 3, 107 Fig. 2.1.--Area of the Arab World and Saudi Arabia, 1971. POPULATION ARAB WORLD 126,650,000 WORLD ARAB ORLD -SAUDI ( 3 . 4 8 %) 3 ,6 3 2 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 POPULATION ARABIA 6 ,9 99 ,0 00 ( 5 . 5 3 %) ARAB WORLD 126,650, 7 0 0 Fig. 2.2.— Population of the Arab World and Saudi Arabia, 1971. 30 CARS ARAB WORLD WORLD 2 4 8 * 8 9 7, 6 2 0 PASSENGER CARS ARAB WORLD 1,353,352 (.70% ) WORLD 193,897,414 TR U C K S AND BU SES ARAB WORLD 482,037 (.87% ) WORLD 55,000,206 Fig. 2.3a.— Number of Vehicles in the Arab World, Compared to Total World. 31 TOTAL CARS - ARAB WOR L D SAUDI ARABIA ARAB WORLD 1 8 6 7 ,9 8 4 , PASSENGER CARS - ARAB WORLD SAUDI A R A B I A 78,292 (5.71 ARAB WORLD 1,353,352 T RUCKS AND BUSES - ARAB WORLD SAUDI ARABI A A R AB WORLD 482,037 Fig. 2.3b.— Number of Vehicles in Saudi Arabia, 1971, Compared to Arab World. 32 CARS ARAB P ER P E R S ON WORLD 3 LEADING AR AB — ARAB ##8686 WORLD 68 PER CAR STATES BAHREI N Mr 13 6 P E R CAR LIBYA It 9 K U WA I T 8 5 PER PER CAR CAR EGYPT 174 PER CAR SYRIA A i 129 PER CAR IRAQ SAUDI 86 ARABIA Fig. 48 PER PER CAR CAR 2.4.--Car Ow nership per Person, 1971. 33 employment purposes, but also represents a status symbol reflecting a modern life and convenience. The number of cars is increasing tremendously as shown in Graph 2.1, on page 34. isons are difficult, However, strict compar since figures covering the same pe riods of time are not available. As indicated at the bottom of that page, the number of cars in Saudi Arabia almost doubled between 1964 and 1971. Since highway planners and road builders in the U.S.A. generally operate on the theory that the number of cars will normally double every twenty years and plans are made accordingly, the doubling of cars in Saudi Arabia within a seven-year period indicates the phenomenal growth taking place and points to the future problems inherent in these rates of growth. The increase in the number of behicles in the Arab World also runs high, as shown in this same graph. Between 1968 and 1971 the percentage increase was 38 percent. As shown in Graph 2.2, one of the results of such a rapid increase in the number of cars is the tremendous in crease in fatalities attributable to collisions--an increase of 6.6 times in Saudi Arabia between 1967 and 19 71. Thus, 34 ARAB WORLD CARS 1, 867, 9 8 4 1,351,008 38.26% I NCREASE 968 1971 44,768 77,853 85. 95% I NCREASE 964 971 Graph 2.1.--Increase in Cars in the Arab World (top) and Saudi Arabia (bottom). ^Figures for the same number of years are not available. 35 652 / / / DEATHS / 99 INCREASED 6.6 TIMES 1967 Graph 2.2.--Increase in Traffic Deaths from 1967-1971. 97 36 while the number of cars was doubling, the number of fatal ities was increasing sevenfold in a four-year period. Figure 2.5a indicates that in the Arab World, the number of cars amounts to less than 1 percent of the total number of cars in the world, while the number of fatalities amounts to almost 5 percent of the world fatalities. One might conclude that this high number of auto fatalities in the Arab World, and Saudi Arabia in partic ular, is due at least in part to the lack of preparation to accommodate the increasing number of cars as well as the lack of adequate safety programs that reach the driver. The magnitude of the problem cannot be overemphasized, as is shown in Graph 2.3. The three Arab States shown are not only leading in number of fatalities among all the Arab nations, but also are the three leading nations in the world in number of traffic fatalities per 100,000 popula tion. Thus in comparison with the more technologically ad vanced countries the Union of Arab Emirates has a death rate of 3 5.5 per 100,0 00 population; Libya has 3 0.2; and Kuwait 27.9 for 1971. On the other hand the U.S.A. has a death rate of 25 per 100,00 0; Italy has 18; and Great Britain only 13 deaths per 100,000 due to car accidents, 37 TRAFFIC FATALITIES ARAB WOR L D 9 ,680 ( 4 . 7 2 %) WORLD ARAB WORLD 205,000 TRAFFIC SAUDI ARABI A 652 (6.73%) ARAB WORLD 9,680 Fig. 2.5a.— Fatalities in the Arab World and Saudi Arabia. FATALITIES 38 0} 0 ) -M P CO XJ fd (U 0) P 43 Eh a •H W 13 O (0 p 0) cu o o o o o p ( U Q* 0) . P W fO Q 03 I Cn I •
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49
There is a relatively small number of persons per car and
this is decreasing as the number of cars increases.
On the
other hand there are few roads with a large percent unpaved.
Thus in the developing areas of the Arab World, traffic
accidents and fatalities are even more numerous and serious
than in the already developed countries.
Undoubtedly, the
inability of planning to keep up with the unexpected growth
in number of cars has created the potential for fatal acci
dents .
More specifically, as discussed in the beginning of
this chapter, human error is the main contributor to acci
dent involvement and seems to be aggravated under the con
ditions of growth just mentioned.
The information received
from numerous governments of Arab states indicated that the
immediate causes of accidents corresponds well to those
mentioned by C. H. Lawski, Jr.
20
They are as follows:
. . . exceeding the speed limit or driving too
fast for conditions, driving on the wrong side
of the road, disregarding stop signs of sig
nals, improperly failing to yeild the right of
way at intersections, attempting to pass on a
20
C. H. Lawski, Jr., Psychological Studies Related
to Driving Speed on the Highway, Ph.D. Dissertation, Purdue
University, 1940.
50
curve or hill a vehicle moving in the same di
rection, failure to signal intention to stop
or turn, drinking or drugged driving, and
other violations.
All of the above factors seem to be the result of four
problems— inattention, indifference, incompetency, and inexperience.
21
This study is designed to test Saudi drivers
in all of these factors and to attempt to uncover the dif
ferences in personal profiles that might account for them.
Chapter Three therefore deals with the research methods
used in gathering this information.
21
S.
L. Beasley, et a l ., A Review of Current Re
search Related to Psychological Aspects Pertinent to Driver
Education and Traffic Safety, M.S.U., College Instructors
Workshop, August, 1963.
CHAPTER III
PROCEDURES
Purpose of the Chapter
This chapter is devoted to the discussion of the
source of data and the procedures used in obtaining and
evaluating the data.
gories:
1)
It is divided into four main cate
the population sample, 2 ) the development of
the instruments, 3) collection of data, and 4) analysis
procedures.
The Sample
The population from which the sample for this study
was selected consisted of those private car owners in Saudi
Arabia who had obtained valid driver's licenses and were
eighteen years of age or more.
This group consists of gov
ernment employees, businessmen, students, employees of com
panies, and others.
51
52
Due to the confidential nature of the records,
their inaccessibility due to poor filing, the lack of
street numbers or phone books, it was not possible to send
a random mailed questionnaire to private car owners.
As a
result, data was gathered by sending three hundred ques
tionnaires to different parts of the country, carried and
administered by interviewers with full instructions as to
how the questionnaire should be used.
An attempt was made
to randomly select respondents within each category of
private car owners, that is, government employees, students,
businessmen, and company employees from each of the five
provinces.
Interviewers located themselves in places fre
quented by members of each group and distributed the ques
tionnaire to anyone within these categories who met the
conditions of age and valid driver's licenses of the pri
vate type, i.e., not the driver of a taxi or other public
vehicles.
In the United States, the subjects of this study
would be defined as having an operator's license.
An at
tempt was also made to obtain an equal number of interviews
from the various categories.
However, due to the large
number of government employees which our interviewers en
countered, this was not possible and leads to the
53
speculation that government employees of various types out
number the other categories of private car owners.
Another
expected problem arose with regard to obtaining an equal
number of questionnaires from each of the five provinces
since in the north and south roads are poor and there is a
general lack of a transportation network and hence few li
censed drivers.
Also, many of the private car owners from
these two provinces commute to and work in other provinces.
This sample does not include females since they are not
allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia.
Of questionnaires used
in the final analysis, subjects were distributed by occu
pation as follows:
102 government employees, 4 2 business
men, 28 company employees, and 28 students.
By region the
distribution was 101 from the Western Province, 35 from the
Eastern Province,
5 from the Northern Province, 5 from the
Southern Province, and 54 from the Central Province.
The
total number of questionnaires upon which the final anal
ysis was based is 2 0 0 .
54
The Development of
the Instrument
Preparation for this research started initially
with a survey of related literature in the field.
Many
letters were sent to various international organizations
related to traffic issues; however, there was apparently
a dearth of research of this type being carried out in
developing nations in general and the Middle East in par
ticular.
A survey of related literature in the United
States and England was helpful in suggesting areas perti
nent to the purpose of this study, particularly in those
characteristics which would compose an adequate profile of
an average driver.
Other studies and a number of Ph.D.
dissertations were helpful in suggesting a format for the
questionnaire.
Pilot Study
After the questionnaire was translated from English
to Arabic and approved by an Arab professor of Social Sci
ence, Dr. Fouzy Naggar, the questionnaire was pre-tested on
25 Saudi drivers who had just arrived in the United States
55
(see Appendix C for Dr. Naggar's letter of approval).
These drivers reflect different backgrounds in level of
education, age, regions of origin, and driving experience.
All of them were over 18 years of age and held valid
driver's licenses from Saudi Arabia.
Since these drivers
had been in the U.S. for less than one month and none were
as yet in possession of a car, they had not been exposed
to driving experience in the U.S.A. nor had they taken the
American driving test.
These factors and their lack of
knowledge of the English language assured that they were
an uncontaminated sample, whose response to the question
naire would be based completely on their knowledge result
ing from driving in Saudi Arabia, not in the U.S.A.
The purpose of this pre-test was to determine or
discover any misunderstandings or ambiguities in the word
ing of the questions.
Since the questionnaire was based on
the 1971 Manual of Traffic Regulations, respondents were
asked to comment if they felt the question was not up to
date in its assessment of the current traffic rules and
regulations, which might vary slightly from the 1971 set of
rules and regulations.
For the same purpose, a copy of the
questionnaire was also sent to the former Director of the
56
Traffic Department in Saudi Arabia, Brigidaire Yahya AlMoullimi,
for his comments.
As a result, some corrections
and revisions were made to make the questionnaire clearer
and more accurate.
Before completing the final draft of the question
naire, Arab students in class were asked to translate the
Arabic version back into English to again assure that the
meaning of the questions had not been altered in the trans
lation process.
When this had been successfully completed,
the dissertation committee members approved the final ver
sion of the questionnaire
(see Appendix B for the English
version and Appendix C for the Arabic version).
Content of the Questionnaire
The questionnaire was designed in two parts.
The
first part consists of personal information including age,
education, occupation, driving experience, urban or rural
residence, purposes of car usage, means by which the
driver's license was obtained, the number of kilometers
driven annually, the province of residence, and socio
economic standing.
This first section becomes the basis
57
for constructing a profile image of the average private car
owner in Saudi Arabia
(see questions 1-11 in Appendix B ) .
The second part of the questionnaire was designed
to test the knowledge of Saudi drivers in three selected
areas crucial to road safety.
1.
Questions 3, 7, 24, 30, 32, 34, and 35 were de
signed to test the driver1s recognition of and
knowledge about international road signs, the
standard type of road sign presently used in
Saudi Arabia.
2.
Questions 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 , 8 , 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19,
20, 25, 26, 31, 36, and 38 were designed to test
the respondents' knowledge of traffic rules and
regulations as stated in the vehicle code of Saudi
Arabia.
3.
Questions 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 27, 28,
29, 33, and 37 were designed to test general knowl
edge of safe driving principles
(see Appendix B ) .
The scores on each arei were analyzed in relation
to the personal information elicited by part one of the
58
questionnaire, in order to prove or disprove the hypotheses
and sub-hypotheses posited.
While the original questionnaire consisted of ap
proximately 65 questions, through the process of elimina
tion of poor or ambiguous questions, thirty-eight questions
were finally used.
The number of questions falling into
each of the three areas constituting the second part of the
questionnaire was determined by the importance that each
area receives in enforcement in Saudi Arabia.
It was hoped
that by scrambling the questions that any cues for their
answers would be eliminated.
Gathering the Data
Arrangements were made to have the questionnaire
administered by a group of Saudi students who were candi
dates for the Masters or Ph.D. degree at Michigan State
University and other universities.
These students left the
United States to go to Saudi Arabia for summer vacation—
June-August, 1972.
These eight students, from among whom
there was at least one from each of the districts in Saudi
Arabia, took the responsibility of administering the
59
questionnaire in their home district.
Instructions to the
interviewers were given on a separate page, including the
criteria to be used in picking a respondent and the limita
tions within which the interviewer could interpret a ques
tion for a respondent.
Instructions to the respondents
were also given on the first page of the questionnaire.
Also included on this first page were comments explaining
the nature of the study.
Respondents were encouraged to
answer questions truthfully and were informed that their
names were not required.
By September of 197 2, 245 of the 300 questionnaires
had been returned.
Forty-five of the returned question
naires were eliminted because respondents had given more
than one answer in response to a single question.
Another
fifty-five questionnaires were returned too late to be in
cluded in the study.
Thus approximately 6 6 percent of the
questionnaires sent out were used in the final analysis,
that is, 200 out of 300.
Considering the inaccessibility
of certain parts of the country of Saudi Arabia and the un
familiarity of the respondents with studies of this type,
the percentage used in the final analysis was considered
adequate for the purpose of the study.
60
Analysis of Data
The study attempted to test the knowledge of pri
vate car owners in Saudi Arabia in relation to three impor
tant areas related to safe driving, i.e., knowledge of in
ternational road signs, the rules and regulations of the
Saudi vehicle code, and general safety information.
The
main purpose was to support or disprove the hypotheses,
sub-hypotheses, and assumptions mentioned in Chapter I
(pp. 1 0 - 1 1 ).
A one-way analysis of variance test was used to
determine the degree of the associations between the test
score and accident involvement, the test score and educa
tion, and the test score and occupation.
These three fac
tors were of major interest to the researcher and since
they are related to or underlie other characteristics
(such
as annual income) emphasis was placed on them rather than
any other characteristics.
The chi-square test was used to
relate all of the characteristics making up the profile
image to accident involvement in order to delineate those
characteristics most important to accident involvement.
These particular characteristics were selected on the basis
61
of their frequent mention in the literature on the subject
(see Chapter 2).
Thus the following characteristics were
examined.
1.
Rural or Urban Residence.
Respondents were asked
to answer in terms of whether the area they had
resided in for most of their lives was rural or
urban.
No definition of rural or urban was neces
sary since the demarcation is clear in Saudi Arabia.
2.
District of Longest Residence.
There are five pos
sible provinces where one could live:
North, South,
East, West, and Central.
3.
Education.
categories:
This was divided into the following
elementary, intermediate, high school,
college, and no education.
For some purposes no
education, elementary, and intermediate were lumped
together as low education and high school and col
lege as high education.
4.
Age.
Age was categorized as falling from 18-29,
30-39, 40-49, 50 and above.
62
5.
Years of
into the
6
. Purposes
Driving Experience,
This was categorized
units of 1-4, 5-9, 10-24, 25 and above.
of Gar Usage.
answers:
There were three possible
work and/or pleasure, as a status symbol,
and private trips only.
7.
Annual Number of Kilometers Driven.
This was asked
with regard to the respondet's estimate of the
average number of kilometers driven each year of
his driving experience.
Responses could fall into
the categories of 1,000-4,000, 5,000-9,000, 10,00014,000, and 15,000 and above.
8
. Annual Income.
These categories are 2,000-5,000
Reyals ($1.00 = 4 SR) , 6,000-10,000,
11, 000-14,000,
and 15,000 and above.
9.
Occupation.
These categories were:
government em
ployees, businessmen, company employees, students.
Two categories were used, i.e., government em
ployees and non-government employees.
63
10.
Means of Obtaining Driver's License.
It has been
reported that in the past there was more than one
means of obtaining a driver's license apart from
the formal means of the oral exam and road test.
Other means might fall into the categories of oral
exam alone, road test alone, through a friend or
through purchasing a license.
By accident involvement is meant either having ever
been involved in an accident resulting in death, injuries,
damage to your car or others, or no imvolvement at all.
The first three categories are often simply referred to as
accident involvement.
These two tests were considered appropriate for the
data by computer consultants.
A descriptive analysis is
given in the following chapter.
Summary
The purposes of this chapter include:
1.
A description of the questionnaire and its division
into two parts
(see Appendix B ) .
The first part
64
consisted of 1 1 questions directed toward eliciting
personal information.
The second part consisted of
38 multiple choice questions related to three areas
crucial to safe driving:
signs,
1)
international road
2) rules and regulations, and 3) general
safety information.
2.
A
description of the methods used in obtaining the
sample.
3.
A
description of how the instrument was developed.
4.
A
description of how the data was collected.
5.
A
description of the two major tests used in anal-
yzing the data.
The following chapter will be concerned with the
analysis of the data gathered for this study.
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS OF DATA
Preparation of Data for
Statistical Analysis
This chapter was designed to analyze the data col
lected by questionnaires from a sample of drivers studied
to determine the relationships between certain factors.
Thus it was first hypothesized that:
1.
Ths sample group over all would show a basic lack
of knowledge on all parts of the test.
2.
However, the overall test scores and scores on
each
part of the test will show a relationship to the
personal attributes of individuals, especially edu
cation and occupation.
Sub-hypotheses were formulated as follows:
1.
The overall scores and the scores on each part
of
the test are related to the accident involvement
65
66
of subjects.
That is, for this sample, a low score
on the test was correlated with a high rate of
accident involvement and vice cersa.
2.
As stated above, test scores will vary according to
certain personal attributes.
personal attributes
Therefore these same
(and others) are also related
to accident involvement, since test scores are re
lated to accident involvement.
The data, collected from 200 drivers across the
Saudi Arabian nation, were punched on computer cards in
preparation for a one-way analysis of variance and chisquare tests.
The .05 level of significance was used to
reject the hypothesis of no difference.
After being pre
pared for computer processing a Computer Control Data 360 0
at Michigan State University was used.
Results of the
Statistical Analysis
The one-way analysis of variance was used to ex
amine the relationship between the test scores and occupa
tion, education, and accident involvement (hypothesis 2 and
67
sub-hypothesis 1).
The chi-square test was used to examine
the relationship between various personal attributes and
accident involvement.
In this process, a profile image of
the average Saudi driver was constructed.
Tables derived from the analysis of variance are
presented in this chapter, while clarifications will be
made based on tables of means.
In examining the relationship of education, occupa
tion, and accident involvement to the test scores, the de
pendent variable was the test score and the independent
variables were education, occupation, and accident involve
ment.
Since the test was divided into three parts, the
scores on each part were related to the independent vari
ables as well as the overall score.
Table 4.1 deals with the relationship between edu
cation, high or low (see Chapter III for a definition of
these terms), and international road signs.
The data in
cludes the 200 drivers tested and classifies them according
to their educational level as this relates to their scores
on that part of the test concerned with international road
signs.
One hundred eight drivers, those with a high school
education or more had a mean score on this section of the
68
TABLE 4.1
RELATIONSHIP OF EDUCATION TO TEST SCORE
IN THE AREA OF INTERNATIONAL ROAD SIGNS
Mean
N
High (2)
4 .28703704
108
Low (1)
3 .35869565
92
Education i
Total
Source of
Variation
Error
F
DF
MS
Mean Square
Education
200
Degree of
Freedom
42.81510466
1
2.00638836
198
Test
Statistic
21.33939
P less
than
0.0005*
*Significant at level 0.0005.
test of 4.287, whereas the ninety-two drivers with a junior
high school education or less had a mean score of 3.358.
The level of significance was high at the 0.0005 level.
The data therefore indicate that drivers with a higher edu
cational level gain a better score or are more knowledgeable
69
in the area of international road signs than those at lower
educational levels.
However, the mean score of the total
group regardless of education in this area was only 3.86.
Since the total possible score in this area was 7.0, the
overall mean was considered as being low.
Table 4.2 indicates the results of testing the 200
subjects in the area of rules and regulations which are to
be
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Nonsignificant
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92
contradictory results, some stating a relationship between
low socio-economic status and accidents and others finding
no relationship at all.
According to Table 4.17, the majority of drivers
have an income falling between 6,000 and 10,000 Rihadhs.
The highest number of persons involved in accidents oc
curred for those people with an income of between 2 , 0 0 0
and 5,000 Riyadhs.
The chi-square of 4.895 indicates that
income has no significance in relation to accident involve
ment.
These findings are similar to the ENO study findings
which shows no significant relationship between socio
economic status and accidents .1
Table 4.18 considers as one measurement of driver
experience the number of kilometers a driver estimated that
he had driven annually.
20)
Some studies
(see Chapter II, p.
have claimed that accident involvement increases the
more mileage driven.
The majority of drivers in this sample drive be
tween 5,000 and 9,000 kilometers a year.
This is also the
group which has the largest number of people involved in
1 H.
Stock and M. K. Moran, "Accident Repeaters and
Chronic Violators," in ENO Foundation, The Motor Vehicle
Driver, His Nature and Improvement (Saugatuck, Conn.:
ENO
Foundation, 1949), p. 53.
93
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94
accidents in this sample.
However, the number of kilom
eters driven has no significance in relation to accident
invblvement according to the chi-square test.
TABLE 4.18
DISTRIBUTION OF THE SAMPLE ACCORDING TO KILOMETERS
DRIVEN ANNUALLY AND ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT
Kilometers Drivenl (in Thousands)
10-14
Total
%
15+
1-4
5-9
Yes (1)
29 (53%)
35 (57%)
23 (44%)
16 (47%)
103
52
No (2)
25 (46%)
26 (42%)
29 (55%)
17 (53%)
97
48
Total
54 (27%)
61 (30%)
52 (27%)
33 (16%)
200
100
Accidents
Chi-square at level 2.317
Nonsignificant
Table 4.19 reveals the relationship between the
several means of obtaining a license in Saudi Arabia.
The
use of illegal means might indicate that the person feels
he is not capable of passing an interview or road test.
If he is not capable he might be expected to have more
accidents.
95
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OF THE SAMPLE ACCORDING TO MEANS OF
LICENSES AND ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT
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96
The majority of drivers in this sample passed both
the interview and the road test.
Those who passed the in
terview alone tended to be involved more in accidents,
closely followed by those who got their licenses through
friends; however, the sample is not big enough to show
significance at any level.
Table 4.20 contains data concerning the years of
driving experience and accident involvement.
Most of the
drivers in this sample, 40 percent, fall between having one
to four years of driving experience.
Those drivers being
the most involved in accidents are those who have had more
than 25 years of driving experience, although the total
number in the sample is very small.
However, overall re
sults show no significant difference among groups in acci
dent involvement.
Table 4.21 supports the expectation that government
employees would not only achieve a better score on the test
as discussed above
(see Chapter I, p. 11), but also would
have fewer accidents than other types of employees.
This
expectation was based on the fact that government employees
generally are required to have at least an elementary
school education and most have more.
Also, exposure to
97
TABLE 4.20
DISTRIBUTION OF THE SAMPLE ACCORDING TO DRIVING
EXPERIENCE AND ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT
Years Driving Experience
Total
1-4
5-9
10-24
25+
Yes (1)
35 (43%)
37 (52%)
26 (61%)
5 (66%)
102
52
No (2)
45 (56%)
34 (47%)
16 (38%)
2 (32%)
98
48
Total
80 (40%)
71 (36%)
42 (21%)
7 (3%)
200
100
Accidents
Chi-square at level 4.301
Nonsignificant
news bulletins and other official documents is high in gov
ernment offices.
The majority of the group are government employees.
More company employees and businessmen in this sample seem
to be involved in accidents than any other group.
The results were significant at the 0.0020 level.
Thus the government employees scored higher on the test and
also have fewer accidents than other occupational cate
gories, thus, supporting sub-hypothesis two that occupation
is related to accident involvement.
98
TABLE 4.21
DISTRIBUTION OF THE SAMPLE ACCORDING TO OCCUPATION
AND ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT
Occupation
Total
%
12 (41%)
102
52
7 (21%)
15 (60%)
97
48
29 (14%)
27 (13%)
200
100
1
2
3
4
Yes (1)
43 (42%)
26 (62%)
22 (78%)
No (2)
59 (57%)
16 (38%)
102 (51%)
42 (22%)
Accidents
Total
♦Significant at level 0.0020.
Codes
1— Government employee
2— Businessman
3— Company employee
4— Student
Table 4.22 reveals the relationship between educa
tion and test score.
Education is perhaps the most impor
tant factor since it underlies occupational differences.
Education implies literacy which allows the driver to read
the vehicle code
(published in major newspapers) and have
more access in general to driver safety information.
More of those persons with either elementary educa
tion or no education had been involved in accidents than
99
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100
groups with more education.
These results were significant
at 0.0245 using the chi-square test.
This supports the
hypothesis that certain personal attributes are realted to
accident involvement, namely education and occupation which
were also related significantly to test scores.
These results also substantiate other studies
(see
Chapter II, p. 22) which have stated that non-repeaters
were better informed than repeaters as measured by various
standard tests.
Other studies have shown a significant
relationship between educational level and driving r e c o r d poor records being found to correspond to lower educational
levels.
Summary
In this chapter data gathered for the purpose of
providing an understanding of factors related to safe driv
ing were presented.
Analysis of variance techniques were
used to determine the relationship between education and
test score,, occupation and test score, and accident or non
accident involvement with test score.
Chi-square tests
101
were used to construct a profile image of the private car
owner in Saudi Arabia and to examine the relationship be
tween the characteristics making up this profile image,
such as, age, occupation, education, purposes of car usage,
driving experience, kilometers driven, urban or rural resi
dence, means of obtaining licenses, income, and geograph
ical location, and accident involvement.
The analysis of data presented in this chapter re
vealed that there was an overall lack of knowledge on all
parts of the test as shown in Table 4.4.
The mean score
of the total sample on all parts of the test was 19.9 out
of 38 questions.
This is lower than the 75 percent score
required on many standard tests.
Hypothesis 1, therefore,
was not rejected on the basis of the mean score shown in
Table 4.4.
Hypothesis 2 also was not rejected on the grounds
that education was significantly related to the test score
at the 0.0005 level as shown in Table 4.4.
There was also
a significant relationship between test score and occupa
tion at the 0.001 level as shown in Table 4.8.
Therefore the major hypotheses were not rejected.
The average Saudi driver indicated a lack of knowledge
102
needed for safe driving, but this was significantly related
to his occupational position and level of education.
Gov
ernment employees and those with a high school education or
above
(this category includes many government employees as
a certain education is a requirement for the position) make
the safest drivers.
Those who show the lowest test scores
have either an education below high school level or are
businessmen or company employees.
Businessmen are usually
those operating small private businesses for which no edu
cational qualifications are essential.
Many company em
ployees hold manual jobs requiring little education.
Li
censing tests and training program should emphasize the
latter groups.
Sub-hypothesis 1 was not rejected since there was
a significant relationship between accident involvement and
test score at the 0.0005 level as shown in Table 4.12.
Sub-hypothesis 2 was rejected for certain charac
teristics.
Age, purpose of car usage, driving experience,
kilometers driven, urban or rural residence, income, means
of obtaining a license, and geographical location were not
significantly related to accident involvement.
Education
and occupation were significantly related to accident
103
involvement, as expected from their relationship to the
test score.
The chi-square tests on the data revealed the char
acteristics of the average Saudi private car owner (oper
ator) .
These characteristics have been described and pre
sented in table form throughout this chapter and the major
characteristics composing the profile image are summarized
below.
The data reveal that the majority of private car
owners in Saudi Arabia have lived longest in rural areas,
as shown in Table 4.13.
The average age is approximately
30 years old, as shown in Table 4.14.
The average driver's
purpose of using the car is primarily for work and plea
sure, as shown in Table 4.15.
The^majority of drivers had
lived in the Western province or district most of their
lives, as shown in Table 4.16.
urbanizing rapidly.
The Western province is
The average income is approximately
9,500 Saudi Riyals (equivalent to $2375) a year, as shown
in Table 4.17.
The average distance traveled is over 9000
kilometers every year, equivalent to 5,555 miles— Table
4.18.
The majority obtained their driver's license by
passing the oral interview and the road test, as shown in
104
Table 4.19.
The average driver has only about five years
of driving experience
(see Table 4.20).
as government employees
(see Table 4.21).
The majority work
The average
driver has an education slightly above the intermediate
(junior high school) level
(see Table 4.22).
Slightly
more than one out of two drivers have been involved in
accidents
(see Table 4.13).
CHAPTER V
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS,
AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
Statement of the Problem
A modern accident reporting system helps policy
makers plan and organize future programs.
These programs
should be based on complete information about the average
driver such as his age, education, occupation, past acci
dent involvement, and the other human factors involved such
as place of residence, purpose of car usage, and others.
In the developing nations including Saudi Arabia, the acci
dent reporting system is not as yet well enough developed
to meet these requirements, subsequently the policymaker
experiences many difficulties in planning successful pro
grams.
Therefore this study was undertaken with two objec
tives, the first being to compile basic statistics concern
ing various aspects of the traffic situation in the Arab
105
106
nation in relation to the world and Saudi Arabia in rela
tion to the Arab nations, utilizing such information as
the number of fatalities, number of injuries, number of
cars, and other related factors with an emphasis on Saudi
Arabia.
The second purpose was to examine the knowledge
of a sample of a growing universe— the private car owner
and operator.
A profile image of the average private car
owner was constructed.
Summary of Statistics Concerning the
International Traffic Problem
In fulfilling the first objective of the study,
the author reviewed various traffic statistics and com
piled the following information.
The Arab nations compose 8.8 percent of the world
land area and Saudi Arabia composes 18 percent of the land
area of the Arab World.
The population of the Arab World
composes 3.48 percent of that of the world, while Saudi
Arabia composes 5.53 percent of the population of the Arab
World.
The Arab World contains less than 1 percent of the
total cars of the world, while Saudi Arabia contains 7.74
107
percent of the total cars of the Arab World.
There is one
car per 48 Saudi citizens, as opposed to one car per every
68 persons in the Arab World.
Fatalities due to car accidents per year in the
Arab World make up 4.72 percent of the world traffic fatal
ities, while Saudi Arabia has 6.72 percent of those within
the Arab World.
The Arab World has a high percent of the world's
fatalities and Saudi Arabia has a high percent of the Arab
World's fatalities.
However, injuries outnumber the fatal
ities in both cases.
The three Arab states which lead in number of traf
fic fatalities per 100,000 persons are the U.A.E., Libya,
and Kuwait.
These three countries have some of the highest
fatality rates in the world.
While Saudi Arabia's number
of fatalities in high relative to its number of cars and
population size, it does not compare with the three above
mentioned Arab countries
(see Graph 2.3, Chapter II, p. 3 7).
Leading in traffic injuries within the Arab World
are Libya, Kuwait, and Jordan.
considerably fewer injuries.
Saudi Arabia again has
As mentioned, this is prob
ably an artifact of the recording techniques.
108
The Arab World has 51.82 fatalities per 10,000
cars, while Saudi Arabia has 45 fatalities.
These figures
run very high relative to three of the most technologically
advanced areas of the world.
Thus Europe has six fatal
ities per 10,000 cars, the United Kingdom has 4.6 fatal
ities per 10,000 cars, and the United States has 5.0 fa
talities per 10,000 cars
(see Graph 2.6b, Chapter II,
p. 44) .
These figures indicate that the problems of today,
already serious, may take on even more serious overtones
in the future, and thus require concentrated effort to
stem the onslaught.
This could be accomplished at least
in part by making the public aware of these statistics and
impressing upon them the idea that accidents are not "acci
dental" or fortuitous, but result largely from human fail
ure.
A social responsibility must be assumed to prevent
accidents to self and others.
Findings
To accomplish the second goal of this paper, var
ious hypotheses and sub-hypotheses were examined.
109
The first hypothesis, which concerned knowledge of
subjects in three areas related to safe driving as measured
by a questionnaire, was not rejected on the grounds that
the sample showed a lack of knowledge on all parts of the
test as evaluated by standard criteria.
Thus the combined
mean for all three parts of the test was 19.9 out of 38
questions.
The second hypothesis, which concerned the relation
of education and occupation to test score, was. also not
rejected on the grounds that the overall test score and the
score on each part of the test did show a relationship to
education and occupation.
The first sub-hypothesis, which concerned the rela
tionship between test score and accident involvement, was
not rejected on the grounds that a low score on the test
was correlated with accident involvement and high scores
were correlated with less accident involvement.
The second sub-hypothesis, which concerned the re
lation of accident involvement and certain personal attri
butes, was both rejected in part and supported in part.
Our data showed that there was no relationship between
accident involvement and rural-urban residence, age,
110
purposes of car usage, geographical location, income,
kilometers driven, means of obtaining driver's license,
and.years of driving experience.
There was a relationship
between accident involvement and occupation and education.
Rural-Urban Residence
There was a low level of association (0.011) be
tween rural-urban residence and accident involvement.
How
ever, a higher percentage of drivers from urban areas
tended to have been involved in accidents than those from
rural areas
(see Table 4.13).
A£e
A low level of association (5.891) was found be
tween age and accident involvement.
Those between the ages
of 40 and 4 9 answered positively to the question concerning
accident involvement more frequently than those in other
age categories, although this association was not high
enough to be significant (see Table 4.14).
Ill
Purposed of Car Usage
The association between purposes of using a car and
accident involvement was low (3.041).
Those respondents
who indicated that they used a car mainly as a status sym
bol more frequently reported having been involved in an
accident than those in other categories.
However, this
group was not large enough to test the significance of this
factor
(see Table 4.15).
Geographical Location
Whereas a low level of association (4.240) was
found between geographical location and accident involve
ment, those respondents living in the eastern district
tended to have answered more frequently that they had been
involved in accidents than respondents from other areas
(see Table 4.16).
Income
A low level of association (4.895) was found be
tween yearly income and accident involvement.
Those with
112
an income falling between 2000-5000 SR tended to indicate
more frequently that they had been involved in accidents
than did other groups.
The low level of significance of
those findings is surprising, however, since it was ex
pected that income, being associated with occupation and
education which have been shown to be two major factors re
lated to accident involvement, would also be related.
How
ever, these data show little association (see Table 4.17).
Kilometers Driven
A low level of association (2.317) was shown to
exist between the number of kilometers driven yearly and
accident involvement.
Those driving between 5,000 and
7,000 kilometers yearly tended to have had more accident
involvement as measured by our questionnaire.
However,
the association is not strong enough to be significant
(see Table 4.18) .
The Means of Obtaining
a Driver's License
There was a low level of association (13.335) be
tween the means used in obtaining a driver's license and
113
accident involvement.
Those respondents who had only suc
cessfully completed an oral interview (but not a written
or actual driving test) tended to more frequently have had
an accident experience.
However, the number of respondents
in this group was too small for the association to be sig
nificant (see Table 4.19).
Driving Experience
A low level of association (4.031) was found be
tween years of driving experience and accident involvement,
although those who had been driving the longest more fre
quently had had an accident experience (see Table 4.20).
Occupation
There was a high degree of association (0.0020)
between occupation and accident involvement.
Government
employees tended to claim less accident involvement than
those in other occupations
(see Table 4.21).
114
Education
A high degree of association (0.0245) existed be
tween education and accident involvement.
Drivers with a
high education (high school and above) had been involved
in accidents less frequently than those with a lower level
of education (see Table 4.22).
The Profile Image
Through the use of the chi-square tests, which re
vealed the relationship between accident involvement and
certain personal characteristics, a profile image was also
constructed as indicated in the following table.
Characteristics
Area
Age
Purpose of Car Usage
Geographical Location
Income
Kilometers Driven Annually
Means used in Obtaining
Driver's License
Years of Driving Experience
Occupation
Education
Accident Involvement
The Average Private
Car Owner
(approximate figures)
Rural
30 years old
Work and pleasure
Western province
6.000-10,000 Saudi Riyals
($1,500-$2,500)
5.000-9,000 kilometers
Passing the Interview and
Road Test
5 years
Government employee
Junior high school
5 0% involved in accidents
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Seventy-seven percent of the drivers sampled had
resided for most of their lives in rural areas.
The major
ity of the sample was approximately thirty years of age and
used the car mainly for purposes of work and pleasure.
About half of the sample had lived longest in the Western
District or Province.
The majority had an income of be
tween 6,000-10,000 Saudi Riyals.
The majority of drivers
had driven approximately 9,0 00 kilometers per year.
One
hundred twenty-six drivers out of the sample of 20 0 had
received their driver's license after passing the interview
and road test.
Seventy-six percent of the sample had been
driving between one and nine years.
government employees.
Over 50 percent were
The mean education was between
junior high school and high school level.
About one out
of two drivers in this sample had been involved in an
accident.
Conclusions and Recommendations
There is a general lack of emphasis placed on
driver education as an important area in Saudi Arabia.
At the moment, there are no driver's safety programs
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offered at any educational level.
At the same time, there
are few qualified people concerned with this area to dis
seminate information at licensing bureaus, schools, or
through the media.
Subsequently the new applicants for
licenses are judged on how well they handle a car during
the road test, rather than their actual knowledge of signs,
rules, and regulations pertaining to safe driving.
There also has been a lack of studies concerning
drivers in Saudi Arabia.
This study is the first study
dealing with driving problems in Saudi Arabia, although it
is limited in scope and population represented.
Therefore,
many more studies should be directed toward this area, with
larger samples and more variables considered, such as the
effect of daytime and nighttime driving on accident in
volvement.
Similar studies should be conducted concerning
taxi drivers, bus drivers, and truck drivers, i.e., profes
sional drivers.
Comparisons could then be made between
private car owners and professional drivers.
Studies
should begin to be conducted on the contribution of the
vehicle and road conditions to accident involvement.
Physiological and psychological factors which lead to
traffic accidents in Saudi Arabia should also be studied.
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Education and Occupation as Related
to the Test Score
Occupation and education were the two variables
most related to both test score and accident involvement.
These two variables are highly interdependent since a cer
tain amount of education is required to enter certain oc
cupations .
Education
Those with a high school education or more scored
significantly higher on the test than did those with less
education.
It appears that a long exposure to schooling
and the consequent facility of reading and writing might
increase awareness of information concerning safe driving.
In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, some of this infor
mation is usually contained in newspapers.
Their exposure
to test taking situations might also have affected their
score on the questionnaire designed for this study.
In
terms of this finding, it would seem advisable to try
especially to reach those who do not go on to high school
either through a school program or through pamphlets or
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discussion groups at the licensing bureau at the time of
application for a license.
Occupation
Most government employees must have at least an
elementary education to obtain their jobs.
Their high
score on the test relative to other occupations probably
reflects both their educational level and their higher ac
cess to information which is made available at their place
of work.
These same employees are likely to be more aware
of their actions and their effects due to the status of
their jobs.
They have also been exposed to more test tak
ing situations, which might have effected their score on
the questionnaire used in this study.
Their socio-economic
status allows them to travel which raises their awareness
of various traffic situations.
While continuing to display
pertinent information in government offices, other occupa
tions must be emphasized in any attempt at distributing
information.
Since these occupations appear to be less
well informed, it seems advisable to make special attempts
to reach them through discussion or distribution of liter
ature at their places of work or other gathering places.
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Accident Involvement and
Personal Attributes
This is the first study in the author's knowledge
concerned with the average private car owner in Saudi
Arabia.
The above mentioned findings cannot be taken as
conclusive due to the limitations of the study.
There
was a lack of previous literature on the topic to aid in
the formation of assumptions and speculations.
limitations beset the study.
Other
There was some difficulty
in obtaining the same number of subjects regionally since
the south and the north are particularly inaccessible.
Government employees, since they are financially capable
of car ownership, outnumber other respondents.
Due to the
lack of basic population statistics, such as a classifica
tion of those with driver's licenses by occupation, a pro
portionate distribution of questionnaires was impossible.
Also some of the questions were probably answered conserv
atively.
Apart from sampling difficulties, the size of
the sample was limited by time and available interviewers.
Many drivers are unexperienced with this type of study and
this may have influenced their answers.
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Another large group of important drivers in Saudi
Arabia are the professional drivers.
Other studies should
be directed toward learning more about this group and com
paring it to the private car owners.
However, despite these limitations, this study in
dicates in broad outline some general information concern
ing the average private car owner and operator and his
knowledge and as such can be used for planning future pro
grams .
In planning for any safety program it is important
to know the kind of driver that you are dealing with.
was the purpose of constructing a profile image.
This
Thus cer
tain characteristics become important not only as they are
related to accident involvement, but also as they form a
basis for safety programs.
Rural-Urban Residence
Since the majority of drivers have lived longest
in rural areas, programs should be oriented toward helping
them cope with urban driving situations, since many will
leave the rural areas to seek jobs in the cities.
Since
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both rural and urban drivers are almost equally involved
in accidents, programs are needed equally in both areas.
Age
Age is important in determining the type of ap
proach or message used in communicating with drivers.
A
message carried over the media should be differently de
signed for those who are 60 years old as opposed to the
18 year old.
Since the mean age for the sample was about
3 0 years old, this implies that most men will be married
with children.
Message to this group should emphasize
their need to protect themselves and others as heads of
families, and be otherwise suitably constructed for this
age group.
The age group of 4 0-4 9 have the most accidents
in this sample.
Whereas, it might be expected that younger
drivers would have had most accident involvement, education
probably becomes an intervening variable, since the young
are better educated than their elders.
Purposes of Car Usage
Knowing for what purposes a car is being used will
help traffic officials make decisions about punitive
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measures, such as suspension and revocation of driver's
licenses.
Since the majority of drivers
(71 percent) were
using their cars for purposes of work and pleasure, revoca
tion or suspension of license might cause many men to miss
work and cause hardship to their families.
In these cases,
rehabilitation programs might be a more effective means of
sanctioning a driver.
Although there was no significant
difference between groups in the sample who used their cars
for different purposes, those who used it mainly for status
purposes had more accidents than other groups.
This might
be due to their small dependence on the car as necessary
to a job and might imply an attitude of carelessness.
District
If one geographical area of the country contains
the majority of drivers, enforcement agencies should be
aware of this in order to maximize their manpower effi
ciency.
sized.
area.
Educationally, this area should also be empha
In this sample, the Western district is such an
The majority of drivers having had an accident come
from the Eastern district for this sample.
Increased
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enforcement and educational efforts should be made in this
area.
Income
Any monetary fine should be based on the average
income of the driver, so that excessive fines will be
avoided.
Since the average income for the group studied
is high, fines might constitute appropriate punitive mea
sures.
Those with an income of between 2,000-5,000 Riyals
have been involved in accidents to a greater extent than
other groups; although the difference between groups was
nonsignificant and the group with the lowest income did not
have the highest number of accidents.
Further studies need
to be conducted in this area.
Kilometers Driven
Having an approximate idea of the kilometers driven
by the average driver annually, will help planners to ex
tend those programs concerned with road upkeep, sign place
ment, marking, etc. beyond the local level.
Although the
data is nonsignificant, it indicates that those driving
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more kilometers a year have fewer accidents than do those
who drive from five to nine thousand kilometers a year.
One might expect that increased exposure would be more
accident producing, but these findings show the reverse.
The area in which one drives might be an intervening vari
able here, since in urban areas there is higher risk.
If
further studies show these results to be stable, then
messages to the public should emphasize that one need
not drive lengthy distances in order to be involved in
accidents.
Means of Obtaining Licenses
If planners of safety programs find that many
drivers have obtained a license illegally, then action
must be taken to correct the potential existence of drivers
using the highways who have little safety knowledge.
Based
on this sample, the majority of drivers have taken both the
interview and road test and it is this group which was
least involved in accidents.
This implies that both the
interview and the road test are necessary to prepare an
individual to receive a driver's license and a licensing
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bureau should take the responsibility in seeing that both
are passed.
Driving Experience
Drivers who have been driving for many years may
have formed certain attitudes toward and patterns of driv
ing, which will determine the type of program designed.
For examplp, such a program would emphasize changing atti
tudes, rather than teaching skill and basic information.
Based on this sample, the majority of drivers have only
been driving approximately five years.
Emphasis should
be placed in any instructional programs on teaching skill
and basic information.
The greater the number of years of
experience, the more accident involvement.
This leads to
the conclusion that the longer one has driven and the
longer one has been exposed to traffic situations, the
more likely it is that one will be involved in accidents.
Occupation
Knowing the occupation of drivers will help the
planner locate them and enable him to distribute
126
information in appropriate locations.
In rehabilitation
programs emphasis should be directed toward those occupa
tional groups who have been shown by studies to be less
knowledgeable about safe driving or to have been more fre
quently involved in accidents.
Occupation may also deter
mine the type of driver's test given, for example, taxi
drivers, bus drivers, truck drivers may be required to be
tested more rigidly due to their heavier driving responsi
bilities.
Since the majority of private car owners are
government employees, many drivers can be contacted through
government offices.
However, businessmen and company em
ployees had greater accident involvement than either gov
ernment employees and students, so that means must be found
to reach them.
Education is probably an underlying vari
able here, since both students and government employees
have a higher education than businessmen and company em
ployees.
Occupation leads to significant differences be
tween groups in terms of accident involvement.
Those with
occupations which give them little access to information
and for which little education is required should be in
formed about safe driving through the media and special
programs.
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Education
A necessary element in any successful message is
knowledge of the educational level of the receiver.
If the
message is beyond the level of comprehension of the re
ceivers, the message will break down.
If the message is
too elementary, it will not be effective.
Educational
level also determines the type of driver's test which offi
cials are able to administer.
For example, an oral exam is
necessary for those who are illiterate.
Since the data
show that those having the most accident involvement have
either no education or at most an intermediate education,
programs should be directed toward these groups in partic
ular.
This study indicates a significant relationship be
tween education and accident involvement.
Knowledge of accident involvement determines the
need for a program and its size and type.
For example, in
Saudi Arabia where accident involvement includes approxi
mately one out of two drivers and fatalities are high, the
program should emphasize these factors.
A high number of
accidents implies a need for restructuring the traffic
department.
128
Discussion
Suggested Safety Program
After reviewing several safety programs used in the
United States and several other countries, a combined model
was developed which, it is felt, could be usefully applied
in Saudi Arabia.
Police functions in Saudi Arabia are combined under
the Ministry of the Interior and are practiced by several
agencies directed by the Minister of the Interior.
The
most important of these agencies is the Public Security
Department.
Together with this agency are several others;
the General Department of Civil Defense, the General De
partment of Guards and Border Guards, the General Depart
ment of Investigation, the General Department of Passports
and Nationalities, the Police College and National Center
of International Criminal Police Organization.
Under the Public Security Department there are sev
eral sub-departments; the General Directorate of Identifi
cation and the General Directorate of Emergency and Traf
fic .
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The General Directorate of Emergency and Traffic
has its main headquarters in Riyadh, the capital city of
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with major and minor depart
ments in cities of varying sizes.
These departments are
responsible for establishing traffic safety programs
throughout the country and are periodically evaluated.
The high rate of accident involvement among the country's
drivers, however, suggests that these departments are not
carrying out their responsibilities efficiently.
This may
be due in part to duplication of functions among these
departments, lack of unification and delimitation of re
sponsibilities.
Thus the following steps should be taken:
1.
Distinction of Responsibilities--Each department
should have a written guideline which explains
the duties and responsibilities of both the de
partment and individuals with the department.
2.
Delimitation— There should be definite limitations
or boundaries on the authority and responsibil
ities of the departments and individuals within
the department, i.e., responsibilities for certain
duties should be clearly placed on specific indi
viduals .
3.
Unification— Under the traffic department in the
capital city, are the many sub-divisions in the
various large and small cities throughout the
country.
Many of these are duplicating their work
efforts. These sub-departments should be better
integrated and should file reports periodically
to one major department.
130
The application of the three principles mentioned
above would give the department of traffic a stronger pub
lic image and hence more public support.
With this in mind, the following model in Figure 5
was devised which contains the most important elements
needed in establishing a traffic safety program and acci
dent prevention.
Objectives
Traffic accidents today are among the leading
causes of death in many parts of the world.
Already high
in industrialized nations, the problem is beginning to
become serious in the developing nations also, such as,
U.A.E., Kuwait, and Libya.
An increase in human suffering
and economical loss is the inevitable result.
In Saudi Arabia in 1971, about 652 persons lost
their lives and 147 5 were injured, many seriously.
These
accidents will continue as the price for modernization as
the number of cars rapidly increase in the country.
In The Psychology of Traffic, A. R. Lauer calcu
lates that one meets an accident situation about once
131
State General
Objectives
Establish a
Reporting System
_________ v_________
Determining the
Causes of Accidents
Plan For Action
Take Individual and Group
Measures for Safety
I
Develop Organization,