AN APPLICATION OF AN EXTENDED THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOUR (TPB) TO SPEEDING IN SAUDI ARABIA

Abstract

Despite the adoption of improved speed management measures around the world, speeding is still regarded one of the primary causes of road traffic injuries. With faster travel speeds, the likelihood of a crash increases, as does the severity of the crash. The current study included a multiphase mixed-methods approach to investigate the impact of psychosocial factors on speeding in Saudi Arabia (SA), such as personal, societal, situational, and legal aspects. The program's research was based on an extended version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) that included the TPB's standard/direct predictors (attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control [PBC]) as well as three additional predictors: descriptive norms, moral norms, and past behavior.

An online questionnaire was used to perform the main (third) investigation. The study used a repeated measure approach, with a variety of items being evaluated in relation to three different speeding scenarios. First, the "GS" scenario refers to the general definition of speeding, which is defined as exceeding the legal speed limit. Second, speeding in 80 km/h zones in order to Make a Scheduled Appointment, also known as 80-MSA. Third, making a scheduled appointment while speeding in a 120 km/h zone was abbreviated as H-MSA.

Across the various speeding scenarios, the results revealed partial support for the utility of the extended TPB. Overall, the direct predictors explained 35% of the variance in scenario GS, 60% of the variance in scenario 80-MSA, and 64% of the variance in scenario H-MSA. Additionally, the majority of the participants showed that they had low intention of speeding in all scenario.

The direct predictors of speeding intention that were found to be significant were investigated. In all three speeding scenarios, GS, 80-MSA, and H-MSA, only PBC was revealed to be a significant predictor of speeding intention. According to the findings, the more participants believe they can regulate their driving speed in different speed zones, the greater their intention to speed. In terms of the additional predictors, past behavior was a significant predictor of speeding intention in all scenarios. This result revealed that those who had driven faster in the past were more inclined to do so again in the future. Moral norms and descriptive norms were shown to be significant only for scenarios GS and H-MSA as additional predictors. For scenario GS, moral norms were a significant predictor. and

For scenarios GS and H-MSA, moral standards were a significant predictor, indicating that the more people feel bad about speeding, the less likely they are to speed. Descriptive norm was also a significant predictor for these scenarios, indicating that the more participants believe other drivers would speed in such scenarios, the more likely they commit speeding.

In conclusion, several psychosocial factors have been found as impacting Saudi drivers' speeding intentions. According to the study, personal, social, and situational elements are among them, indicating that they should be incorporated in future public awareness campaigns and educational institutions.