Getting Young Drivers to Buckle Up: Exploring the Factors Influencing Seat Belt Use by Young Drivers in Malaysia

Abstract

Many car drivers in Malaysia, especially young drivers, ignore the importance of wearing seat belts. This questionnaire study employed an extended version of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) by including habit as a new construct to explain the factors influencing the behavioural intention and expectation of young Malaysian drivers to use seat belts. A total of 398 young drivers from the state of Selangor in Malaysia participated in this study. Analyses used a covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM) approach. The results showed that the variance, which indicates the intention of young Malaysian drivers to use seat belts (R2 = 0.76), is influenced by drivers’ habits and three basic constructs of the TPB (attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control). The basic TPB constructs have a direct and positive impact on the intention of young Malaysian drivers to use seat belts. Drivers’ habits have a positive and direct influence on their intention to use seat belts, and an indirect influence via the attitude and perceived behaviour control constructs. Drivers’ habits do not influence subjective norms. The authors recommend implementing effective measures to encourage Malaysian drivers to use seat belts and ensure sustainable traffic safety.

Factors Influencing Young Drivers’ Willingness to Engage in Risky Driving Behavior: Continuous Lane-Changing

“…In line with previous studies [4,[6][7][8]10,[13][14][15][16], Hypothesis 2 was supported by both Model 2 and Model 3, where the PBC was also a significant influence. Some young drivers were overconfident about their driving skills and believed that they could easily conduct continuous lane-changing and be able to deal with any emergency.…”

“…However, our study found that subjective norms significantly affected young drivers' willingness to engage in continuous lane-changing. Other studies on young drivers reported similar results [4][5][6][7][8]10,[12][13][14][15][16], which also confirmed that young drivers are more susceptible to the influence of family and friends.…”

“…According to previous studies [4,[6][7][8][9][10][11][13][14][15][16], attitudes had a significant influence on young drivers' intention to engage in risky or illegal behavior. In this study, Hypothesis 1 was supported by all three models where attitude was a significant influencing factor.…”

“…First of all, the sample size should be enlarged to make it more representative. Second, although influencing factors from both the TPB and PWM were used to explain young drivers' willingness, there might be other potential factors such as past behavior and driving habits [9,12,13,16]. Furthermore, in our study, self-reported questionnaire data were used to examine the factors behind young drivers' behavioral willingness, but the results may not have been entirely pertinent.…”

“…In 2018 in China, 51.36 million young drivers (aged 18-25) constituted 12.56% of all drivers [2] and they accounted for approximately 39% of all driving-related crashes [3]. Young drivers have been receiving great attention from many researchers due to their risky driving such as speeding [4][5][6][7], driving while drowsy [8], texting while driving [9][10][11][12], drunk driving [13,14], smartphone use while driving [15], not wearing a seat belt [16], and so on. Researchers [17][18][19][20][21] have also developed a series of Young Drivers Scale (YDS) to measure risky driving behavior in different countries.…”