Investigating the Effect of Social and Cultural Factors on Drivers in Malaysia: A Naturalistic Driving Study

Ward Ahmed Al-Hussein, Miss Laiha Mat Kiah, Lip Yee Por and Bilal Bahaa Zaidan
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Ward Ahmed Al-Hussein: Department of Computer System and Technology, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Miss Laiha Mat Kiah: Department of Computer System and Technology, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Lip Yee Por: Department of Computer System and Technology, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Bilal Bahaa Zaidan: Department of Computing, Faculty of Arts, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Tanjong Malim 30000, Malaysia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 22, 1-18

Abstract: Road accidents are increasing every year in Malaysia, and it is always challenging to collect reliable pre-crash data in the transportation community. Existing studies relied on simulators, police crash reports, questionnaires, and surveys to study Malaysia’s drivers’ behavior. Researchers previously criticized such methods for being biased and unreliable. To fill in the literature gap, this study presents the first naturalistic driving study in Malaysia. Thirty drivers were recruited to drive an instrumented vehicle for 750 km while collecting continuous driving data. The data acquisition system consists of various sensors such as OBDII, lidar, ultrasonic sensors, IMU, and GPS. Irrelevant data were filtered, and experts helped identify safety criteria regarding multiple driving metrics such as maximum acceptable speed limits, safe accelerations, safe decelerations, acceptable distances to vehicles ahead, and safe steering behavior. These thresholds were used to investigate the influence of social and cultural factors on driving in Malaysia. The findings show statistically significant differences between drivers based on gender, age, and cultural background. There are also significant differences in the results for those who drove on weekends rather than weekdays. The study presents several recommendations to various public and governmental sectors to help prevent future accidents and improve traffic safety.

Keywords: driving behavior; naturalistic driving study; aggressive driving; speeding; driver performance; the relationship between social/cultural factors and driving; characteristics of young and older drivers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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