Driver-to-Driver Communication Skills: Contributing Factors to Traffic Accidents on South African Roads?

Jacob Adedayo Adedeji (), Xoliswa Evelyn Feikie () and Domagoj Dijanic
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Jacob Adedayo Adedeji: Sustainable Environment and Transportation Research Group (SET-RG), Department of Civil Engineering Midlands, Durban University of Technology, Durban 3021, South Africa
Xoliswa Evelyn Feikie: Department of Civil Engineering and Geomatics, Durban University of Technology, Durban 3021, South Africa
Domagoj Dijanic: DODI-Projekt Company, Tumbri V. Odvojak 4, 10257 Zagreb, Croatia

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 11, 1-19

Abstract: Road traffic accidents are associated with different factors, such as nonsignalised road networks, inexperienced drivers, a lack of communication skills, distraction, and the visual or cognitive impairment of road users, which have led to this increase in traffic accidents. Understanding these factors in alignment with road user communication skills can provide solutions that can reduce traffic fatalities. Road users’ communication is predominantly formal in nature; informal means of communication also exist but are not given proper attention during the driving training and licence testing processes. Therefore, this study investigated the communication skills between drivers as a factor contributing to traffic accidents in South African cities. Consequently, 16 traffic scenarios of communication between drivers were simulated using PTV Vissim 2022 and Blender 3.0 software, and a semistructured interview questionnaire was used to collect data from South African road users. The questionnaire was further used to evaluate the confidence level of road users concerning informal communication. The data were analysed via regression analysis to establish the relationship between traffic accidents and miscommunication between drivers. The information gathered and analysed from this study helps us to understand the informal communication types between drivers and establish where communication loss exists, which could potentially lead to a traffic accident. The results also show that the misinterpretation of communication signals can present the possibility of a traffic safety risk.

Keywords: traffic safety; road users; communication; road traffic accidents; traffic engineering (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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