Assessment on Malaysian motorcyclists’ behaviour, traffic risks and safety: A comparative analysis between young and middle-aged adults

• Main Authors: Zaki, Natasha Aleia Ahmad, Kamaluddin, Noor Azreena, Ishak, Siti Zaharah, Hashim, Wardati, Arshad, Ahmad Kamil
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adults; Age; Comparative analysis; Mann-Whitney U test; Middle age; Perception; Statistical significance; Traffic accidents; Traffic safety; Young adults
• ISSN: 0094-243X; 1551-7616
• DOI: 10.1063/5.0128041

Road accident cases involving motorcyclists in Malaysia are on the rise where the latest recorded at 113,288 cases in 2018. It was also found that motorcyclists have a higher rate of fatalities and serious injuries due to road accidents. One of the root causes of road accidents is riding behaviour while age is one of the factors affecting this behaviour. Thus, this study was conducted to assess the behaviour of young adults (16-24 years old) and middle-aged adult (25-60 years old) Malaysian motorcyclists. The objectives are to assess their riding behaviour and characteristics using an online self-administered questionnaire (i.e., Google form), to correlate the relationship of age with traffic conviction history and accident involvement followed by the analysis on the mean ranks of risky behaviour and perception for both age groups, and to compare both groups’ traffic risks and safety. The relationship of the variables was analysed using Pearson’s Correlation meanwhile Mann-Whitney U Test was used to examine the mean ranks. Both were conducted using SPSS Statistics software. It was found that there are statistically significant correlations between “Age” with “Traffic Convictions History” and “Accidents Involvement”. The results from the Mann-Whitney U Test also showed statistically significant data with young adults having higher mean ranks for both risky behaviour and perception. Lastly, the comparison indicated that young adults have higher traffic risks and lower road safety than middle-aged adults. The comparative analysis is useful in distinguishing two different groups to get deeper insights into their factors and effects.