Analysing local motorcyclists’ perception towards road safety

Abstract

This study sought to investigate differences in local motorcyclists’ perception towards road safety in Bali. The independent variables consisted of socio-demographic characteristics containing gender, age, marital status, education levels, riding license ownerships, exposure measured by estimates of distance travelled, future riding purposes in the next year, self estimation in riding skill and in being safer motorcyclists, experiences of minor motorcycle crashes, and casualties in the last three years. Two models were developed which consisted of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Structural Equation Model (SEM). This study found that sensation seeking significantly influences on attitudes towards risky riding indicating motorcyclists in Bali are more likely to undertake risky riding behaviours on the road as long as they believe there is some degree of control. Interestingly, female motorcyclists involving local residents have low perceptions towards road safety. Further studies on the gender of motorcyclists therefore, are required to provide more information for more target specific and effective road safety campaign.