The Driver Behaviour Questionnaire as an Accident Predictor in Cross-cultural Countries in Qatar and Turkey: Global Public Health Problem

Background: The Manchester Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ) has been extensively used as predictor of self-reported road traffic accidents. The associations between crashes and the violation and error factors of the DBQ however, might be reporting a little bias.

Aim: The current study aiming to explore the driving behaviours of Qatari’s and Turkish ethnic groups and to investigate the relationship between error, violations, and lapses of DBQ and accident involvement.

Materials and Methods: The DBQ instruments has been used to measure the aggressive driving behaviours leading to road accidents. The study included a representative sample of 2050 drivers and of whom 1,511 drivers agreed to participate (73.7%). A sample of 1,511 drivers from two ethnic groups; Qatar (620), and Turkish (891) completed the driver behaviour questionnaire and background information.

Results: There was a significant difference found between both the countries, Qatar and Turkish, in age group, education, occupation, marital status, car type, and seat belt use (p<0.001). The Qatari drivers scored higher on almost all items of violations, errors and lapses compared to other ethnic groups, while Turkish drivers were lower on all the items. Turkish drivers (38.9%) have been involved in more accidents compared to Qatari drivers (32.9%). In terms of cause of accidents, careless driving (31.6%) and excessive speeding (28.5%) were significantly higher among Qatari drivers (p<0.001). More than one third of the studied drivers of two ethnic groups were involved in traffic violations; Qatari (26.6%), and Turkish (33.3%). The use of DBQ permitted the differentiation between deliberate deviations from safe driving practices and errors and violation due to misjudgments or lapses in focus.

Conclusion: The present study revealed driver behaviour is different in two ethnic and cultural groups and scores rated differently. Qatari drivers scored higher on most of the items of violations, errors and lapses of DBQ compared to Turkish drivers in all DBQ items. The results emphasise the importance of social, socio-economic, life-style, cultural factors, general driving style and skills, differ between both countries with the respect of traffic safety.