Traffic Risk Perception, Risky Road Use Behaviors among Vietnamese People

Background: The total number of (road) traffic accidents in Vietnam remains high and the death toll caused by these accidents also ranks second in Southeast Asia. Many studies elsewhere have shown a positive correlation between the traffic risk perception and the traffic risky behavior (henceforth, referred to as TRP and TRB, respectively, for short) However, this relationship has been relatively under-researched in the context of Vietnam. This study aimed to fulfill the above research gap by investigating the present status of TRP and TRB among Vietnamese people who used motorbikes and/or electric motorbikes for their daily travel as well as the association between these two variables. Methods: This was a cross-sectional quantitative study. Data were collected from a convenient sample of 373 people using motorbikes and electric motorbikes (102 males, 271 females; M age = 25.8) by means of an online questionnaire survey. This questionnaire survey was constructed based on the Risk Perception Scale on traffic risk developed by Ram et al. (2016) as well as an additional question that was to explore the risk behaviors of research participants during their traffic involvement for the last thirty days. Results: TRP indices were found to be higher for women than for men. Young males with extroverted characteristics had higher TRB than old females with introverted characteristics. However, no relationship existed between these two factors in the present study. Conclusion: As the finding of this study turned out to be inconsistent with those of previous research, more empirical studies are still welcome in this area.