S. Sinha, S. Saurav, M. Kumar

Pages: 159-180

Abstract
India is one of the fastest emerging and young nation that unfortunately ranks at the top with the highest number of fatalities due to road accidents that contributes 11% share in the world. Nonetheless, there are only a few studies that have been carried out for understanding the Indian adolescent road user behavioural effects on traffic safety. Thus, this study explores the adolescent road-user behaviour for urban India by exercising a questionnaire survey among adolescents (N = 1,015) at Patna, India to comprehend road safety behavioural characteristics. The behavioural questionnaire comprises of 40 items of adolescent road user in the age group of 13 to 17-year-old to analyse the parameter which influences the injuries and fatalities for this age group. These adolescents have been evaluated based on their rapid physical, psychological, cognitive and social development involving in unsafe riding behaviour, rash riding, speeding on the open road and dangerous thought patterns. The Adolescent Road User Behaviour Questionnaire (ARUBQ) completed along with the interaction effects of age, gender, qualification, religion, etc. on a 5-point Likert scale. The principal axis factor analysis using varimax rotation has been performed to a response of 40 items which were best fitted and revised to 27 items that have good internal confidence reliability. The three variables factors: “unsafe road crossing behaviour”, “dangerous playing on the road”, and “planned protective behaviour” solutions were identified based on a study of adolescent road-user behaviour. The effects of demographic variables on ARUBQ scale’s score were obtained for each behavioural item. This study in the context of emerging urban India ascertains and provide a tool for future study in the enforcement of traffic rule and regulation that can play an important role in developing road-user safety for adolescents in India.
Keywords: behaviour; adolescent; road-user; urban India; ARUBQ