The purpose of this study was to predict the safe driving behaviors of taxi drivers in Tehran based on the health belief model. The findings showed a strong correlation between the constructs of model (except for perceived susceptibility) and safe driving behaviors. Self-efficacy was the strongest determinant of safety behavior.
As the results showed, self-efficacy was the strongest predictor of safe behavior among taxi drivers. Studies in this regard confirmed the relationship between self-efficacy and safe driving behaviors[19, 20]. Another study showed that drivers with lower emotional self-efficacy had higher hazardous driving behaviors than drivers with higher emotional self-efficacy. Contrary to the findings of present study, a study showed no significant relationship between self-efficacy and safe behaviors of taxi drivers [18]. To some extent, these contradictions can be attributed to the differences in the personality and demographic characteristics of the target community and the dominant culture of different countries. Individuals with high self-efficacy seem to feel more confident and competent than those with low self-efficacy, and therefore are less likely to behave negatively. It can also be argued that when people believe they can drive safely against road accidents and this behavior can reduce their health risks, they are less likely to drive dangerously. The construct of self-efficacy should be considered more closely because it can be strongly linked to safe driving behaviors, as knowing the reasons for doing a behavior alone is not enough, but the person must fell capable of doing the behave.
In this study, perceived susceptibility was not a predictor of safety behaviors in taxi drivers. In line with this study, a study showed that perceived susceptibility is not a predictor of safety behavior in taxi drivers[18]. Unlike the present study, studies have acknowledged the role of perceived susceptibility in promoting safe behaviors[21, 22]. The reason for this contradiction may be attributed to the study population of present study (taxi drivers), probably because taxi drivers consider themselves to be trained and professional drivers, therefore they are not susceptible to accident. The effective and successful prevention of accidents depends on the actual information about the susceptibility to and the likelihood of the risk, so promoting awareness often results in perceived susceptibility and ultimately leads to safe behaviors.
In the present study, the perceived severity was found to be a predictor of safe behavior in taxi drivers. In line with this finding, a perceived threat from high-risk driving behaviors was associated with a reduction in these behaviors in another study[22]. Other studies refer to threat evaluation by drivers as a reason for the reduction of hazardous behaviors such as carelessness driving[23, 24]. Also, Şimşekoğlu et al showed that perceived threat leads to cautious behaviors, including seat belts use and speed reduction. The perceived threat in present study seemed to have encouraged the drivers to increase their safe driving behaviors. Contrary to the findings of present study, perceived severity in some studies did not predict safe behavior among drivers [18, 25, 26]. The reason for this contradiction can be attributed to the personality traits, cultural differences, and differences in purpose, instrumentation, and type of the studied subjects.
The current study showed that perceived benefit was a predictor of safe driving behavior. Consistent with this finding, in another study perceived benefit was found to be a predictor of safe behavior in taxi drivers[18]. But in the Gras et al study (2007), perceived benefit was not a predictor of using seatbelts[17]. This difference can be attributed in part to the differences in the study design and objectives and the personal and cultural characteristics of the subjects. The average score of perceived benefits among taxi drivers in the current study was due to the fact that, the drivers had a high perceptions of benefits of safe behaviors. It means that, one comes to believe that using safety belt can reduce the severity of injuries in an accident, and this action is beneficial for him/her. Therefore, it seems that highlighting benefits through training and education is necessary for drivers to promote safety behaviors.
In this study, there was a significant and reverse relationship between the perceived barriers and safe driving behaviors. In line with the findings of present study, a study showed that perceived barriers after guideline is the most powerful predictor of safe behavior among taxi drivers[18]. Many studies are in line with these findings[27-29]. It seems that in order to increase safety behaviors, obstacles should be removed or reduced. For example, the quality of roads is one of the obstacles to safe behavior in taxi drivers. In a study, taxi drivers braked suddenly or quickly turned to avoid falling into the holes on the roads, which could have caused problems for the following car [1]. Other barriers include the lack of facilities and old or worn out vehicles, because driving with these cars can be difficult due to their low level of safety. Therefore, accurate identification of perceived barriers and removal of them to promote safe driving behaviors is essential.
Limitations
One of the limitations of present study was the self-reporting of the questionnaires, which might have affected the accuracy of the results. Due to the limitations of human studies and not being able to directly observe the drivers' behaviors, the results must be generalized with caution. Another limitation of this study could be its inability to be generalized to other drivers, because the participants in this study were taxi drivers, thus the results should not be generalized to the drivers of other vehicles. The cross-sectional nature of this study was another limitation. It is suggested that in future studies, educational interventions should be conducted with long-term follow-up, and also direct observation method should be used to measure performance.