Studying prevalence of decentralized driving behaviors among motorcycle drivers

Given the importance of traffic injuries and limited studies of distraction behaviors, especially in motorcyclists, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of decentralized driving behaviors among motorcycle drivers.

This cross-sectional study was carried out by simple sampling method on 273 motorcycle license holders who referred to one of the +10 police stations who were willing to complete the questionnaire. The self-administered questionnaire included questions about high-risk behaviors that could reduce one's concentration when riding a motorcycle. After data collection, the data were entered and analyzed into a database designed with SPSS software.

The mean age of participants was 02/9±4/36  years and the mean age was 35 years. About 86.1 percent of motorcycle riders have performed at least one distracting behavior while driving a motorcycle in the last month. The most common behaviors leading to distraction in recent months have been search for street addresses and talk to motor passenger. The least prevalent of these behaviors were song selection or tuning the player and reading the map to find the address. On motorcyclists' attitudes about which of the following behaviors can lead to distraction. 96/7 believed that reading or texting while driving the motor can cause distractions too much or too much. The relationship between attitudes about the extent of the effects of behaviors leading to distraction such as talking to motor passenger, talking to other motorcyclists and drivers, reading map to find address, searching addressing at street, smoking, eating and drinking, arranging hair, face and clothes, watching people walking or riding, listening to music, selecting songs or adjusting the sound of the player, dialing or talking on a mobile phone while driving a motorcycle, distracting the driver, was significant in driver distraction, doing at least one behavior that resulted in distraction during the last month.

Considering the high number of traffic injuries in our country and the high frequency of distracting behaviors, it is recommended to improve the awareness and attitude of drivers regarding these behaviors and to strengthen the legislation in this field.