Determinants behind young motorcyclists’ risky riding behavior

Young motorcyclists have traditionally been considered a high-risk population. Given the critical influence of riders’ behaviors on traffic safety, identifying what riders think can help clarify the nature of accidents. Although psychological studies have explored the relationships among personality traits, attitudes and risky driving behavior, the primary difference this study makes from past studies is incorporating both positive and negative effects in a refined causal framework. This study adopts structural equation modeling to analyze data collected from 683 young motorcyclists aged between 18 and 28. The results conclude three primary personality traits of young motorcyclists, namely sensation seeking, amiability and impatience. While amiable riders represent a group of relatively mature and safe riders, the sensation-seeking riders are extremely self-confident, comfortable with unsafe riding and interested in the utility gained from it. Meanwhile, the sensation-seeking ones also are highly aware of traffic conditions, which may lower the chances of getting into an accident, but the accident could be extremely severe if it ever occurs. Impatient riders, having low riding confidence and traffic awareness deficiency, also seek utility from certain risky riding behaviors. However, their fear of an accident leads them to fail to observe surrounding traffic conditions. The result indicates various mental compromise mechanisms for young motorcyclists in conducting riding behaviors. Thus, corresponding countermeasures, including licensure system and ITS roadway development, should consider the heterogeneous characteristics of young riders.