Cross-cultural effects on the perception and appraisal of approaching motorcycles at junctions

• Malaysian and UK drivers perception and appraisal of approaching vehicles was compared.
• Malaysian drivers were relatively good at perceiving motorcycles at further distances.
• High exposure to motorcycles may make them easier to perceive.
• Malaysian drivers make more risky appraisals than UK drivers about pulling out safety.

Both perceptual errors (failing to perceive) and appraisal errors (failing to make a correct judgment about safety) could explain the relatively high number of pulling out at the junctions involving approaching motorcycles in relation to cars. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of exposure to motorcycles on these types of errors by comparing drivers from Malaysia where motorcycles are very common with drivers from the UK where motorcycles are rare. Experiment 1 investigated drivers’ ability to perceive approaching vehicles (car or motorcycle) located at different distances (near, intermediate and far) on UK and Malaysian roads. There was no difference between Malaysian and UK drivers in overall ability to perceive the approaching vehicles but Malaysian drivers were relatively good at perceiving motorcycles at further distances. Experiment 2 investigated drivers’ judgments about whether or not it was safe to pull out on the same roads and found that Malaysian drivers were more likely to judge it was safe to pull out as compared to UK drivers. Findings suggest that high exposure to motorcycles may reduce vehicle effects on perception for Malaysian drivers. However they may make more risky appraisals about safety of pulling out, which might contribute to the high accident and fatality rates in Malaysia.