Analysis of factors affecting drivers’ choice to engage with a mobile phone while driving in Beijing

• Beijing drivers have a high rate of phone use and other distracted driving behavior.
• Income, education and driving frequency positively relate with calling while driving.
• Perceived risk and importance are main predicted factors of phone use while driving.
• Drivers in Beijing perceive texting more dangerous and prefer to talk while driving.
• Driver’s mood condition has influence on his frequency of calling while driving.

In the current work, we examined reasons that drivers choose to engage with a mobile phone while driving in Beijing. An Internet survey was administered to collect data about talking and texting while driving. Conversations were sorted into different types. Respondents were requested to indicate the frequency of initiating a call or text, perceived risk, perceived importance and emotionality of the call or text. A structural equation model of talking and texting while driving was developed with perceived risk, perceived importance and emotionality of the call as predictors and compared to a similar model with U.S. drivers. Unlike the U.S. data, perceived risk has a significant negative impact on the choice to call or text among drivers in Beijing. Results also show that perceived importance of the call is a major factor affecting the usage of phone while driving. Even though drivers know it is dangerous and illegal, Beijing drivers choose to talk on mobile phones while driving, but they prefer not to text.