Examination of the effects of service drivers behaviours and attitudes and psychological situations on the traffic accidents

This research is a cross-section study and, by aiming to examine the effects of the attitudes and behaviors of the drivers and their psychologic situation which is thought to affect those behaviors; on the traffic accidents, was performed on the 67 drivers of a private company which provides transportation services for the staff of a educational hospital in Ankara. In order to accumulate the data of the research, Symptom Checklist also known as, SCL-90-R which was developed by Derogatis et al and a 67-question query is asked to the drivers which incline towards the socio-demographic, health and economic aspects, their attitudes and behaviors, their points of view about the traffic rules, their frequency of getting fines and accidents, their job satisfaction and towards their last accidents according to the the damage coverage, the time, the type and the causeThe accident frequency was high for the Vocational/University graduates and those who are 53+, for those who received traffic education the accidental frequency is %66.7. According to their adoption of the traffic lore %47.9 by on their own and %6 from media. %61.2 told that the laws were dissuasive and %43.9 of them indicated that the suspension of the diriving license as the most dissuasive. %44.8 told that the policemen inspected their documents most of the time in the controls. Before they start their engines, only %31.4 said that they checked everything. %4.5 told that they never brought their vehicles to regular maintenance and %25.4 told that they only brought their vehicles to maintenance only when their vehicles broke down. %82.2 indicated the spare tire as the most important item that should be in a vehicle. Only %12 see themselves as sufficient in first aid. The accident frequency was established as %47.2 in those who don?t use the safety belt. %49.3 told that the safety belt was not necessary always, especially (51.5) in lower speed movements. As the factor of their thought that the safety belts are unnecessary; %39.4 said that ?I am powerful enough to lower the crash effect in an accident, I can hold the steering or the doorknob?. %62.7 pass through red lights, and the accident frequency among red-light-passers is %47.6. While %74.6 expresses that they talk to their cellular phones, %60.0 said that their attention was dissipated during the conversation. %50.8 exceeds the speed limit. %29.8 shows driving wearily or without any sleep as the main reasons of the accidents in Turkey. They had accidents especially in September, October and December (%13.3 each) and on Mondays. In their last accident %50 indicated that there wasn?t any fault caused by them, %13.3 said weariness, and %10.0 said the lack of sleep was the reason. 54 people said that they had at least 1 law fine up to now, and it is found that 33 people is the number of the drivers who got a penalty in last 1 year time. %7.4 of the drivers who got a fine upto now have been penalized 6 times, while %6.1 of the drivers who got a fine in the 1 year time have been penalized twice. While accident frequency among those who got penalized upto now is %53.7, this is %57.6 in those who got penalized in the 1 year time. The accident frequency of those who got penalized in 1 year time is found out to be %24.2. According to the levels of the points calculated on the Symptom Checklist-90-R; %26.9 has high of somatisation point levels, %10.4 has high anxiety point levels, %26.9 has high obsessive-compulsive point levels, %7.5 has even higher, %20,9 has high depression point levels, %26.9 has high interpersonal sensitivity point levels, %6.0 has high psychotism point levels, %17.9 has high paranoid thinking point levels, %7.5 has even higher, %28.3 has high anger point levels, %3 has even higher, %14.9 has high general symptom index point levels. In the end of the research, it is clearly expressed that the inspection of the drivers who have huge responsibilities may enlight the solution of the problems that are lived in the traffic, and that the education and supervision also with man and enviromental factors are in effect when they make an accident.