This study surveyed 400 people in Mahasarakham City, Thailand about their perceptions of the causes of road accidents. The majority of respondents perceived that human factors are the primary cause of road accidents. Respondents also perceived drunk driving as the most dangerous driving behavior that can cause accidents. Perceptions varied somewhat based on factors like age, education level, and occupation, but responses were generally consistent across groups. The study provides insight into public views on the root causes of road accidents in the surveyed region of Thailand.

1. American Transactions on
Engineering & Applied Sciences
http://TuEngr.com/ATEAS
Public Perception on Road Accidents: A Case Study of
Mahasarakham City, Thailand
Apirath Chattranusorn
a
, and Boonsap Witchayangkoon
a*
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Thammasat University, THAILAND
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T RA C T
Article history:
Received April 24, 2014
Received in revised form
July 14, 2014
Accepted 26 July 18, 2014
Available online
July 21, 2014
Keywords:
Likert Scale;
Driving Behavior;
Street accident;
Drunk driving;
Cause of accident;
Questionnaire.
This study surveyed public perception on the causes of
roadway accidents in Mahasarakam City area. There are 400
questionnaire respondents from different ages, occupations, and
background. The majority of respondents never have an experience
of confronting crash. Average perception of all respondents
indicates that human is the most dominant factor causing road
accidents. In addition, most respondents give high score to drunk
driving as the most dangerous driving behavior. Respondents with
different educational backgrounds seem to have agreeable
perception on most of the items that cause street accidents.
2014 Am. Trans. Eng. Appl. Sci.
1. Introduction
Accidents occurred on roads in Thailand are at very high numbers. Motorcycle accident is
ranked at the highest, following with car accident. Accidents are caused by many factors such as
driving behaviors, road conditions, conditions of traffics, etc. This work tries to learn public
perceptions on road accidents, with a case study of people living in Mueang Mahasarakham,
north-east province of Thailand. Questionnaires were used as a study tool. Questionnaires had
2014 American Transactions on Engineering & Applied Sciences.
*Corresponding author (B.Witchayangkoon). Tel/Fax: +66-2-5643001 Ext.3101. E-mail
address: drboonsap@gmail.com. 2014. American Transactions on Engineering &
Applied Sciences. Volume 3 No.3 ISSN 2229-1652 eISSN 2229-1660 Online Available
at http://TuEngr.com/ATEAS/V03/0215.pdf.
215

2. been distributed to the general public at random. There are 400 respondents from varied ages,
occupations, and educational background took part in this study.
2. Literature Review
Different French male and female drivers’ behaviors were studied by Guého et al. (2014), at
varied driver ages, by differentiating two types of violations (aggressive and ordinary) three types
of errors (dangerous, inattention and inexperience) and by taking positive behaviors into account.
The results also showed the link between demographic variables (age and gender), mobility
(kilometers driven weekly), the Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) scores and the involvement
in accidents in the previous five years.
In Qatar and United Arab Emirates, Bener et al. (2008) had 1110 Qatari and 1286 UAE
drivers responded the survey questionnaire including the DBQ and background information. The
results showed that UAE drivers scored higher on almost all DBQ items than Qatari drivers.
Factor analysis resulted in four issues, including errors, pushing-speeding violations, lapses, and
aggression-speeding violations.
Vanlaar and Yannis (2006) created an empirical 2D model to see how European drivers
perceive the importance of several causes of road accidents? Kouabenan (1998) studied
characteristics inherent in the analyst of traffic accidents and in the social group to which one
belongs: beliefs, value systems, norms, experiences in common, attitudes, roles, social and
technical practices, etc. Report about public perceptions on road accidents are barely found, and
thus this work is about to present such study.
3. Methodology
3.1 Questionnaire Survey
A questionnaire consists of a series of questions including general questions and questions
on perceptions regarding accidents. General questions are information regarding background of
respondent such as gender, age, education, and occupation. Perceptions questions encompass
opinions on causes of accidents and driving behaviors that trigger the road accidents.
Perceptions questions are with five Likert scale:
216 Apirath Chattranusorn, and Boonsap Witchayangkoon

3. 1: least agreeable opinions / perceptions it is the cause of accident
2: less agreeable opinions / perceptions it is the cause of accident
3: moderate agreeable opinions / perceptions it is the cause of accident
4: high agreeable opinions / perceptions it is the cause of accident
5: highest agreeable opinions / perceptions it is the cause of accident
In this study, total 400 respondents are randomly selected from general public. A wide
range of respondents is from different age groups, occupations, educational backgrounds of males
and females. The survey was conducted during June 2013.
4. Study Result and Discussion
Public perceptions on cause of accident are compiled as shown in Table 1. It is found that
human is perceived as the highest cause of accidents. This is consistent with the fact that human is
the one who operates the vehicle and drives the vehicle involved in the crash; especially those who
do not followed rules and regulations of traffic law. The lowest public perception is that driver is
unfamiliar to the roadway.
Table 1: Levels of perception on cause of accident with mean and SD.
Cause of Accident
Frequencies
x S.D. RankLevels of perception on cause of accident
5 4 3 2 1
Human 236
(59.0%)
102
(25.5%)
53
(13.3%)
8
(2.0%)
1
(0.3%)
4.41 0.812 1
Car 5
(1.3%)
27
(6.8%)
182
(45.5%)
27
(6.8%)
8
(2.0%)
2.61 0.700 6
Slippery Road 192
(48.0%)
131
(32.8%)
70
(17.5%)
7
(1.8%)
0
(0.0%)
4.27 0.809 2
Dangerous curve 170
(42.5%)
172
(43.0%)
44
(11.0%)
10
(2.5%)
4
(1.0%)
4.24 0.819 3
Inadequate street
lighting
156
(39.0%)
138
(34.5%)
83
(20.8%)
18
(4.5%)
5
(1.3%)
4.06 0.943 5
No warning label 151
(37.8%)
155
(38.8%)
73
(18.3%)
18
(4.5%)
3
(0.8%)
4.08 0.896 4
Unfamiliar to the
roadway
0
(0.0%)
13
(3.3%)
68
(17.0%)
171
(42.8%)
148
(37.0%)
1.87 0.808 7
3.50 0.819
For driving behavior, it is found that drunk driving is perceived as the highest cause of
accidents, as shown in Table 2. This comes from the fact that Thailand has high number accidents
*Corresponding author (B.Witchayangkoon). Tel/Fax: +66-2-5643001 Ext.3101. E-mail
address: drboonsap@gmail.com. 2014. American Transactions on Engineering &
Applied Sciences. Volume 3 No.3 ISSN 2229-1652 eISSN 2229-1660 Online Available
at http://TuEngr.com/ATEAS/V03/0215.pdf.
217

4. from drunk driving especially during the Thai New Year festival. The second highest perception
on cause of accidents is about using mobile phone while driving.
Table 2: Levels of perception on driving behavior causing road accident, with mean and SD.
Accident due to
driving behavior
Frequencies
x S.D. Rank
Levels of perception on driving behavior
causing accident
5 4 3 2 1
Drunk driving 183
(45.8%)
148
(37.0)
63
(15.8)
6
(1.5)
0 4.27 0.777 1
Driving without
helmet
1
(0.3%)
10
(2.5)
77
(19.3)
190
(47.5)
122
(30.5)
1.96 0.786 6
Violation of
traffic signals
2
(0.5%)
49
(12.3)
123
(30.8)
152
(38.0)
74
(18.5)
2.38 0.940 5
Driving over
speed limit
2
(0.5%)
61
(15.3)
177
(44.3)
120
(30.0)
40
(10.0)
2.66 0.872 3
Not wearing seat
belt
0
(0.0%)
61
(15.3)
149
(37.3)
138
(34.5)
52
(13.0)
2.55 0.903 4
Using mobile
while driving
82
(20.5%)
115
(28.8)
135
(33.8)
45
(11.3)
23
(5.8)
3.47 1.110 2
2.97 0.930
From Figure 1 public perception on cause of accident classified by age group, human factor
and dangerous curve are the most concern for age over 36. Unfamiliar to the roadway system is
the most worry for age under 15, compared to other age group.
Figure 1: Public perception on cause of accident classified by age group.
218 Apirath Chattranusorn, and Boonsap Witchayangkoon

5. Figure 2: Public perception on cause of accident classified by educational background.
From Figure 2, public perception on cause of accidents classified by educational background
seems to be alike, except that respondents with high school background seems to think that
inadequate street lighting is the factor that causes accidents, compared to other educational
backgrounds.
Figure 3: Public perception on cause of accident classified by career.
From Figure 3, non-office workers’ perceptions show that human is the major cause of
accident. Private business owners’ perceptions indicate that slippery road and dangerous curve
are major cause of roadway accident.
Age under 15 perceives drunk driving as the cause of roadway accident with averaged scale
0 1 2 3 4 5
Unfamiliar to the roadway
No warning Label
Street Light not inadequate
Dangerous Curve
Slippery Road
Car
Human
Over bachelor's Degree
bachelor's Degree
subordinate Degree
high school
junior high school
Primary school
0 1 2 3 4 5
Unfamiliar to the roadway
No warning label
Inadequate street lighting
Dangerous curve
Sliperry road
Car
Human
Non-office Worker
Private Business Owner
Government officer
Company Employee
Agriculturist
Student
*Corresponding author (B.Witchayangkoon). Tel/Fax: +66-2-5643001 Ext.3101. E-mail
address: drboonsap@gmail.com. 2014. American Transactions on Engineering &
Applied Sciences. Volume 3 No.3 ISSN 2229-1652 eISSN 2229-1660 Online Available
at http://TuEngr.com/ATEAS/V03/0215.pdf.
219

6. almost 5, as shown in Figure 4. This factor seems to decrease as age of respondents increase.
Respondents with age under 15 seems to be less worry about using mobile phone while driving, but
respondents with higher ages seem to worry more about this, especially for ages over 36.
Figure 4: Public perception on driving behavior causing road accident classified by age group.
Figure 5: Public perception on driving behavior causing road accident classified by age group
From Figure 5, respondents with high school background seems to visualize that all driving
behavior factors causing accidents more than respondents with other educational background,
except driving without helmet.
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
using mobile while driving
not wearing seat belt
Driving over Speed Limit
Violent of traffic Signal
Driving without Helmet
Drunk Driving
Over 36
26 - 35
15 - 25
Under 15
0 1 2 3 4 5
using mobile while driving
not wearing seat belt
Driving over Speed Limit
Violent of traffic Signal
Driving without Helmet
Drunk Driving
Over bachelor's Degree
bachelor's Degree
subordinate Degree
high school
junior high school
Primary school
220 Apirath Chattranusorn, and Boonsap Witchayangkoon

7. Figure 6: Public perception on driving behavior causing road accident classified by career.
Respondents with different careers show their respective perceptions on driving behavior
causing road accidents, Figure 6. Most of these are of similar perceptions. However, private
business owners seem to think that violations of traffic signals and using mobile while driving are
likely to cause more road accident compared to other careers.
5. Conclusion
This study surveyed 400 people from Mahasarakham City, Thailand, during June 2013. All
respondents have different ages, genders, occupations, and educational backgrounds. All
respondents point out that human is the most influential factor causing accidents. In addition,
respondents give high score to drunk driving as the most dangerous driving behavior.
Respondents with different educational backgrounds seem to have agreeable perception on most of
the item that cause street accidents.
6. References
Bener, A., Özkan, T., & Lajunen, T. (2008).The driver behaviour questionnaire in arab gulf
countries: Qatar and united arab emirates. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 40(4),
1411-1417.
Guého, L., Granie, M. A., &Abric, J. C. (2014).French validation of a new version of the Driver
Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) for drivers of all ages and level of experiences. Accident
Analysis & Prevention, 63, 41-48.
0 1 2 3 4 5
Using mobile while driving
Not wearing seat belt
Driving over speed limit
Violation of traffic signals
Driving without helmet
Drunk driving
Non-office Job
Private Business Owner
Government officer
Office Employee
Agriculturist
Student
*Corresponding author (B.Witchayangkoon). Tel/Fax: +66-2-5643001 Ext.3101. E-mail
address: drboonsap@gmail.com. 2014. American Transactions on Engineering &
Applied Sciences. Volume 3 No.3 ISSN 2229-1652 eISSN 2229-1660 Online Available
at http://TuEngr.com/ATEAS/V03/0215.pdf.
221

8. Kouabenan, D. R. (1998). Beliefs and the perception of risks and accidents. Risk Analysis, 18(3),
Guého, L., Granie, M. A., &Abric, J. C. (2014).French validation of a new version of the
Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) for drivers of all ages and level of experiences.
Accident Analysis & Prevention, 63, 41-48.
Vanlaar, W., & Yannis, G. (2006). Perception of road accident causes. Accident Analysis &
Prevention, 38(1), 155-161.
Apirath Chattranusorn is a mater candidate in the Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of
Engineering, Thammasat University. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Sirinhorn
International Institute of Technology (SIIT), Thammasat University. He is interested in applying
technologies to everyday life.
B. Witchayangkoon is an Associate Professor of Department of Civil Engineering at Thammasat
University. He received his B.Eng. from King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi with
Honors in 1991. He continued his PhD study at University of Maine, USA, where he obtained his
PhD in Spatial Information Science & Engineering. Dr.Witchayangkoon current interests involve
appications of emerging technologies to engineering.
Peer Review: This article has been internationally peer-reviewed and accepted for
publication according to the guidelines given at the journal’s website.
222 Apirath Chattranusorn, and Boonsap Witchayangkoon