Measuring Road Safety Culture in Relation to Speed

This paper describes the process of developing an instrument to measure safety culture in relation to speed. Using a range of literature on the subject the researchers identified 16 variables. Questions were designed around each variable resulting in a questionnaire containing 73 questions including demographics. The questionnaire was tested, then administered to groups in schools and businesses in Christchurch. This method was used because of the length of the questionnaire, but resulted in a sample that was predominantly young and inexperienced at driving.

The results show links between personal and societal attitudes and self-reported behaviour. They provide information about beliefs and behaviour in the community in relation to speed.

The conclusions show that with a small sample the methodology appears to have merit. It is recommended that more work be done on the questionnaire with the aim of administering it to a larger sample in the community.