Cultural Dimensions And Driver Behaviour: A Study Of Three English-Speaking Populations

This research investigates the relationship between driver’s cultures and their comprehension of road signs and behavior. Ninety individuals from three English-speaking countries (30 each from India, the U.S., and the U.K.) participated in this research to perform a road sign comprehension test, give rankings for road sign design features, and complete a Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ). The results show some significant correlations between Hofstede’s cultural dimension scores and participant responses. For example, better comprehension of road signs is associated with lower power distance (PDI) scores, and higher individualism (IDV) and motivation towards achievement and success (MAS) scores. More aberrant driver behaviors are associated with higher scores of IDV, MAS, long-term orientation (LTO), and indulgence (IND) but with lower scores of PDI and uncertainty avoidance (UAI). These findings show the importance of considering cultural factors in traffic studies on road signs and driver behavior.