Exploring effects of operating environment risk factors on unsafe driving behaviors of dangerous goods transport vehicles in China

Currently, research on the operational safety of dangerous goods road transport vehicles primarily focuses on factors influencing traffic accidents and their severity. However, consideration of the heterogeneity of environmental risk factors remains insufficient, and related studies are often constrained by challenges such as high data collection costs and difficulties in data acquisition. To address this gap, this study employs low-cost, readily available national statutory onboard data from dangerous goods road transport vehicles. It constructs a random-effects Logit model with mean and variance heterogeneity to investigate heterogeneity in operational environment risk factors from the perspective of unsafe driving behaviors. Results indicate: Operational environment risk factors exhibit significant spatiotemporal instability. The influence of three factors—highway driving, late-night driving, and drivers with weak behavioral inhibition control—on driving behavior varies positively or negatively across regions, demonstrating pronounced spatial instability. Drivers with weak cognitive inhibition control exhibit significant temporal instability, with their influence on driving behavior fluctuating positively and negatively over time. The impacts of ramp and heavy loads on driving behavior exhibit significant spatiotemporal instability, varying both positively and negatively across time and regions. This study provides theoretical foundations for implementing differentiated risk management strategies and targeted driver training in dangerous goods road transport, thereby enhancing transport safety.