The intercity bus passenger's locus of control with regard to seat belt use intention

Abstract

© 2006 Institute of Research and Development, Suranaree University of Technology. In Thailand, the number of accidents caused by intercity buses and their severity are increasing while the rate of seat belt use by intercity bus passengers is decreasing. This study aims to identify the factors affecting the seat belt use behavioural intention (BI) of intercity bus passengers. For analysis, the samples were divided into 2 groups: the teenage group (334 samples) and adult group (577 samples). The theory of locus of control (LC) was applied to analyse internality (IN) and externality (EX), which were both based on LC basic components. The theory was extended by additionally analysing factors that consist of knowledge of seat belt enforcement (EN) and past experience. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the factors affecting seat belt use BI. Analysis results showed that the two models have differences and that all factors influenced the seat belt use BI of the 2 groups. For the teenage group, IN had the most positive influence on seat belt use BI, followed by past experience, EX, and EN (β = 0.369, 0.290, 0.240, and 0.190, respectively). For the adult group, the IN factor also had the most positive influence, followed by EX, EN, and past experience (β = 0.388, 0.273, 0.244, and 0.236, respectively). Thus, the factors obtained from the result analysis can be proposed to the government as guidelines for formulating policies or practical methods to encourage passengers to increasingly use seat belts while travelling.