A Study Examining the Relationship Between Attitudes and Aberrant Behaviours within an Australian Fleet Setting

This study reports on the utilisation of the Driver Attitude Questionnaire (DAQ) to examine the self-reported behaviours of a sample of Australian fleet drivers (N = 416). Surveys were posted to drivers who agreed to participate in the study. Univariate analyses of the four DAQ subscales revealed that respondents were least concerned about speeding, followed by risky overtaking manoeuvres. In contrast, attitudes regarding the seriousness of close following behaviours and drink driving were significantly higher. Additional analyses revealed the speeding factor was associated with self-reported traffic offences, and was predictive of demerit point loss at a multivariate level, even after controlling for driving exposure (i.e., kms driven each year). This paper will further highlight the major findings of the study as well as possible implications regarding the predictive utility of self-reported questionnaires to investigate driving behaviours.