Identifying Factors Influencing Urban Bus Drivers’ Distraction: A Qualitative Study in Tehran, Iran
Introduction: Despite advancements in road safety and vehicle design, road accidents remain prevalent, a quarter of which are caused by driver distraction. This issue is particularly critical in the public transport sector, especially among urban bus drivers, as distraction can lead to serious injur...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | fas |
| Published: |
Tehran University of Medical Sciences
2024-12-01
|
| Series: | بهداشت و ایمنی کار |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://jhsw.tums.ac.ir/article-1-7086-en.pdf |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1841558604027527168 |
|---|---|
| author | Fatemeh Sadat Mirnajafi Zadeh Mojtaba Khosravi Danesh Ali Nahvi Abbas Rahimi Foroushani Mohammad Javad SheikhMozafari Adel Mazloumi |
| author_facet | Fatemeh Sadat Mirnajafi Zadeh Mojtaba Khosravi Danesh Ali Nahvi Abbas Rahimi Foroushani Mohammad Javad SheikhMozafari Adel Mazloumi |
| author_sort | Fatemeh Sadat Mirnajafi Zadeh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: Despite advancements in road safety and vehicle design, road accidents remain prevalent, a quarter of which are caused by driver distraction. This issue is particularly critical in the public transport sector, especially among urban bus drivers, as distraction can lead to serious injuries and fatalities. Accordingly, this study explored the factors influencing distraction among urban bus drivers through a qualitative approach and a macroergonomics perspective.
Material and Methods: In this study conducted in 2024 in Tehran, 18 urban bus drivers were selected through cluster sampling. The participants included 10 drivers from bus rapid transit (BRT) system and 8 drivers from non-BRT services. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with the drivers as well as on-site observations. Subsequently, a directed qualitative content analysis approach, based on the balance theory model, was used to analyze the collected data.
Results: The findings revealed that the primary sources of distraction belonged to six levels of the work system, the most cited of which were environment, tasks, and organization. Specifically, inappropriate behavior of other street users as an environmental factor and the driver’s interactions with passengers as task-related factors were identified as key sources. Additionally, organizational factors such as interactions with supervisors and colleagues, as well as salary issues, were significantly important. The participants very limitedly expressed using mobile phone while driving as a main distractor to their driving.
Conclusion: The current study identified various influential factors, spanning different levels of the work system, affecting bus drivers’ distraction, including generic factors that impact all urban drivers and specific factors that uniquely affect bus drivers. Addressing these factors through providing appropriate education for both passengers and street users along with implementing management strategies in the organization to enhance intra-organizational relationships and organizational support can lead to the safety of the bus drivers. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c69b8742569e4309b45c0632779fa206 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2251-807X 2383-2088 |
| language | fas |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Tehran University of Medical Sciences |
| record_format | Article |
| series | بهداشت و ایمنی کار |
| spelling | doaj-art-c69b8742569e4309b45c0632779fa2062025-01-06T08:45:26ZfasTehran University of Medical Sciencesبهداشت و ایمنی کار2251-807X2383-20882024-12-01144796821Identifying Factors Influencing Urban Bus Drivers’ Distraction: A Qualitative Study in Tehran, IranFatemeh Sadat Mirnajafi Zadeh0Mojtaba Khosravi Danesh1Ali Nahvi2Abbas Rahimi Foroushani3Mohammad Javad SheikhMozafari4Adel Mazloumi5 Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran K.N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Introduction: Despite advancements in road safety and vehicle design, road accidents remain prevalent, a quarter of which are caused by driver distraction. This issue is particularly critical in the public transport sector, especially among urban bus drivers, as distraction can lead to serious injuries and fatalities. Accordingly, this study explored the factors influencing distraction among urban bus drivers through a qualitative approach and a macroergonomics perspective. Material and Methods: In this study conducted in 2024 in Tehran, 18 urban bus drivers were selected through cluster sampling. The participants included 10 drivers from bus rapid transit (BRT) system and 8 drivers from non-BRT services. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with the drivers as well as on-site observations. Subsequently, a directed qualitative content analysis approach, based on the balance theory model, was used to analyze the collected data. Results: The findings revealed that the primary sources of distraction belonged to six levels of the work system, the most cited of which were environment, tasks, and organization. Specifically, inappropriate behavior of other street users as an environmental factor and the driver’s interactions with passengers as task-related factors were identified as key sources. Additionally, organizational factors such as interactions with supervisors and colleagues, as well as salary issues, were significantly important. The participants very limitedly expressed using mobile phone while driving as a main distractor to their driving. Conclusion: The current study identified various influential factors, spanning different levels of the work system, affecting bus drivers’ distraction, including generic factors that impact all urban drivers and specific factors that uniquely affect bus drivers. Addressing these factors through providing appropriate education for both passengers and street users along with implementing management strategies in the organization to enhance intra-organizational relationships and organizational support can lead to the safety of the bus drivers.http://jhsw.tums.ac.ir/article-1-7086-en.pdfdriver distractionurban bus driverssociotechnical systemqualitative research |
| spellingShingle | Fatemeh Sadat Mirnajafi Zadeh Mojtaba Khosravi Danesh Ali Nahvi Abbas Rahimi Foroushani Mohammad Javad SheikhMozafari Adel Mazloumi Identifying Factors Influencing Urban Bus Drivers’ Distraction: A Qualitative Study in Tehran, Iran بهداشت و ایمنی کار driver distraction urban bus drivers sociotechnical system qualitative research |
| title | Identifying Factors Influencing Urban Bus Drivers’ Distraction: A Qualitative Study in Tehran, Iran |
| title_full | Identifying Factors Influencing Urban Bus Drivers’ Distraction: A Qualitative Study in Tehran, Iran |
| title_fullStr | Identifying Factors Influencing Urban Bus Drivers’ Distraction: A Qualitative Study in Tehran, Iran |
| title_full_unstemmed | Identifying Factors Influencing Urban Bus Drivers’ Distraction: A Qualitative Study in Tehran, Iran |
| title_short | Identifying Factors Influencing Urban Bus Drivers’ Distraction: A Qualitative Study in Tehran, Iran |
| title_sort | identifying factors influencing urban bus drivers distraction a qualitative study in tehran iran |
| topic | driver distraction urban bus drivers sociotechnical system qualitative research |
| url | http://jhsw.tums.ac.ir/article-1-7086-en.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT fatemehsadatmirnajafizadeh identifyingfactorsinfluencingurbanbusdriversdistractionaqualitativestudyintehraniran AT mojtabakhosravidanesh identifyingfactorsinfluencingurbanbusdriversdistractionaqualitativestudyintehraniran AT alinahvi identifyingfactorsinfluencingurbanbusdriversdistractionaqualitativestudyintehraniran AT abbasrahimiforoushani identifyingfactorsinfluencingurbanbusdriversdistractionaqualitativestudyintehraniran AT mohammadjavadsheikhmozafari identifyingfactorsinfluencingurbanbusdriversdistractionaqualitativestudyintehraniran AT adelmazloumi identifyingfactorsinfluencingurbanbusdriversdistractionaqualitativestudyintehraniran |