Attitudes towards road safety and aberrant behaviour of drivers in Pakistan

The aberrant behaviour of drivers is regarded as the most significant contributory factor in road traffic accidents in Pakistan. This research is founded on the premise that personal attitudes are key determinant of driving behaviours, and aims to identify the key socio-cognitive determinants of aberrant driving in response to the lack of road safety research in the country. A multi-method approach is taken and three studies have been carried out. Study 1, a qualitative study, based on interviews, provides a common understanding of the road safety issues in Pakistan. Study 2, a quantitative study, used the results of Study 1 to generate an Attitudinal Questionnaire (AQ) which was inspired by the Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB: Ajzen 1991), and a modified Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ: Lawton et al. 1997) focusing on intentional traffic violations. The study obtained self-reports of attitudes, norms, perceived control and opinion of drivers regarding a number of road traffic violations and enforcement as well as their aberrant behaviours. The responses to the statements in the questionnaires were first factor analysed to identify underlying attitudinal and behavioural constructs. Later, Cluster Analysis used attitudinal constructs to group drivers into four distinct clusters, namely the autonomous, opportunists, regulators and risk-averse. In Study 3, the real-world driving behaviours of a sample of the drivers in each of the four clusters were observed using the Wiener Fahrprobe (WF: Risser 1985) technique. The collective results from the studies indicate that the behaviours of drivers are interpretable in relation to their attitudes, and are partly influenced by their socio- demographic characteristics and driving environment. Specifically, attitudes towards enforcement and rule-compliance appear to be the strongest determinant of behaviours of drivers in Pakistan. Results in particular indicate that being affluent, female and student negatively influence driving behaviours in the country. The research also examines the suitability and applicability ofthe AQ, DBQ, and the WF techniques and methods within a Pakistani context. Finally, the research findings are used to recommend targeted as well as general information-based road safety solutions

Understanding mobility characteristics and needs of older persons in urban Pakistan with respect to use of public transport and self-driving

Since 1990, Pakistan's demographic transition has been increasing life spans with a steady rise in the number of older persons. Pakistan faces many challenges in caring for its older population. The proportion of the population aged 60 years and above is estimated to increase from 5.8% in 2000 to 12.4% in 2050. A study was conducted to understand the existing mobility characteristics of the elderly, their perceived needs and constraining factors. Data was collected using convenient sampling from 450 people aged 60 years or older in nine towns within Lahore City. Older people were approached around urban facilities (shops, banks, terminals) and asked to respond to survey questions. Within-residence interviews were also conducted, mainly for those women who declined interviews in public places. Descriptive and comparative analyses were performed, including Pearson's chi squared test for independence. The results are discussed in terms of mode choice, public transport preferences, self-driving issues and the relative benefits of formal and informal public transport options. The study found lower levels of weekly trip-making compared to those reported for older people in China, South Korea and USA. Vehicle ownership (mainly carsand motorcycles) and socio-demographic factors were found to significantly affect trip making. There were large gender differences in trip making and vehicle ownership, suggesting further research and policy action targeting the mobility needs of elderly women. Older persons were concerned about safety issues concerning public transport and self-driving, and also the behavior of transport crews, and this has informed several of the concluding policy recommendations

The expression of anger while driving – The role of personality and self-consciousness in a sample of Chinese drivers

Driving anger among Chinese drivers is common leading to aggressive and risky driving behaviours and potentially increasing involvement in road collisions. This study adopted an online survey to explore the relationship between personality, self-consciousness and driving anger expression. 559 participants completed a questionnaire consisting of the Driving Anger Scale (14-item DAS), the short version of the Driving Anger Expression Inventory (15 item DAX), the Brief HEXACO Inventory (BHI), and the Self-Consciousness Scale (SCS). A Confirmatory Factor Analysis yielded a reliable and valid three-factor structure of the Chinese 15 item DAX, labelled as “Adaptive Expression”, “Verbal Expression” and “Physical and Vehicle Expression”. Physical and Vehicle expression of anger was reported more by males and by experienced drivers compared to females and novice drivers. Traffic offenders showed more inclination towards exhibiting verbal anger expression than non-traffic offenders. In terms of dispositional traits, Humility-Honesty had a negative effect on both verbal expression and physical and vehicle expression. However, private self-consciousness was related to an increase in verbal expression and physical and vehicle expression. Importantly, Humility-Honesty and private self-consciousness moderated the relationship between trait driving anger and non-adaptive anger expressions in opposite ways. The findings could provide some support for the development of strategies to mitigate driving anger in China

The effects of COVID19 on public and paratransit drivers in developing countries: A case study of Bangladesh and Nigeria.

Introduction: Public and paratransit services in low- and middle-income countries were severelyhit by COVID-19 and related mitigation measures. This has affected both passengers and serviceproviders. While there is now an abundance of studies investigating the effects on passengers, theliterature on the impacts of the pandemic on drivers or service providers is scarce. As such, thisstudy investigates the implications of the pandemic for commercial passenger vehicle drivers inthe global south taking one South Asian country (Bangladesh) and one African country (Nigeria)as case study countries.Methods: The study employed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) qualitativeapproach to explore and explicate the subjective experiences of drivers using semi-structuredinterviews. Using purposive sampling technique, thirty participants were recruited betweenMarch and April 2021. The recorded interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed usingNVivo software.Results: The analyses identify key challenges faced by drivers into five distinct themes includingpersonal and social, physical, and operational, health and wellbeing, governance and regulation,and bad enforcement and policing related challenges. Participants reported immense hardshipdue to the bans on operations and lack of passengers, eliminating or reducing their only opportunities for earning a livelihood. There was a consensus among participants that they wereabandoned by their governments during the pandemic and were left with no other choice than towork in risky situations. They either had to use the little savings they had or borrow money tofeed their families, further reducing their opportunities for the future. Apart from facing reducedincome, debt crisis, and unsustainable workload challenges, drivers reported mental healthconsequences of the pandemic including depression, suffering anxiety, fear of risk infection andhelplessness.Conclusions: This research concludes the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak and its followingcontainment measures on the health and wellbeing, personal and working lives of public andparatransit drivers in developing countries are substantial. The pandemic has seriously affectedtransport workers, which also amplified earlier inequalities. Development of non-discriminator

Pachypodol attenuates arsenic triggered cardiac damage via rectifying oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis and histopathological alterations

Arsenic is a lethal toxicant found ubiquitously in the ecosystem which adversely affects the body organs including the heart. Pachypodol (PCHP) is a natural flavone which exhibits substantial pharmacotherapeutic potentials. The rats (n = 24) were distributed into 4 different groups i.e., control, arsenic-intoxicated group (50 mg/kg), arsenic + PCHP-supplemented group (50 mg/kg + 10 mg/kg) &amp; PCHP-treated (10 mg/kg) group. It was assessed that arsenic administration subsided catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GSR), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), &amp; glutathione S-transferases (GST) activities while augmenting the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA). Furthermore, arsenic exposure increased the levels of cardiac injury markers such as creatine phosphokinase (CPK), creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), troponin I &amp; lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Besides, the levels of inflammatory markers nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), Interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) activity were increased following the arsenic exposure. Similarly, Caspase-3, Bax and Caspase-9 levels were upsurged whereas Bcl-2 level was reduced after arsenic intoxication. In addition, the histopathological assessment revealed a substantial cardiac tissues impairment in the arsenic exposed group. Nonetheless, PCHP supplementation substantially (p < 0.05) recovered the abovementioned arsenic −induced impairments owing to its anti-inflammatory, antioxidative and anti-apoptotic abilities. Therefore, the current research revealed that PCHP might be a promising ameliorative agent to cure arsenic instigated cardiac damages