The relationship between driving skill and driving behavior: Psychometric adaptation of the Driver Skill Inventory in China

Most road accidents are caused by human factors alone or in combination with other factors. Deficits in driving skill are a human factor that contributes to accidents. It is important to focus on driving skills to reduce traffic accidents and enhance safe driving. In this study, we adopted a Chinese version of the Driver Skill Inventory (DSI) and explored its correlation with driving behaviors, sociodemographic factors and personality. A total of 295 licensed drivers voluntarily completed a survey that covered the DSI, the Driver Behavior Questionnaire, the Positive Driver Behavior Scale, self-reported traffic accidents, penalty points and fines, the Big Five Inventory, and sociodemographic parameters. First, the results of principal axis analysis on the DSI yielded two clear factors: perceptual-motor skills and safety skills. Second, both perceptual-motor skills and safety skills were positively correlated with positive behaviors. Safety skills were negatively correlated with all aberrant driving behaviors (e.g., aggressive violations, ordinary violations, errors, and lapses), whereas perceptual-motor skills were negatively correlated with errors and lapses. Third, with regard to penalties, safety skills were negatively associated with penalty fines and points received within the past year, whereas perceptual-motor skills showed no such correlation. Fourth, with regard to sociodemographic parameters, perceptual-motor skills were positively correlated with years of holding a driving license, weekly driving distance and annual driving distance. Men reported higher perceptual-motor skills than women, whereas safety skills were unrelated to gender. Fifth, structural equation modeling was conducted to test the effects of personality traits on driving skill. The results showed that conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience were significant predictors of perceptual-motor skills, whereas agreeableness and conscientiousness were significant predictors of safety skills. Overall, based on these results, the Chinese version of the DSI has acceptable internal consistency and a stable structure; thus, it represents a useful tool to measure driving skill. Moreover, the measurement of personality traits, which are important individual factors closely linked to driving skill, can aid in the education of professional drivers or to inform preventative and educational activities that focus on personality traits in addition to knowledge.