Development and Validation of Highway Emergency Lane Illegal Occupancy Scale for Chinese Drivers

Abstract

Illegal behavior such as casually parking or traveling in the highway emergency lane have negative effects on public traffic safety. The Highway Emergency Lane Illegal Occupancy Scale was developed for Chinese drivers, and psychometric properties and influencing factors were assessed. Three hundred drivers submitted questionnaires; after incomplete questionnaires were excluded, 239 complete questionnaires remained for study. Exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the factor structure, which showed that all factors were internally reliable. Demographic variables were found to have significant negative correlations with occupancy behaviors. Additional analysis indicated that drivers between 41 and 55 years old or with more than 10 years of driving experience had significantly fewer total points than drivers in other age groups, indicating that they were less inclined to occupy the highway emergency lane. Drivers with a postgraduate education or higher were especially aware of the traffic rules to be obeyed to ensure safety. A significant positive correlation was found between traffic violation variables and occupancy behaviors. The average score of legal consciousness was highest among all factors, indicating that Chinese drivers lack an understanding of traffic laws and regulations. Insufficient institutions, indifferent management, and poor education compound this illegal occupancy phenomenon in the highway emergency lane.