Exploration of Social-Psychological Factors Leading to Distracted e-Bike Riding Among Delivery Workers in China

Abstract

With the fast development of the online-to-offline market, there are over 13 million delivery workers in China, of which the primary transportation tool is electric bicycles (i.e., e-bikes). Because of the difficulty in executing enforced regulations, delivery workers usually engage in non-riding-related tasks (NRRTs) while riding e-bikes, leading to distracted riding, which can threaten traffic safety. Although distraction engagement in vehicle driving and motorcycle/bicycle riding has been extensively investigated, the prevalence of and the factors leading to distracted riding among delivery workers have not yet been explored. In this study, a survey has been designed to explore the social-psychological factors leading to NRRT engagement among delivery workers. The factors were chosen based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) framework. We have also assessed workers’ awareness of the regulation in the survey. A total of 150 delivery workers (146 males and 4 females, mean age: 27.25) participated in the study. Results show that delivery workers tended to engage more in technology-based NRRTs, and “manually operating the phone” was the most prevalent. Compared to older peers, younger workers held more positive attitudes toward engaging in NRRTs and perceived engaging in NRRTs as more prevalent among their colleagues. TPB-related factors (i.e., attitudes, descriptive norms, injunctive norms, and perceived behavior control) were found to be correlated with self-reported NRRT engagement. The awareness of the regulations, however, had limited effects in explaining NRRT engagement. This research can provide insights into the design of countermeasures aiming at reducing the prevalence of NRRT engagement among delivery workers.