KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE OF DRIVERS REGARDING TRAFFIC REGULATIONS IN TEHRAN

Traffic accidents compromises a large quantity of peoples annually, and is one of the most important causes of death in Iran. Human factors are amongst of the most leading causes of traffic accident mortality and morbidity and this study is conducted to evaluate the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of drivers regarding driving laws in Tehran. Two hundred and twenty drivers were selected randomly in this cross sectional study. Cluster sampling with 10 participant in each cluster was used for selection of participants. 22 points were defined using a random sample of telephone numbers. Distribution points was such as one point were selected in each zone of municipality zones. Ten consecutive drivers passing the specified point were interviewed by an interviewer and a senior officer of Traffic Control Organization of Tehran was responsible for assessment of practices. Reliability of questionnaire was evaluated using alpha chronbach coefficient and construct validity was assessed by Principal component Analysis method. Chi square and odds ratio (OR) were used for assessment of relation between qualitative variables, when appropriate. Two hundred and twenty drivers were recruited in this study. Suitable Knowledge, Attitude and practice were seen in 67.7, 56.4 and 47.7 percent of respondents respectively. When adjusted using logistic regression analysis, we did not observe any relation between these three variables. There was a significant relation between knowledge and age; and also between practice and education, marital status, occupation and type of automobile. We conclude that practice of drivers of Tehran are weak regarding traffic laws and there is an emergent need for research and intervention in this regard.