Analyzing driver behavior: the influence of demographics on risky, aggressive, distracted, and unlawful driving behaviors

Road traffic injuries remain a major public health concern in Pakistan and other low-and middle-income countries, where driver behaviour is a dominant crash-contributing factor. However, limited multi-city evidence exists on how demographic characteristics jointly influence aberrant driving across different dimensions. This study investigates the associations among age, gender, and driving experience, and four dimensions of aberrant driving behaviour—risky, aggressive, distracted, and unlawful—using a cross-sectional survey of 400 drivers from 10 major urban centers in Punjab, Pakistan. A Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ)-based instrument was used to construct composite indices, and descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests, one-way analysis of variance, and multiple linear regression were applied. Risky driving had the highest mean score (3.81 on a five-point scale), with higher levels among drivers with ≥10 years of experience (mean = 4.02). Younger drivers reported higher levels of aggressive behaviour, while male drivers exhibited higher levels of aggressive, distracted, and unlawful behaviour. The findings indicate that dangerous driving in Pakistan is not limited to young drivers but extends to middle-aged and experienced drivers. This study contributes to road-safety literature by providing multi-city, disaggregated DBQ-based evidence from Pakistan, showing that demographic effects are not uniform across aberrant-driving dimensions and that risky and unlawful behaviours are not confined to young or inexperienced drivers but also extend to middle-aged and experienced drivers.