Exploring the speeding behavior among young motorcyclists in Lahore using extended theory of planned behavior: insights for road safety improvements

Motorcycles are a popular low-cost personal transport mode. Despite their convenience, motorcycles are significantly more dangerous than other modes of transport, accounting for up to 39% of road fatalities in low-income countries. Speeding is among the most common factors causing road accidents. Thus, this research extends the theory of planned behavior to investigate young motorcyclists' speeding behavior by incorporating the latent variables of hedonic motivation and transport policy interventions using data collected through a questionnaire survey conducted among young motorcyclists in Lahore, Pakistan. Purpose-based sampling method was deployed to collect 394 responses. The results indicated that speeding attitudes (SA), perceived behavioral control (PBC), hedonic motivation (HM), and policy intervention (PI) variables are strong predictors of speeding intentions (SI), which act as a mediator of speeding behavior (SB). While HM positively affects SB, and the PI variable negatively influences SB. Moreover, unmarried and employed respondents are positively associated with SB. This research has provided important insights on how to improve young motorcyclists' safe behavior, which can be utilized by policymakers to make informed decisions to enhance road safety in Pakistan and other developing economies with similar socio-economic dynamics, with motorcycles as a popular low-cost personal travel mode.