Motorcyclists' beliefs of compliance with the Malaysian school zone speed limit (SZSL)

Many road crashes that occur in school zones involve child pedestrians. Research has identified three contributing factors to road crashes, namely child behaviour, driver behaviour, and the environment. This study aims to identify critical beliefs that influence motorcyclist's intention to comply with the Malaysian school zone speed limit (SZSL). 159 Malaysian motorcyclists who have travel experience in school zones during school hours and non-school hours were recruited by using purposive sampling. Participants responded to a survey distributed by enumerators in public places and house-to-house survey conducted in Kedah, Malaysia. Step-by-step correlation and regression analysis were used to identify the motorcyclists' critical beliefs. The results identified that motorcyclists' beliefs of the community expectation for them to comply and that complying with the speed limit in school zones may reduce risk of crashes with school children were the critical beliefs. In addition, the observation of many motorcyclists in the school zone was also identified as critical beliefs influencing motorcyclists' intention to comply with the SZSL. The practical relevance of this study is to combine a public awareness campaign and safety education for the motorcyclists together with an enforcement method to reinforce motorcyclists' compliance with the SZSL. Additionally, to increase the awareness level among motorcyclists, traffic control devices, such as flashing lights and yellow lines could be implemented.