Iranian Motorcyclists’ Personal Experiences of Risky Riding

Introduction: Motorcyclists play an important part in increasing the death toll form road accidents in study is designed to identify the risky behaviors experienced by the motorcyclists which is believed to help promote the safety of them and other members of the community.

Materials and Methods: This was a qualitative study and we selected a sample of motorcyclists from different parts of Tehran. The data was collected through in-depth interviews with participants. All interviews were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim and analyzed consecutively.

Results: Analysis of the data revealed two behavioral themes describing risk riding in Iranian motorcyclists: 1) unintentional behaviors due to inability for riding, less control of motorcycle and low mood or lack of concentration while riding; 2) intentional behaviors such as riding an inappropriate or defective motorcycle; unallowable use of motorcycle; showing off; and breaking traffic laws.

 Conclusion: Even though, a great number of the risky behaviors identified are similar to those reported in previous studies, some differences were observed. This might be explained by a number of psychological and social factors that having a role t in the risky behaviors of the motorcyclists.