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ABSTRACT
Vehicles that are non-roadworthy pose a hazard for
all road users and can be one of the main causes of traf-
c accidents. Previous studies have analysed the impact
of the driving style on environmental sustainability and
road safety. Starting from this, there was a need to fur-
ther investigate the relationship between the driving style
and vehicle roadworthiness as well. Vehicles that do not
comply with the prescribed requirements should be ex-
cluded from trafc at a periodic technical inspection.
However, the causes of detected vehicle defects cannot
be established at a periodic technical inspection. The
paper therefore, examines the factors affecting vehicle
roadworthiness. First, the failure rate and mileage of ve-
hicles at periodic technical inspection regarding the type
of ownership was examined. In addition, a questionnaire
was conducted to collect data about the driving style and
maintenance habits of different types of car owners. The
paper argues that vehicles owned by legal entities were
generally in a worse condition than the vehicles owned
by natural persons, due to the increased vehicle exploita-
tion, but also due to a more aggressive driving style. Fi-
nally, it was found that by modifying their driving style,
the drivers can affect the condition of their vehicles, con-
sidering the same mileage and maintenance habits.
KEY WORDS
periodic technical inspection; vehicle roadworthiness;
driving style; vehicle maintenance; driving behaviour;
1. INTRODUCTION
Based on the Spanish case and data collected
from different sources (the Ministry of Industry,
the General Directorate for Trafc, vehicle manu-
facturers, etc.), the analysis of Periodic Technical
Inspections (PTI) of vehicles shows that around
15% of trafc accidents were directly related to
vehicle defects [1]. By investigating the correlation
between vehicle age and trafc accident rate, the
author in [2] provides evidence that the accident
rate decreased as the result of the Japanese PTI sys-
tem, especially in the inspection years. Although
the accidents were in some cases caused by other
factors, and not by the existing vehicle defects, their
presence can signicantly worsen the situation and
make the accidents much more serious. It is there-
fore in public interest to ensure that only technically
reliable vehicles participate in trafc.
Since the maintenance of vehicles is of the high-
est importance for road safety, the government in
the Republic of Croatia legally obligated the PTI
system [3]. PTI of vehicles is carried out for the
benet of the public in order to prevent vehicles that
do not comply with the prescribed requirements to
participate in trafc. The authors in [3] emphasize
the direct effect that the exclusion of defective vehi-
cles from road trafc has on the raising of the road
trafc safety level. PTI in the Republic of Croatia
is carried out by authorised legal entities at PTI sta-
tions. The Center of Vehicles of Croatia (CVH), an
authorised public legal entity that organizes and co-
ordinates work of PTI stations in Croatia, provided
data that were collected in the vehicle database, and
were therefore analysed in this paper.
One of the factors that affect road safety is vehi-
cle roadworthiness. Vehicle maintenance includes a
number of measures and procedures that are regu-
larly carried out in order to check and ensure vehi-
cle roadworthiness. Repairing the detected defects
and replacing the worn-out parts keeps the vehicle
in proper technical condition. According to [4], the
Human – Transport Interaction
Original Scientic Paper
Submitted: 19 Dec. 2019
Accepted: 2 Aug. 2020
Promet – Trafc&Transportation, Vol. 32, 2020, No. 5, 667-677 667
Mikulić I, Bošković I, Zovak G. Effects of Driving Style and Vehicle Maintenance on Vehicle Roadworthiness
IVA MIKULIĆ, M.Sc.1
(Corresponding author)
E-mail: iva.mikulic@cvh.hr
IGOR BOŠKOVIĆ, LL.M.1
E-mail: igor.boskovic@cvh.hr
GORAN ZOVAK, Ph.D.1,2
E-mail: goran.zovak@cvh.hr
1 Center for Vehicles of Croatia
Capraška 6, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
2 University of Zagreb
Faculty of Transport and Trafc Sciences
Vukelićeva 4, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
EFFECTS OF DRIVING STYLE AND VEHICLE
MAINTENANCE ON VEHICLE ROADWORTHINESS
Mikulić I, Bošković I, Zovak G. Effects of Driving Style and Vehicle Maintenance on Vehicle Roadworthiness
668 Promet – Trafc&Transportation, Vol. 32, 2020, No. 5, 667-677
The next section provides a literature review re-
garding the driving style effect on road safety and
fuel consumption. The third section describes the
method used for analyzing the factors inuencing
vehicle condition, i.e. vehicle roadworthiness. In
the fourth section the results are reported and dis-
cussed, and in the nal section some conclusions
are provided.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Some literature studies [10, 11] investigate the
impact of the driving style on the reduction of gas
emissions by analysing the concept of eco-driving,
considering its benets and limitations. According to
[11], eco-driving can be dened as a decision-mak-
ing process – strategic (vehicle maintenance), tactical
(trip planning), and operational (driving) decisions
that contribute to reductions in fuel consumption
and gas emissions. Other authors were inspired by
dening the driving factors that affect fuel consump-
tion. According to [12, 13], by altering the driver's
driving style, it is possible to improve fuel consump-
tion and emission by 40%. The research presented
in [7] establishes the importance of the driving fac-
tors and their impact on fuel consumption by using
the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. It
was found that factors 'driver awareness' and 'vehi-
cle control' were the two most inuential categories
regarding fuel consumption. In their study [14], the
driving style factors were analysed to nd the impact
on fuel economy. The authors used a set of polyno-
mial metamodels and found that by optimization of
factor coefcient of power demand it is possible to
affect fuel consumption. By improving their driving
style and driving behaviour, the drivers make better
choices, which results in decreased fuel consumption
and vehicle maintenance costs as well [15].
A signicant research effort has been focusing on
investigating the impact of the driving style on the
environmental sustainability. The aim is to increase
awareness of the vehicle use. Accordingly, the fact is
that the driving style signicantly contributes to the
way the vehicle is used. It ultimately affects both the
reduction of gas emissions and the fuel consumption,
two topics frequently addressed in the scientic re-
search. Furthermore, it also contributes to the overall
road safety.
The authors in [16] establish that excess speed is
one of the most signicant causes of trafc accidents.
Accordingly, the authors in [10] quote that aggres-
sive driving style can be used as a “catch-all” for all
intensity of maintenance of a vehicle is determined
by the number of kilometres travelled by the vehicle
in an observed period of time. There is a signicant
inuence of mileage on vehicle condition, which is
frequently analysed in literature. Accordingly, the
authors in [5] examine the impact of vehicle mainte-
nance and PTI on the vehicle roadworthiness and es-
tablish that vehicles with a greater mileage have more
often been declared technically defective. However,
there are also many factors that can inuence the ve-
hicle roadworthiness as well. In most cases, vehicle
age signicantly affects vehicle roadworthiness and,
consequently, the result of the PTI. With aging, indi-
vidual vehicle parts are more prone to breakdowns
and material fatigue, such as rubber elements. How-
ever, the impact of age and greater mileage on the
overall condition of the vehicle can be negligible if it
is maintained regularly and driven responsibly.
The authors of [6] state that vehicle defects con-
tribute to trafc accidents to a much greater extent
than suggested by the police statistics, in order to di-
vert the attention to the driving style and behaviour
of the driver as a road user. Essentially, the driv-
ing style is the way a driver accelerates, drives, and
brakes. The authors in [7] dene the driving style as
a driving habit that is formed over a period of time,
most often over several years. Objectively speak-
ing, there are numerous elements in a person’s driv-
ing behaviour that are used to determine their driv-
ing style. The authors in [8] differentiate between
the terms driving style and driving behaviour. Driv-
ing style is inuenced by the person’s personality,
as well as their physical and mental condition, and
is manifested in the driving behaviour. They also
establish three types of driving style – aggressive,
moderate, and conservative. Furthermore, accord-
ing to [9], the driving style can be classied into
three categories as well – calm, normal, and aggres-
sive. The aggressive driving style generally implies
driving at higher speeds, frequent overtaking, driv-
ing at higher Revolutions per Minute (RPMs), open
windows, and hard acceleration and braking [10].
In contrast, careful driving style means driving at
lower speeds, avoiding unnecessary overtaking,
driving at lower RPMs, and gentle acceleration and
braking. A combination of these two driving styles,
where neither predominates, results in the driving
behaviour that can be adjusted to the conditions on
the road. In addition, the more extensive literature
focused on the driving style and its inuence is re-
viewed.
Mikulić I, Bošković I, Zovak G. Effects of Driving Style and Vehicle Maintenance on Vehicle Roadworthiness
Promet – Trafc&Transportation, Vol. 32, 2020, No. 5, 667-677 669
the result of PTI is intuitively assumed. However,
an assumption can be proved by conducting anal-
ysis of data collected in PTI stations. This kind of
analysis is periodically conducted within CVH and
will not be shown as part of this paper. Furthermore,
the author concluded that the quality of maintenance
correlates with the vehicle age. It also follows that
the more vehicle is used, the more likely it is to be
defective. Moreover, the owners who are less con-
cerned with safety tend to equally neglect the tech-
nical condition of their vehicles, with the causal link
between vehicle roadworthiness and its use and, as
a result, their impact on the overall road safety [23].
Therefore, the research hypothesis proposes that the
driving style affects the vehicle condition, regard-
less of the frequency of vehicle maintenance and
vehicle age.
3. METHODOLOGY
In order to determine the differences in the driv-
ing style, we started with the assumptions based on
experience. The assumption concerned differences
in the condition of the vehicles that underwent PTI
with respect to the vehicle ownership. Starting from
this consideration, in this paper, we argued that ve-
hicles owned by natural persons are used more care-
fully in the context of the driving style and are in a
better technical condition than the vehicles owned
by legal entities, regardless of the fact that legal
entities and leasing companies maintain their vehi-
cles more frequently. Considering this, we proposed
a methodology of conducting analysis of data re-
garding vehicle ownership collected at PTI stations
during PTI and comparing these with the results
obtained using a questionnaire as an indicator for
determining the driving style and vehicle mainte-
nance routine.
3.1 PTI data analysis
The paper rst analysed data on vehicle failure
rates with respect to the type of vehicle ownership.
It included data recorded during PTIs carried out
in the period from 2013 to 2017. During that pe-
riod, applicable regulations mandated that new ve-
hicles undergo PTI in the last month in which the
24-month period from the rst technical inspection
and registration expired. Vehicles that were two
or more years old had to undergo PTI every 12th
month since the last PTI. During PTI, the data on
the vehicle are recorded, logged in the databases,
vehicle operations that are not eco-driving, which in-
clude excessive speed as well. The authors in [17]
identify links between the driving style and road
safety. Furthermore, they reviewed individual and
socio-cultural factors inuencing the driving style.
The authors in [18], by conducting surveys to collect
experimental speed values and by using smart-phone-
equipped vehicles to record continuous speed data,
found that only four drivers drove in a safe manner.
The denition of the driving style is a subject of
many recent studies. A signicant research effort has
been focusing on investigating the most appropriate
method for collecting data on the driving style. Many
studies have focused on using questionnaires to col-
lect data on the driving behaviour and driving style,
which yielded promising results. However, this kind
of studies is based only on the drivers' self assess-
ment. The results shown in [19] concluded that the
behavioural-emotional latent construct weighs on
average 30% more than the somatic-emotional la-
tent construct, with a positive effect on the driving
style. The authors based their research on the com-
bination of the drivers' self-evaluation data and vehi-
cle real test data. Accordingly, they highlighted that
the weight of subjective driving style evaluation is
equal to twice the objective evaluation. The authors
of [8], however, used an Electroencephalography
(EEG) device to collect data for their driving style
recognition model. Collecting data through a ques-
tionnaire may be a somewhat subjective and indirect
method for evaluating the driving style. However, a
driver wearing an EEG cap would be aware of it and
in certain situations would likely act differently than
usual. Research presented in [20] shows that inertial
sensors used to determine the driving style can easi-
ly distinguish between the driving styles of different
drivers that have used the vehicle. By comparing the
driving style data collected through the Multidimen-
sional Driving Style Inventory (MDSI) questionnaire
with the data collected using a driving simulator, the
authors of [21] nd signicant correlation between
the obtained results and conclude that the results ob-
tained using a questionnaire represent a sufcient in-
dicator for determining the driving style, regardless
of the high level of subjectivity.
Given that only a small number of papers examine
the impact of the driving style on vehicle roadworthi-
ness, as well as the causes of individual technical de-
fects identied during PTI, the literature review in-
dicated the need for such a research. As mentioned
in [22], the causal relation between vehicle age and
Mikulić I, Bošković I, Zovak G. Effects of Driving Style and Vehicle Maintenance on Vehicle Roadworthiness
670 Promet – Trafc&Transportation, Vol. 32, 2020, No. 5, 667-677
roadworthiness. However, the question arose wheth-
er the driving style also affects vehicle roadworthi-
ness. To answer this question, data on the roadwor-
thiness of vehicles within each age interval and with
approximately the same mileage needed to be ana-
lysed. Accordingly, the analyzed data were divided
into 13 mileage intervals regarding vehicle owner-
ship and four previously dened age intervals.
3.2 Questionnaire structure
Data on the driving style and vehicle mainte-
nance habits were collected using questionnaires
that were completed by individuals whose vehicles
underwent PTI during the observed period. In ac-
cordance with the previous section, the restriction
applied to M1 vehicles up to ten years old. Data
collection by using questionnaires was conducted in
ten PTI stations in Croatia. All of ten PTI stations
were located in Zagreb and there were no signi-
cant differences between them, except regarding
their size, number of employees, and the part of the
city where they were located. As Zagreb is the larg-
est city in Croatia, there was a greater uctuation
of people, greater heterogeneity of ownerships, as
well as greater possibility of data collection in the
desired period of time.
The questionnaire consisted of 14 questions and
was divided into three sections: basic information
regarding vehicle ownership, driving style, and ve-
hicle maintenance. Among other, the respondents
used the questionnaire to self-assess their driving
style by selecting one of the following options:
careful, adjustable to road conditions, or aggres-
sive. In order to provide better understanding of the
proposed options to the respondents, three driving
style categories that were described in the introduc-
tion, were linguistically transformed. However, the
denitions still remained unchanged. In addition,
the respondents self-assessed their driving speed
by selecting slow, moderate, or fast. Since several
different individuals may use one vehicle, which is
most often the case with vehicles owned by legal
entities and leased vehicles, there is a chance of
misinterpretation of data. In order to eliminate such
cases from the sample, the questionnaire in its rst
section (basic information regarding vehicle owner-
ship) included the question on the number of drivers
that normally use the same vehicle.
In order to assess the impact of vehicle main-
tenance on roadworthiness, it was essential to de-
termine the driver’s habits with regard to vehicle
and printed on vehicle registration documents, and
as such are considered the essential part of the tech-
nical inspection process [22]. Data analysed in this
research include the M1 category vehicles. M1 cat-
egory of vehicles refers to vehicles that are designed
and constructed for the carriage of passengers and
comprising no more than eight seats in addition to
the driver’s seat. Since M1 category vehicles, or in
other words, passenger cars, comprised around 76%
of total registered vehicles in the Republic of Croa-
tia in the period 2008 – 2017, the research was lim-
ited to them [24]. The previously mentioned makes
them the most widely represented category of vehi-
cles, and a category that is most often involved in
trafc accidents. In 2017, there were 30,292 passen-
ger cars involved in trafc accidents, which com-
pared to other vehicle categories represents a high
69.56% [25].
The data on vehicles up to 10 years of age were
collected, with the vehicles divided into four age in-
tervals: 1-3, 4-5, 6-7 and 8-10 years of age. By an-
alysing the data on annual mileage of M1 vehicles,
as shown in [26], it was evident that after 10 years
the sample of such vehicles is on average twice as
high. However, we have analysed vehicles up to 10
years of age in order for the analysis according to the
type of ownership to be as relevant as possible, since
leased vehicles are the subject of contract during a
signicantly shorter period. In order to obtain accu-
rate results, the analysis included only the vehicles
that have not changed the ownership, i.e. vehicles
that were owned by a natural person or a legal entity,
i.e. leased continuously. Vehicles with less than 2,000
km on the odometer were not included in the analysis
of vehicle odometer readings.
As the vehicle manufacture year and odometer
reading are also logged at the PTI, these data were
as well included in the analyses. Therefore, the pa-
per in addition analyses data on vehicle failure rates
in relation to mileage, regarding vehicle ownership.
For the purpose of the analysis, odometer readings of
the vehicles within the observed sample were shown
as average annual mileage of an individual vehicle,
and were taken as the most direct indicator for mea-
suring vehicle use available [22]. Thus, if a vehicle
travels many kilometres during a relatively short
time, its parts and assemblies are exposed to heavi-
er loading, increased wear, and therefore are more
likely to develop corrosion and material fatigue fast-
er. Obviously, the average annual mileage as a fac-
tor, greatly affects the vehicle condition, i.e. vehicle
Mikulić I, Bošković I, Zovak G. Effects of Driving Style and Vehicle Maintenance on Vehicle Roadworthiness
Promet – Trafc&Transportation, Vol. 32, 2020, No. 5, 667-677 671
observed period of 2013-2017, it was found that the
vehicles owned by natural persons generally had
a higher rate of roadworthiness, i.e. lower failure
rate than vehicles owned by legal entities within
the same age interval. Increasing the age interval
usually results with a greater difference in the fail-
ure rate. Specically, the average difference in the
failure rate between vehicles owned by natural per-
sons and vehicles owned by a legal entity is 0.88 in
the interval of 1-3 years, in the interval of 4-5 years
1.65, 2.24 in the interval of 6-7 years, and 2 in the
8-10 years interval. The deviation was observed in
the age interval of 8-10 years, where the vehicles
owned by legal entities-leasing have a lower failure
rate in some years compared to vehicles owned by
natural persons. This is due to a very small sample
of such vehicles, as vehicle leases are in most cases
concluded for a shorter time period, which makes
the data incomparable. Thus, data in 8-10 years in-
terval may be negligible. The previously described
results are shown in Figure 1, while the failure rate
according to the ownership and in relation to age
intervals are shown in the corresponding table.
4.2 Roadworthiness in relation to mileage
After obtaining the initial results which cor-
roborate the premise that the vehicles owned by
natural persons generally have a higher rate of
maintenance. These data were also collected from the
respondents’ replies to the question of the frequency
of servicing of their vehicles. The respondents could
select one of the following answers: more than once
a year, once a year, or as needed. Moreover, the ques-
tion regarding the maintenance method was raised.
The possible answers included: authorized service
center, car mechanic shop, independently, or other.
The comparison of the data on the failure rate of
vehicles with the driving style and vehicle mainte-
nance data helped to establish their interrelation.
4. RESULTS
The section below presents the results and their
interpretation in the order in which the research
was conducted. Data on PTI performed from 2013
to 2017 were obtained from the CVH database and
were further analysed. The questionnaire data regard-
ing the driving style and vehicle maintenance were
gathered in PTI stations and were therefore statisti-
cally analysed.
4.1 Roadworthiness in relation to the type
of vehicle ownership
The rst part of the analysis included an analysis
of vehicle failure rate regarding vehicle ownership.
By analysing data on vehicle roadworthiness in the
4.43 8.98 12.0 17.3 4.80 7.75 11.9 16.5 4.45 6-92 11.4 15.7 3.60 6.44 9.86 5.2 3.22 5.24 8.75 14.4
5.46 11.1 14.3 19.2 5.74 9.03 13.8 18.1 5.17 8.54 13.6 17.7 4.37 8.10 12.2 17.5 4.15 6.78 11.2 16.6
5.81 9.86 13.5 13.9 6.5 8.65 12.7 15.4 5.55 8.37 11.6 17.0 4.47 7.42 11.4 11.6 4.35 6.09 8.89 14.1
25
20
15
10
5
01-3 4-5 6-7 8-10 1-3 4-5 6-7 8-10 1-3 4-5 6-7 8-10 1-3 4-5 6-7 8-10 1-3 4-5 6-7 8-10
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
[%]
F-0
P-0
P-1
F-0 natural persons P-0 legal entities P-1 legal entities – leasing
Figure 1 – Failure rate in relation to the type of vehicle ownership
Mikulić I, Bošković I, Zovak G. Effects of Driving Style and Vehicle Maintenance on Vehicle Roadworthiness
672 Promet – Trafc&Transportation, Vol. 32, 2020, No. 5, 667-677
However, the question arose whether the driving
style also affected vehicle roadworthiness. To an-
swer this question, the data on the roadworthiness of
vehicles within each age interval and with approxi-
mately the same mileage needed to be analysed. The
results are shown graphically in Figures 3-6.
It is evident from the shown data that vehicles
within the same age interval and with approximate-
ly equal mileage, owned by natural persons, have in
most cases higher rate of roadworthiness than vehi-
cles owned by legal entities and vehicles owned by
legal entities-leasing. The fact that the sample of the
leased vehicles older than 5 years is small must also
be taken into account. Considering this evidence,
roadworthiness than vehicles owned by legal enti-
ties, it was necessary to establish the reasons behind
such tendencies. The data on mileage for individual
types of vehicle ownership were used as the base-
line. The data are shown in Figure 2.
By analysing the data on mileage, it can be con-
cluded that vehicles owned by natural persons in
all age intervals have signicantly lower mileage
than vehicles owned by legal entities and legal enti-
ties-leasing. It can therefore be concluded that heav-
ily used vehicles, as can be expected, have more
failures. The vehicle, just as any other machine, is
subjected to increased wear and tear brought on by
heavy use.
1-3 4-5 6-7 8-10
2013
1-3 4-5 6-7 8-10
2014
1-3 4-5 6-7 8-10
2015
1-3 4-5 6-7 8-10
2016
1-3 4-5 6-7 8-10
2017
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
× 1,000 [km]
F-0 natural persons P-0 legal entities P-1 legal entities – leasing
Figure 2 – Average annual mileage in relation to vehicle ownership within observed intervals
F-0 natural persons P-0 legal entities P-1 legal entities – leasing
0-5 5-10 10-15 15-20 20-25 25-30 30-35 35-40 40-45 45-50 50-55 55-60 >60
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
[%]
× 1,000 [km]
Figure 3 – Failure rate for vehicles 1-3 years old, with approximately equal mileage
Mikulić I, Bošković I, Zovak G. Effects of Driving Style and Vehicle Maintenance on Vehicle Roadworthiness
Promet – Trafc&Transportation, Vol. 32, 2020, No. 5, 667-677 673
0-5 5-10 10-15 15-20 20-25 25-30 30-35 35-40 40-45 45-50 50-55 55-60 >60
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Figure 4 – Failure rate for vehicles 4-5 years old, with approximately equal mileage
[%]
× 1,000 [km]
[%]
× 1,000 [km]
0-5 5-10 10-15 15-20 20-25 25-30 30-35 35-40 40-45 45-50 50-55 55-60 >60
Figure 5 – Failure rate for vehicles 6-7 years old, with approximately equal mileagea
[%]
× 1,000 [km]
0-5 5-10 10-15 15-20 20-25 25-30 30-35 35-40 40-45 45-50 50-55 55-60 >60
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
F-0 natural persons P-0 legal entities P-1 legal entities – leasing
F-0 natural persons P-0 legal entities P-1 legal entities – leasing
F-0 natural persons P-0 legal entities P-1 legal entities – leasing
25
20
15
10
5
0
Figure 6 – Failure rate for vehicles 8-10 years old, with approximately equal mileage
Mikulić I, Bošković I, Zovak G. Effects of Driving Style and Vehicle Maintenance on Vehicle Roadworthiness
674 Promet – Trafc&Transportation, Vol. 32, 2020, No. 5, 667-677
Regarding vehicle maintenance, the research is
shown in Figure 7. We can thus conclude that both
natural persons and legal entities equally maintain
their vehicles. Furthermore, maintenance habits go
in favour of legal entities, with a high percentage of
them servicing their vehicles more than once a year.
Nevertheless, they still have a higher failure rate
at the periodic technical inspection. It is common
knowledge that regular and proper maintenance has
a positive effect on vehicle roadworthiness. How-
ever, vehicle owners tend to neglect this aspect of
vehicle use, either due to negligence or due to re-
lated nancial costs. Naturally, vehicles that are not
regularly maintained are more liable to defects.
However, when it comes to the driving style,
the results shown in Figure 8 differ signicantly.
Research shows that 3.06% of natural persons, 8%
of legal entities and 6.5 % of legal entities-leasing
roadworthiness is not causally related to just mile-
age; the way the vehicle is used in trafc and regular
maintenance play an important role as well.
5. DISCUSSION
The questionnaire data collection was conducted
at ten PTI stations in Croatia in the capital city of
Zagreb. In each of the ten PTI stations 100 blank
questionnaires were distributed. Of the planned
1,000, there were 732 respondents who accessed the
questionnaire. Thus, the response rate was 73.2%,
which represented a suitable sample. From the to-
tal number of 732 respondents there were 71.45%
natural persons, 18.03% legal entities and 10.52%
legal entities-leasing. The respondents were famil-
iar with anonymity when conducting the research to
make the data more relevant.
Vehicle
maintenance
frequency
33.77%17.21% 17.42% 14.28% 58.51% 37.88% 51.95%24.28% 44.70%
P1F-0 P-0 P1 F-0 P-0 P1F-0 P-0
As needed Once a year More than
once a year
F-0 natural persons P-0 legal entities P-1 legal entities – leasing
Figure 7 – Vehicle maintenance frequency – questionnaire results
Driving style
66.23%23.71% 25% 27.27% 73.23% 67% 6.5%3.06% 8%
P1F-0 P-0 P1 F-0 P-0 P1F-0 P-0
Carefully Adjusted to
current road
conditions
Aggressively
F-0 natural persons P-0 legal entities P-1 legal entities – leasing
Figure 8 – Driving style – questionnaire results
Mikulić I, Bošković I, Zovak G. Effects of Driving Style and Vehicle Maintenance on Vehicle Roadworthiness
Promet – Trafc&Transportation, Vol. 32, 2020, No. 5, 667-677 675
The enforcement of police trafc control mea-
sures can partially impact the driving style. Howev-
er, greater emphasis should be put on the prevention,
as aggressive driving does not necessarily imply the
violation of trafc rules. For instance, hard accel-
eration with high RPMs does not constitute a traf-
c offence, but the vehicle is thereby unnecessarily
subjected to excessive load. Therefore, the key mea-
sures that would contribute to the modication of
the driving style should be educational, and lead to
the adoption of patterns of trafc behaviour that do
not include aggressive driving. Consequently, this
would help to increase vehicle roadworthiness and
reduce the number of trafc accidents.
The limitations of the conducted research refer
to the collection of data on the driving style and
vehicle maintenance, which were collected using
a questionnaire completed by respondents whose
vehicles underwent PTI at a PTI station. Although
such data were considered sufciently relevant to
support the hypotheses proposed in research pa-
pers [21, 27], the authors in paper [8] warn of their
subjective and indirect nature. Therefore, future
research should be focused on providing a more
relevant method for collecting data regarding the
driving style recognition. Furthermore, by limiting
research to Zagreb, that is, the capital city of Cro-
atia, there was a possibility that greater differences
regarding purchasing power of people were exclud-
ed, which could have been signicant in the context
of vehicle maintenance.
IVA MIKULIĆ, mag. ing. mech.1
E-mail: iva.mikulic@cvh.hr
IGOR BOŠKOVIĆ, mag. iur.1
E-mail: igor.boskovic@cvh.hr
drive aggressively, which shows that vehicles
owned by legal entities and legal entities-leasing
are subjected to aggressive driving much more than
vehicles owned by natural persons.
If we only look at the driving speed parameter
as presented in Figure 9, we can also conclude that
natural persons drive their cars more carefully in
comparison to vehicles owned by legal entities.
Comparing the results of vehicle roadworthiness
with the results obtained from conducting ques-
tionnaires, it was found that worse technical con-
dition of vehicles owned by legal entity and legal
entity-leasing is one of the consequences of a worse
driving style.
6. CONCLUSION
By analysing the previously described results, it
can be concluded that the driving style is one of the
key factors affecting vehicle roadworthiness, imply-
ing frequent vehicle maintenance as a prerequisite
for vehicle participation in road trafc. Aggressive
and fast driving subjects the mechanical assemblies
of the vehicle to increased load, which in turn re-
sults in higher failure rate of vehicles used in such a
manner. This negative impact of aggressive driving
on vehicle roadworthiness cannot be mitigated even
by regular vehicle maintenance, which the majority
of owners carry out once to twice a year. Therefore,
considering the results of the research, by modify-
ing their driving style, and with the same mileage
and same maintenance habits, there is a possibility
that the drivers could increase the roadworthiness
condition of their vehicles, and thus reduce the risk
of a mechanical defect causing a trafc accident.
Average
driving
speed
68.83%5.74% 6.82% 10.39% 78.20% 71.97% 20.78%16.06% 21.21%
P1F-0 P-0 P1 F-0 P-0 P1F-0 P-0
Slow Medium Fast
F-0 natural persons P-0 legal entities P-1 legal entities – leasing
Figure 9 – Average driving speed – questionnaire results
Mikulić I, Bošković I, Zovak G. Effects of Driving Style and Vehicle Maintenance on Vehicle Roadworthiness
676 Promet – Trafc&Transportation, Vol. 32, 2020, No. 5, 667-677
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A Review of Research on Driving Styles and Road
Prof. dr. sc. GORAN ZOVAK, dipl. ing. stroj.1,2
E-mail: goran.zovak@cvh.hr
1 Centar za vozila Hrvatske d.d.
Capraška 6, 10000 Zagreb, Hrvatska
2 Sveučilište u Zagrebu, Fakultet prometnih znanosti
Vukelićeva 4, 10000 Zagreb, Hrvatska
UTJECAJ NAČINA VOŽNJE I ODRŽAVANJA
VOZILA NA TEHNIČKU ISPRAVNOST
VOZILA
SAŽETAK
Neispravna vozila predstavljaju opasnost za sve su-
dionike u prometu te su potencijalni uzročnici prometnih
nesreća. Prethodno provedena istraživanja analizirala
su utjecaj načina vožnje na okolišnu održivost i na sig-
urnost prometa na cestama. Međutim, jednako tako je
potrebno istražiti odnos između načina vožnje i tehničke
ispravnosti vozila. Vozila koja ne udovoljavaju propisan-
im uvjetima eliminiraju se iz prometa na tehničkom pre-
gledu vozila. Međutim, na tehničkom pregledu se utvrđu-
je je li vozilo ispravno, a ne utvrđuju se uzroci utvrđenih
neispravnosti. U ovome radu analizirani su upravo čim-
benici koji utječu na tehničku ispravnost vozila. Prvo je
istražen udio neispravnih vozila na tehničkom pregledu
te broj prijeđenih kilometara ovisno o vrsti vlasnika vozi-
la. Zatim su pomoću upitnika prikupljeni podaci o načinu
vožnje i navikama održavanja vozila različitih vrsta vlas-
nika. Iznijeta je teza da su vozila u vlasništvu pravnih
osoba u pravilu u lošijem tehničkom stanju od onih u
vlasništvu zičkih osoba, zbog veće eksploatacije vozila,
ali i zbog veće sklonosti agresivnoj vožnji vozača takvih
vozila. Konačno, utvrđeno je da promjenom načina vožn-
je vozači mogu, uz jednaki broj prijeđenih kilometara i
jednake navike održavanja vozila, utjecati na tehničko
stanje svojih vozila.
KLJUČNE RIJEČI
redovni tehnički pregled vozila; tehnička ispravnost
vozila; način vožnje; održavanje vozila;
ponašanje vozača;
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