Resumen
Under foreign environment, tourists could drive in unfamiliar surroundings, misunderstand and misinterpret traffic signs, or even violate local traffic laws. This study attempts to explore tourist?s perceptions and awareness regarding road safety and investigate underlying factors that could affect tourist?s comprehension of local road signs. A survey questionnaire was distributed to 1,091 international tourists visiting Thailand. Results indicate that the level of perceptions and awareness regarding road safety were found to be different among tourists with different origins. In addition, respondents could only comprehend road signs to some extent, e.g. text traffic signs such as stop sign and yield sign seemed to be difficult to understand from tourist?s perspectives. Statistical modeling results reveal a set of significant factors affecting the level of traffic sign comprehension. Significant socio-economic variables consist of respondent?s age, driver?s license ownership, respondent?s driving experience in foreign countries, and respondent?s nationality. On the other hand, the significant travel characteristic variables are trip duration, trip objective, mode of transportation, and frequency of visit. Findings would help highway and traffic authorities in better understanding tourist?s travel behavior and contribute to road safety design standards serving both local and foreign users.