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Paper Title:
Changes in risky driving
behaviour among young adults
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Authors:
Dorothy Begg, John Langley
Abstract:
The objective of this
study was to determine whether there was a change in the prevalence
of risky driving and thrill-seeking behaviour among a cohort of
young adults from age 21 to 26 years. This study was part of the
Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, which is
a longitudinal study of a birth cohort. At ages 21 and 26 years,
data was sought on the prevalence of a range of risky driving (e.g.
driving after drinking, driving after using marijuana, driving fast
just for the thrill of it, taking deliberate risks for fun) and
thrill seeking behaviours (bungy-jumping, sky diving, white water
rafting, hang-gliding, roller coaster ride) among the cohort. At
both ages, 936 members of the cohort were administered a face-to-face
interview, using a structured questionnaire that included items
on these behaviours. The results showed that, at both ages, risky
driving was a predominantly a male activity, but by 26 years of
age many males had 'matured out' of these behaviours. At the same
time, the desire to take part in thrill-seeking increased among
the males. Among the females, there were few significant changes
between ages 21 and 26 years but at both ages the prevalence of
risky driving and thrill-seeking was relatively low.
The results from this study confirm that risky driving behaviour
is predominantly a young male activity. Given that young drivers
are also relatively inexperienced, this study provides good evidence
why road safety interventions for risky driving behaviour should
target young male drivers.
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