Risky driving behaviors among teenagers - Gwinnett County, Georgia, 1993

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, June 10, 1994

In the United States in 1991, approximately 6000 persons aged 16-20 years died from motor-vehicle crashes (MVCs) - twice as many as from any other cause of death among persons in this age group[1]. During 1991, approximately 3000 crashes in Gwinnett County, Georgia (1990 population: 352,910) (26% of all crashes in Gwinnett County), involved at least one teenage driver (Gwinnett County Department of Transportation, unpublished data, 1992). Risky driving behaviors are among the risk factors for teenage MVC death and injury[2]. To better characterize these risk factors, the Georgia Department of Human Resources, the Gwinnett County Board of Health, the community-based Gwinnett County Teen Traffic Tragedies Task Force, and CDC conducted a case-control study of MVCs among teenage drivers in Gwinnett County during 1993. This report summarizes the results of that study.

To be eligible for the study, a person must have been aged 16-19 years, a licensed driver, and enrolled in a Gwinnett County public high school. Case-students (n=64) had been involved as drivers in injury-producing MVCs during January-March 1993 according to Police Accident Reports filed with the Gwinnett County Department of Transportation. Control-students (n=227) were randomly selected from enrollment files of Gwinnett County public high schools; these students had never been involved in a police-reported crash, were aged 16-19 years, and were licensed drivers. Participants completed a written questionnaire in which they specified how often they had engaged in 11 potentially risky driving behaviors during the 3 months preceding the survey (Table 1). Questions were adapted from a survey on risky driving behavior[3]. Possible responses were "never," "one to two times," "three to five times," and "six or more times." The chi-square test was used to assist in assessing associations between behaviors and risk for MVCs. Three behaviors that appeared to be associated with MVCs and two additional behaviors thought to be potentially life-threatening were analyzed further by stratifying by sex.

[TABULAR DATA OMITTED]

For seven of the 11 risky behaviors, at least 50% of both cases and controls reported engaging in the behaviors at least once during the 3 months preceding the survey. For example, at least once during the 3 months preceding the survey, 63% of all respondents reported tailgating, 80% reported driving 20 miles per hour (mph) over the speed limit, and 91% reported entering an intersection when the light was about to turn red. Twenty-six percent of all students surveyed reported passing in a nopassing zone, and 21% reported passing two to three cars at once on a two-lane road.

When cases and controls were compared, three behaviors appeared to be associated with risk for MVCs: driving 20 mph over the speed limit (p=0.06), passing a car in a no-passing zone (p=0.06), and taking risks while driving in traffic because it makes driving more fun (p=0.07). For these behaviors, differences were greatest for those who reported engaging in the behaviors six or more times during the 3 months preceding the survey (Table 1). At this level, 28 (44%) cases and 65 (29%) controls reported driving 20 mph over the speed limit; five (8%) cases and nine (4%) controls reported passing a car in a no-passing zone; and 12 (19%) cases and 18 (8%) controls reported taking some risks while driving in traffic because it makes driving more fun.

Compared with male controls and all females, male cases were more likely to drive 20 mph over the speed limit (p=0.02), pass a car in a no-passing zone (p=0.05), take driving risks for fun (p=0.04), and pass two to three cars at once on a two-lane road (p=0.09) (Table 2).

[TABULAR DATA OMITTED]

Reported by. Gwinnett County Teen Traffic Tragedies Task Force, JC Crutcher, MD, Gwinnett County Board of Health; G Black, P Campball, Gwinnett County Dept of Transportation, Lawrenceville, JD Smith, K Toomey, MD, State Epidemiologist, Georgia Dept of Human Resources. Div of Unintentional injury Prevention, Div of Acute Care and Rehabilitation Research and Disability Prevention, Office of Statistics, Programming, and Graphics, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC

Editorial Note: Young drivers account disproportionately for MVCs worldwide[4], reflecting, in part, the combination of immaturity and lack of driving experience[5]. Adolescent drivers are more likely than adult drivers to report speeding, running red lights, making illegal turns, not wearing safety belts, riding with an intoxicated driver, and driving after using drugs or alcohol[6].

In the Gwinnett County study, most students-regardless of whether they were cases or controls-reported engaging in risky driving behaviors. Parents should recognize that driving is a complex task that can take several years to master and can assist in reducing the risk for MVCs among adolescent drivers by 1) providing young drivers a longer period of supervised driving in low-risk settings (e.g., with supervision, during daylight, and in safe environments) in addition to traditional driver's education courses, 2) serving as role models by practicing good driving behaviors and always obeying traffic laws, and 3) requiring all family members to be properly restrained each time they ride in a motor vehicle.