Driving behavior, driver style and road traffic accidents among young medical groups

ABSTRACT

Road traffic accidents [RTAs] are increasingly being recognized as a growing public health problem. In Egypt, RTAs constitute 45% of all injury mortalities. The main risk factors for road traffic accidents are factors influencing the exposure to risk, factors influencing crash involvement, severity of crash and of post-crash injuries. To identify the driving style and driving behavior of medical students and its association with car accident involvement. Driving style and behavior of 450 medical students were reported using a self administered questionnaire. Driving style included driving with excessive speed, deviance, calmness, planning and concentration, driving opposite direction, disregarding traffic lights and road signs. Driving behavior included driving before having license, mobile use during driving, violations, use of safety belt, participation in car races and driving under risky conditions. Involvements in car accidents [both severity and frequency] were inquired in the questionnaire. The sample included 61.6% male and 38.4% female drivers, with a mean age of 20.8 years [SD +/- 1.6]. Sixty nine percent of students reported having previous car accidents of which 63.5% were simple accidents with minimal car affection and no human injuries. The maximum speed of driving was ranging from 40 to 240 km/hr with a mean of 126.4 [SD +/- 35.5, median=120 km/hr]. The following driving styles and behaviors were significantly higher among male students exceeding limited speed, driving before having license, disregarding road signs, driving opposite direction, non use of car safety belt, answering a mobile call during driving, violations, drive under risky conditions. Significant factors associated with students involvement in car accidents were answering mobile phone during driving [chi[2] = 22.4 p<0.001], fast driving at any occasion [chi[2] = 6.63 p<0.05], disregarding road signs [chi[2] 6.21 p<0.05], involvement in car races [chi[2] = 4.87 p<0.05], loud stereo music [chi[2] 10.7 p<0.01], drive under stress [chi[2] = 8.33 p<0.01], severe fatigue[chi[2] 18.7 p<0. 001], drive in bad visibility[chi[2] = 18.8 p<0.001], use of alcohols [chi[2] 7.59 p<0.001] and sedative drugs [chi[2]=5.06 p<0.05], sudden crossing of pedestrians[chi[2] = 6.1 p<0.05], drive with a bad vehicle condition [chi[2] =8.6 p<0.01], previous violations[chi[2] = 25 p<0.001] previous withdrawal of license[chi[2] 10.25 p<0.01]. Driving before having a license, disregarding traffic lights, non use of seat belts, car checking, availability of car maintenance tools and fire extinguisher, not keeping the right lane when driving slowly were not significantly associated with involvement in road traffic accidents. The results indicate that self-reports of certain aspects of driver behaviors and styles are significantly associated with involvement in car accidents. These risky behaviors need to be modified to minimize future occurrence of car accidents