Abstract
Aim: to determine whether the prevalence of risky driving behaviour changed between the ages 21 and 26 years, among a cohort of young people.
Method: This study was part of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, which is a longitudinal study of a birth cohort. This study involved examining changes in the prevalence of risky driving behaviour among young adults at ages 21 and 26 years. At both ages, 936 members of the cohort were administered face-to-face interviews, using a structured questionnaire that included items on a range of risky driving and thrill seeking activities.
Results: The results showed that risky driving was a predominantly a male activity, but by 26 years of age many had "matured out" of this behaviour. At the same time, the desire for 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.
Impact on industry: These results show that the main target population for road safety interventions aimed at reducing risky driving behaviour should be young, male drivers