Adolescents' perspectives on distracted driving legislation

Distracted and Impaired Driving Among U.S. Adolescents, 2019, USA

Distracted driving, the act of focusing on something else while operating a vehicle, is a significant health problem among adolescents. Although some studies have reported on prevalence among adolescents in the United States, limited studies have examined differences by sexual identity status. The purpose of the present study was to examine past 30-day distracted driving by sexual identity status among a large, national sample of adolescents ages 14 to 18 years. A secondary analysis was conducted on the 2019 Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System (YRBSS) data, and associations between distracted driving and demographics (e.g., biological sex, age, race/ethnicity) were assessed with weighted logistic regression analyses. A total of 13,590 adolescents ages 14 to 18 years were part of the final analytic sample. Twenty-three percent of adolescents reported distracted driving in the past 30 days. Compared with heterosexual adolescents, gay/lesbian (14.3%), bisexual (18.1%), and questioning (12.9%) adolescents reported lower distracted driving in the past 30 days. Findings through a health equity approach may inform harm reduction efforts and behavioral interventions.

How Gender Affects Motor Vehicle Crashes: A Case Study from San Antonio, Texas

Traffic crashes are among the leading causes of injuries and fatalities worldwide. The main assumption of this study is that traffic crash rates, injury severity, and driving behaviors differ by the driver’s gender. Utilizing ten years (2011–2020) of data from the Texas Crash Record and Information System database, this study investigates how some of the most prominent driving behaviors leading to crashes and severe injuries (distracted driving, speeding, lane departure, and driving under influence) vary by gender in San Antonio, Texas. The spatial distribution of crashes associated with these driving behaviors by gender is also investigated, as well as the influence of some environmental and temporal variables on crash frequency and injury severity. This study adopted bivariate analysis and logistic regression modeling to identify the effect of different variables on crash occurrence and severity by gender. Male drivers were more likely to be involved in a speeding/DUI/lane departure-related crash and subsequent severe injuries. However, female drivers were slightly more associated with distracted-driving crashes and subsequent injuries. Nighttime, interstate/highway roads, the weekend period, and divider/marked lanes as the primary traffic control significantly increased the crash and injury risk of male drivers. Driving behavior-related crashes were mostly concentrated on some interstate road segments, major intersections, and interchanges. The results from this study can be used by authorities and policy-makers to prioritize the use of limited resources, and to run more effective education campaigns to a targeted audience.

Safety and health perceptions of location-based augmented reality gaming app and their implications

This study seeks to understand the potential safety and health implications of location-based augmented reality gaming apps ("LAR apps") through studying people perception of Pokémon GO, a popular LAR gaming app. These perceptions can affect app usage behavior, app retention rate, and market share which can be critical to policymakers and app developers. An online survey is conducted to capture the impacts of Pokémon GO regarding: (i) perceived risk of using the app and opinion of prohibiting its usage while driving and cycling, (ii) frequency of app-related distracted driving and cycling, (iii) frequency of app-induced driving and potentially unsafe driving behavior, (iv) average daily steps before and after using the app, and (v) perceived physical and mental health benefits. Multivariate binary probit models and random parameters ordered probit models were estimated to capture users' and non-users' characteristics that affect these perceptions, attitude, and behavior. The results suggest that LAR gaming apps can potentially promote physical activity by encouraging people to walk more, increase social interactions such as app-related discussions, but also contribute to increased app-related distracted driving and cycling, app-induced driving, and unsafe driving behavior. The study findings and insights can provide valuable feedback to legislators and LAR gaming app developers for designing policies and app mechanisms that can address the safety concerns of using such apps, and provide physical and mental health benefits to its users.

Support for distracted driving laws: An analysis of adolescent drivers from the Traffic Safety Culture Index from 2011 to 2017

INTRODUCTION

Adolescent drivers are often the focus of traffic safety legislation as they are at increased risk for crash-related injury and death. However, the degree to which adolescents support distracted driving laws and factors contributing to their support are relatively unknown. Using a large, nationally weighted sample of adolescent drivers in the United States, we assessed if perceived threat from other road users' engagement in distracted driving, personal engagement in distracted driving behaviors, and the presence of state distracted driving laws was associated with support for distracted driving laws.

METHODS

The sample included 3565 adolescents (aged 16-18) who participated in the Traffic Safety Culture Index survey from 2011 to 2017. A modified Poisson regression model with robust errors was fit to the weighted data to examine support for distracted driving laws. Models included age, gender, year, state distracted driving laws, personal engagement in distracted driving behavior, and perceived threat from other road users' engaging in distracted driving.

RESULTS

Approximately 87% of adolescents supported a law against texting and emailing compared to 66% who supported a universal handheld cellphone law. Support for distracted driving legislation was associated with greater perceived threat of other road users engaging in distracted driving while accounting for personal engagement in distracted driving, state distracted driving laws, and developmental covariates.

DISCUSSION

Greater understanding of the factors behind legislative support is needed. Public health interventions focused on effectively translating the risks of cellphone use while driving and effective policy will further improve the traffic safety culture.

Initial Testing of a Web-Based Intervention to Reduce Adolescent Driver Inattention: A Randomized Controlled Trial

INTRODUCTION

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of adolescent death. Inattention to the roadway contributes to crash risk. The objective of this study was to deploy an initial study of a web-based intervention (Let's Choose Ourselves) designed to improve adolescent driver attention to the roadway.

METHODS

We used a randomized controlled trial design in a sample of adolescent drivers to test if a web-based intervention decreased cell phone engagement in driving simulation at 3 months as compared with controls. As secondary hypotheses, we tested if the intervention increased the use of peer passengers to manage distractions and decreased eyes off the forward roadway in driving simulation and decreased self-reported risky driving behaviors. Adolescents, aged 16-17 years, licensed for ≤90 days were randomized to Let's Choose Ourselves with distractions in the simulator protocol at baseline, Let's Choose Ourselves with no distractions, an attention control intervention on healthy eating with distractions, or attention control with no distractions. We used Poisson regression modeling to test the primary and secondary hypotheses.

RESULTS

The trial included 60 adolescents (66.7% female, 78.3% non-Hispanic white subjects, mean age 16.8 years, licensed 50.8 days). In Poisson regression, controlling for sex, we found no significant effects of Let's Choose Ourselves on primary or secondary outcomes. However, there was a significant effect of visit on self-report outcomes, with self-reported distracted driving behaviors increasing over time.

DISCUSSION

Although there were no significant effects of Let's Choose Ourselves, self-reported risky driving behaviors increased over time. Further investigation of the relationship between driving experience and increasing inattention to the road in adolescents is warranted.

Demographic, driving experience, and psychosocial predictors of adolescent distracted driving beliefs

PURPOSE

The current study had three aims: 1) describe distracted driving beliefs among adolescents by various distraction types (i.e., talking on a hands-free/hands-held cell phone, texting or emailing, taking "selfies," and updating/checking social media); 2) examine the factor structure of distracted driving beliefs; and 3) test whether individual difference factors, shown in prior work to be related to distracted driving behavior, significantly predicted factors of distracted driving beliefs.

METHODS

Three hundred seventy-nine high school students enrolled in non-mandatory Driver's Education courses completed surveys of distracted driving beliefs, sensation seeking, and demographics.

RESULTS

A factor analysis revealed four factors of distracted driving beliefs: 1) self-acceptance of interacting with a cell phone while driving; 2) perceived peer acceptance of interacting with a cell phone while driving; 3) perceived threat of distracted driving to personal safety; and 4) self- and peer- acceptance of talking on a cell phone while driving. Adolescents perceived a greater threat to safety and less self- and peer-acceptance of interacting with cell phones while driving (i.e., texting/emailing, updating/posting to social media, taking selfies) than talking on a cell phone while driving. In general, men, those with more driving experience, higher in sensation seeking, and those placing more importance on checking notifications on a phone had riskier beliefs about distracted driving.

CONCLUSION

Findings suggest adolescent distracted driving beliefs are influenced by individual difference factors, providing some knowledge about the motivations for distracted driving. Future work should consider novel strategies for intervening to reduce this common yet extremely dangerous behavior among adolescents.