YOUTH, ALCOHOL AND COLLISION INVOLVEMENT

THE PROBLEM OF DRINKING AND COLLISION INVOLVEMENT AMONG DRIVERS 24 AND YOUNGER IS INVESTIGATED. A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON YOUTHFUL DRINKING SHOWS THAT ONLY A SMALL PROPORTION (2-6%) OF YOUTH ARE INTEMPERATE DRINKERS AND THAT ALCOHOL USE VARIES ACCORDING TO GEOGRAPHIC AREA OF THE COUNTRY, ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND, AND PARENTAL CUSTOM, WITH PARENTS HAVING GREATER INFLUENCE THAN PEER GROUP ON DRINKING HABITS. THE SMALL MINORITY OF YOUTH WHO CAN BE CLASSIFIED AS PROBLEM DRINKERS FREQUENTLY EXHIBIT OTHER ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR AS WELL; MOST TEEN-AGERS DRINK IN MODERATION AND THEIR ALCOHOL USE, IF VIEWED AS A NORMAL PART OF THE SOCIALIZATION PROCESS, IS NOT A PROBLEM. WHEN COLLISION INVOLVEMENT IS CONSIDERED, YOUNG DRIVERS ARE FOUND TO BE OVERREPRESENTED; HOWEVER, THIS OVERINVOLVEMENT IS REDUCED BY HALF WHEN MEASURES OF EXPOSURE ARE USED. FURTHER, YOUNG DRIVERS ARE NOT INVOLVED IN MORE COLLISIONS BECAUSE OF ALCOHOL USE THAN OLDER DRIVERS; THEIR COLLISION INVOLVEMENT INDEX IS GREATER WHEN NONDRINKERS ALONE ARE CONSIDERED THAN WHEN ALL DRIVERS ARE INCLUDED. A DIFFERENTIATING FEATURE OF YOUNG DRIVERS IS THAT THEY ARE PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE TO SMALL AMOUNTS OF ALCOHOL. YOUTH ARE ALSO OVERINVOLVED IN FATAL CRASHES, BUT IT IS QUESTIONABLE WHETHER THIS CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO ALCOHOL. ALTHOUGH MUCH OF THE YOUTHFUL DRINKING-DRIVING PROBLEM CAN BE EXPLAINED BY EXPOSURE, ATTENTION MUST STILL BE FOCUSED ON IDENTIFYING YOUNG PROBLEM DRINKERS AT AN EARLY AGE AND, HOPEFULLY, KEEPING THEM FROM BECOMING PROBLEM DRIVERS. /AUTHOR/

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/1800052
• Corporate Authors:

  Safety Research Information Service

  425 North Michigan Avenue
  Chicago, IL  United States  60611
• Authors:
  • ZYLMAN, R
• Publication Date: 1973-6

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 58-72
• Serial:
  • Journal of Safety Research
  • Volume: 5
  • Issue Number: 2
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0022-4375
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00224375

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Adolescents; Alcohols; Crash exposure; Crash injury research; Crash rates; Crashes; Drivers; Drunk driving; Fatalities; Human characteristics; Research; Statistics; Teenage drivers
• Uncontrolled Terms: Driver characteristics; Exposure
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Research; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00224431
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Highway Safety Research Institute
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 23 1974 12:00AM