In this issue, Poulin, Boudreau & Ashbridge provide an intriguing analysis of the problem of adolescents riding with drunk drivers. Their analysis, based on a survey of 13 000 students in grades 7–12 in the four Maritime Provinces of Canada, includes individual, school an province variables. Highlighted are the factors not within the student’s direct control that determine the extent of riding with a drunk driver (RDD). They found that rural residence, single parent or no parents, socio-economic status (SES), prevalence of driving under the influence (DUI), lower licensure rate and lower educational attainment in the community were associated with RDD. Of particular interest was their finding that, once the impact of those factors was controlled, being licensed reduced the probability of RDD. Presumably, this is because youths with licenses have less need to ride with others and thus are less likely to ride with a drunk driver. The Poulin et al. results highlight the need to pay more attention to the risk that unlicensed youths will become riders in alcohol-related crashes. (Author/publisher)
Abstract