This study investigates the development of relevant traffic attitudes and behaviours of young people during their school years. The general questions were concerned with the attitudes towards traffic safety. Some questions were prepared following the line of Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour. They comprised items on behavioural intentions, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived control in three different traffic situations. These situations include: (1) cycling while intoxicated; (2) safety belt use; and (3) race on the road with heavy traffic. The relative importance of different factors and their change during maturation were analyzed. A traffic safety maturation model was established in rough lines. Special attention was given to the different roles of peers and relevant adults. A representative sample (N = 1432) of school youth of various ages (from 9 to 19 years) and from different regions in Slovenia (rural, urban) was questioned. Respondents of different age and sex differ in their answers mainly in degree. Their evaluations of traffic safety, for instance, were similar in belief that it is important and necessary, but boring and unattractive. Similar tendencies appeared regarding other answers. Regression and other analysis offered a deeper insight into the results. A rather alarming picture of the situation was given.
Abstract