Teenagers are amongst the segment of the driving population with the highest accident rate. Improving our understanding of their driving and transport behaviour, and developing methods and tools to modify and improve it, will contribute towards increasing their safety, and that of the whole population. This research aims to identify the factors that affect teenagers’ transport and driving behaviour, especially in suburban/island areas. Teenagers’ culture and values, their perceptions and attitudes, daily travel behaviour (to school and after school), socioeconomic characteristics, and social networking are all examined. A case study of high school students’ driving and transport behaviour was carried out on the island of Chios in Greece. Surveys were administered in 15 high schools in the city of Chios and in the suburbs in 2009. A sample of 214 high school students, aged between 12 and 18 years old, responded to the survey. The analysis of the collected data shows that the majority of the students performs simple tours from home to school in the morning and has more complicated activity chains in the afternoon. The majority of these relate to school and tutorial lessons. 58% of male and 33% of female students drive a motorcycle. Of these, 76% of the male and 84% of the female drivers are driving illegally, without the appropriate license. Moreover, boys from both rural and urban areas are found to exhibit more risky and careless driving behaviour than girls. The findings of this research are discussed in relation to measures for increasing safety awareness and a change of culture among high school students. (Author/publisher)
Abstract