Young persons have an increased risk of being involved in traffic accidents both as drivers and passengers. Young (between 15 and 25 years) persons' driving habits, alcohol consumption and social networks were investigated in a questionnaire study. Two thousand three hundred women and men in the Uppsala region, Sweden were addressed and answers were obtained from 54%. Around 47 per cent of the respondents had a drivers licence. The construction of questions was based on the theory of planned behaviour. The results concern background factors, driving and drinking habits. Also factors associated with decisions to drive after drinking or be a passenger with someone else who had been drinking were investigated. Influences from friends and parents on decisions were also asked about. Although young males more frequently than females report experiences about drunken driving, the general impression is that young persons, women more than men, are very restrictive concerning alcohol and driving. Friends were more important than parents for decisions to drink and drive. It was also, for example, easier to ride with a drunken friend than a drunken stranger. Attempts will be made to adjust causal models to data. For the covering abstract see ITRD E122795.
Abstract