Road crashes remain a significant public health problem at international, national and regional level. World Health Organization estimates that more than a million persons die each year in road car crashes and that 20 to 50 million other persons are injured in those crashes ("Global status report on road safety: time for action," 2009). Among the drivers that die in car crashes almost a quarter are young drivers (OECD, 2006). The main causes of car crashes identified by WHO are driving while intoxicated, speeding, driving while tired, phone use, low visibility and poor road conditions (Peden et al., 2004). To these causes, in the case of young drivers we can add sensation seeking, excitability and peer influence (A. F. Williams, 2006). Peer influence on young drivers’ behaviour is a controversial topic in the literature due to the rather contradictory conclusions of the researches on this theme. Some researchers have found a negative effect of peer presence (Arnett et al., 1997; Doherty et al., 1998; Moller & Gregersen, 2008), while others have found a protective effect (Delhomme, 1994; Engstrom, Gregersen, Granstrom, & Nyberg, 2008; Rueda-Domingo et al., 2004; Vollrath, Meilinger, & Krager, 2002). This research analyses the effect that peers can have on young drivers’ risky behaviours by using the theory of planned behaviour approach and by looking into the effect that peer pressure type can have on the young driver. The results highlight that subjective norms and especially friend’s perceived norms contribute significantly to explaining young drivers’ intention to speed or to drive while intoxicated. The comparative analysis showed some interesting differences among the two populations. For example, for the Romanian drivers norms play a much more important role in explaining risky driving behaviours that for the French population. Also, young French drivers perceive the car as having rather an instrumental role while Romanian drivers see it more like a way to impress. Another interesting result emphasizes on the situational character of young drivers risk taking but also on the implications that risk taking peers might have. Finally, the results obtained regarding the role of norms and the effects of peer pressure on young drivers’ behaviour are rather encouraging. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting