Abstract

This paper aims to identify crash risk factors associated with young drivers’ distractions. Many factors were implicated including using mobile phones while driving or driving with passengers. Data needed for this study were collected from an online questionnaire survey. Beside young drivers’ distraction data, records on drivers’ demographics including age, gender and educational level were collected. Safety-related data on seat belt use were also collected. Each of the variables, contributing to young drivers’ distraction, safety, and educational level, was sorted into four categories according to young driver age (≤18, 19-22, 23-26, and 27-30 years old). The Relative Crash Involvement Ratio (RCIR) was estimated using the Quasi Induced Exposure Method (QIEM) using Microsoft Excel 2007. The results were then exported to the Statistical Package for Social Science Version 19 software. Paired t-test and ANOVA analysis were used to find the statistical significance in the RCIR values. Among the general findings, five outcomes were most prominent. The higher the educational level, the less likely young drivers would get involved in a crash. Young drivers ≤18 years old were almost 4.5 times more likely to get involved in a crash when 3 passengers travelled with them compared to 27-30 year-old drivers. Young drivers of all age groups were more likely to get involved in a crash when using mobile phones. Crash risk was reduced by up to 83 % when young drivers stopped using their mobile phone while driving. Crash risk was reduced by up to 93.43 % when young drivers used seat belt while driving. Finally, countermeasures to improve young drivers’ safety were proposed.

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