Citation

Zylman R. J. Saf. Res. 1973; 5(2): 58-72.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1973, U.S. National Safety Council, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The problem of drinking and collision involvement among drivers, 24 years of age and younger is investigated. A review of the literature on youthful drinking shows that only a small proportion (2% to 6%) of youth or intemperate drinkers, and that alcohol use varies according to the geographic area of the country, ethnic and religious background, and parental custom, with parents having greater influence than peer group on drinking habits. The small minority of youth who can be classified as problem drinkers frequently exhibit other antisocial behavior as well; most teenagers drink in moderation and their alcohol use, if viewed as a normal part of the socialization process, is not a problem. When collision involvement is considered, young drivers are found to be over-represented; however, this over-involvement is reduced by half, when measures of exposure are used. Further, young drivers are not involved in more collisions because of alcohol use than older drivers; their collision involvement index is greater when non-drinkers alone are considered, then when all drivers are included. A differentiating feature of young drivers is that they also are particularly vulnerable to small amounts of alcohol. Youth also overinvolved in fatal crashes, but it is questionable whether this can be attributed to alcohol. Although much of the youthful drinking-driving problem can be explained by exposure, attention must still be focused on identifying young problem drinkers at an early age and, hopefully, giving them from becoming problem drivers.