BACKGROUND: Adolescents are a relatively healthy group, but their developmental stage makes them vulnerable to many risk-taking behaviors. One such major issue is road safety practices and their risk on roads.
OBJECTIVE: To determine road safety risk behavior among school-going adolescents of Jaipur city and factors associated with it.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: An observational, cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2015 to February 2016. A total of 900 school-going adolescents were enrolled from eight schools of Jaipur city and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) questionnaire was administered.
RESULTS: Most of the participants (67.56%) were in the age group of 13-16 years. A total of 682 (75%) adolescents were driving one or other type of vehicle to commute. Out of the 682 vehicle-using adolescents, 603 (88%) had risky behavior on roads. Driving under the influence was found more among those using four-wheelers (10%) than two-wheelers (5%). Almost half of drivers used mobile phones while driving a car or two-wheeler. There was statistically significant association between risk on roads with respect to rising education and occupation of parents. A majority (88.41%) of the school-going students were found to be at risk on roads while driving. Safety-belt was not used by 28% of the students while half did not use a helmet. More than 70% of the car drivers and two-wheeler drivers drove without license.
CONCLUSION: Majority of the adolescent drivers are at risk on roads. Driving without license and/or helmet and using mobile phone are the main risk factors.