@article{ref1,
title="High school off-campus lunch policies and adolescent motor vehicle crash risks",
journal="Journal of Adolescent Health",
year="2005",
author="Stone, Lorraine M. and Runyan, Carol S. Wolf",
volume="36",
number="1",
pages="5-8",
abstract="PURPOSE: To examine differences in motor vehicle crash involvement for teenagers in communities with and without school policies enabling teens to drive off campus during lunchtime. METHODS: Comparison of lunchtime motor vehicle crashes involving teen drivers in two North Carolina counties having open-lunch policies with a third county without an open-lunch policy. We also compare crash rates during the before-school period and at all times of the day in the three counties. Data were analyzed by computing rate ratios of teens' involvement in a crash during the three time periods and comparing them among the three counties. RESULTS: Crash rates over the lunch hours were significantly higher for teenagers in the counties with open-lunch policies, despite these counties having no elevated crash risk during other time periods. This resulted in a relative risk of lunchtime crash involvement of 3.10 and 2.98 (95% CI 1.97-4.89 and 1.87-4.74, respectively) compared with the county without an open-lunch policy. Number of vehicle occupants also increased during the lunch hours in the counties with open-lunch policies. CONCLUSIONS: Open-lunch policies contribute to motor vehicle crashes in teenagers and encourage a situation where there are multiple occupants per vehicle, a known risk factor for teenage motor vehicle crashes.",
language="",
issn="1054-139X",
doi="10.1016/j.jadohealth.2003.12.009",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2003.12.009"
}