Alcohol and road safety behaviour among New Zealand tertiary students

In New Zealand, as in most developed countries, rates of injury mortality and morbidity peak in late adolescence (15-19 years), when they account for around three quarters of fatalities and a third of hospitalisations. Road traffic crashes account for over half of fatal injuries in New Zealand as in most developed countries. Individuals engaged in post-secondary education, i.e., tertiary students, are a large and important subgroup of young people exposed to the risk of road traffic injury. The aims of this study were to estimate the prevalence of unsafe road behaviours and to examine the role of demographic variables, alcohol use, driver licence status, and transport needs. Participants were 1,480 students (899 women) from 12 residential halls in Dunedin, New Zealand. They anonymously completed a questionnaire on alcohol use and road safety at the start of the 2000 academic year. A sub-sample of 967 students completed a follow-up survey six months later. The mean age of the sample was 18.3 years (SD=1.6), and 88% had a driver licence. Male gender and drinking status were independently associated with speeding, drink-driving and drink-riding, but not seatbelt use. Drinking levels showed a strong dose-response relationship with the prevalence of unsafe behaviours with the exception of seatbelt use. In marked contrast to drinking levels, which increased from baseline to follow-up, drink-driving and drink-riding levels decreased, probably reflecting the reduced motor vehicle transport needs of students in residential halls, relative to their out-of-term living environments. In addition to various existing, evidence-based countermeasures, application of interventions for reducing hazardous drinking may be required to help reduce road traffic injury rates in this population.