Road traffic practices among a cohort of young adults in New Zealand

Aim. To describe the road safety practices of young adults in New Zealand. Method. Face to face structured interviews, seeking information on a range of road safety practices, were conducted with 948 members of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study cohort when they were 21 years old. Results. In the 30 days before the interview, 49% of the males and 32% of the females reported driving within two hours of drinking alcohol; 19% males and 8% females reported driving after drinking too much to perhaps be able to drive safely; and 25% males and 9% females reported driving after using marijuana. Also, 25% males and 6% females reported that they "often" drove fast just for the thrill of it, and 38% males and 11% females reported "often" driving faster than 120 kph on the open road. Seatbelt use as a driver was reported as "always" or "nearly always" by 87% of the males and 95% of the females, but as a rear seat passenger it was 34% for males and 47% for females. Conclusions. Unsafe road traffic practices, especially among males, were unacceptably high. Continued efforts are required to find new ways of addressing these issues.