TY - JOUR
T1 - Risk and type of crash among young drivers by rurality of residence
T2 - Findings from the DRIVE Study
AU - Chen, H. Y.
AU - Ivers, R. Q.
AU - Martiniuk, A. L.C.
AU - Boufous, S.
AU - Senserrick, T.
AU - Woodward, M.
AU - Stevenson, M.
AU - Williamson, A.
AU - Norton, R.
N1 - Funding Information:
Martiniuk ALC was supported by a fellowship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Funding Information:
Ivers RQ, Senserrick T, Boufous S and Stevenson M receive salary funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.
Funding Information:
Funding: This work was supported by National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW, NRMA Motoring and Services, NRMA-ACT Road safety Trust, NSW Health and the Motor Accidents Authority of NSW.
PY - 2009/7
Y1 - 2009/7
N2 - Background: Most previous literature on urban/rural differences in road crashes has a primary focus on severe injuries or deaths, which may be largely explained by variations of medical resources. Little has been reported on police-reported crashes by geographical location, or crash type and severity, especially among young drivers. Methods: DRIVE is a prospective cohort study of 20,822 drivers aged 17-24 in NSW, Australia. Information on risk factors was collected via online questionnaire and subsequently linked to police-reported crashes. Poisson regression was used to analyse risk of various crash types by three levels of rurality of residence: urban, regional (country towns and surrounds) and rural. Results: Compared to urban drivers, risk of crash decreased with increasing rurality (regional adjusted RR: 0.7, 95% CI 0.6-0.9; rural adjusted RR: 0.5, 95% CI 0.3-0.7). Among those who crashed, risk of injurious crash did not differ by geographic location; however, regional and rural drivers had significantly higher risk of a single versus multiple vehicle crash (regional adjusted RR 1.8, 95% CI 1.3-2.5; rural adjusted RR: 2.0, 95% CI 1.1-3.6), which was explained by speeding involvement and road alignment at the time or site of crash. Conclusions: Although young urban drivers have a higher crash risk overall, rural and regional residents have increased risk of a single vehicle crash. Interventions to reduce single vehicle crashes should aim to address key issues affecting such crashes, including speeding and specific aspects of road geometry.
AB - Background: Most previous literature on urban/rural differences in road crashes has a primary focus on severe injuries or deaths, which may be largely explained by variations of medical resources. Little has been reported on police-reported crashes by geographical location, or crash type and severity, especially among young drivers. Methods: DRIVE is a prospective cohort study of 20,822 drivers aged 17-24 in NSW, Australia. Information on risk factors was collected via online questionnaire and subsequently linked to police-reported crashes. Poisson regression was used to analyse risk of various crash types by three levels of rurality of residence: urban, regional (country towns and surrounds) and rural. Results: Compared to urban drivers, risk of crash decreased with increasing rurality (regional adjusted RR: 0.7, 95% CI 0.6-0.9; rural adjusted RR: 0.5, 95% CI 0.3-0.7). Among those who crashed, risk of injurious crash did not differ by geographic location; however, regional and rural drivers had significantly higher risk of a single versus multiple vehicle crash (regional adjusted RR 1.8, 95% CI 1.3-2.5; rural adjusted RR: 2.0, 95% CI 1.1-3.6), which was explained by speeding involvement and road alignment at the time or site of crash. Conclusions: Although young urban drivers have a higher crash risk overall, rural and regional residents have increased risk of a single vehicle crash. Interventions to reduce single vehicle crashes should aim to address key issues affecting such crashes, including speeding and specific aspects of road geometry.
KW - Motor vehicle crash
KW - Rural/urban difference
KW - The DRIVE Study
KW - Young driver
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U2 - 10.1016/j.aap.2009.03.005
DO - 10.1016/j.aap.2009.03.005
M3 - Article
C2 - 19540955
AN - SCOPUS:67349127574
VL - 41
SP - 676
EP - 682
JO - Accident Analysis and Prevention
JF - Accident Analysis and Prevention
SN - 0001-4575
IS - 4
ER -