01589074

Component

Risky behaviors such as underage driving start to appear in many societies. Many crashes occur every year that involve underage unlicensed drivers. One of the main challenges for traffic safety authorities is the lack of detailed information about this alarming phenomenon. This study aims to investigate the rate of underage driving among high school teenagers in Doha (the capital of Qatar) and to thoroughly examine their use, perception, and awareness of the seat belt as one of the main safety features in vehicles. Data used in the analysis was obtained from a self-reported questionnaire that was carried out among a convenience sample of male high school teenagers. Conditional distributions and logistic regression approach were developed. The results indicated that 59% of the participants drive on an irregular basis without having a driving license and about two thirds of them (62%) reported that they have been driving for two years or more. Regarding seat belt use, only 47% of participants reported that they use seat belt while driving as a driver or passenger and approximately 26% stated that they rarely or never wear a seat belt. In addition, the results of the logistic regression model indicated that four significant factors affected high school teenagers’ use of seat belt. These factors are: (1) drive a car to school “being a driver”, (2) personal perception about the role of seat belt in saving life, (3) keen to require back seat passengers to buckle up, and (4) previous involvement in safety campaign that aimed to emphasize the importance of using seat belt as a driver or passenger. The results of this study might help in determining better plans or strategies that can contribute in minimizing the impact of this problem

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ANB30 Standing Committee on Operator Education and Regulation. Alternate title: Problems of Underage Driving and Seat Belt Use Among High School Teenagers in Qatar.

01584066

16-3613

English

12p

2016

Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; References; Tables

Developing countries; High school students; Human factors in crashes; Risk taking; Seat belt use; Teenage drivers; Traffic safety

Underage drivers

Doha (Qatar)

Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2016 Paper #16-3613

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 12 2016 5:34PM