Introduction

Adolescent drivers are often the focus of traffic safety legislation as they are at increased risk for crash-related injury and death. However, the degree to which adolescents support distracted driving laws and factors contributing to their support are relatively unknown. Using a large, nationally weighted sample of adolescent drivers in the United States, we assessed if perceived threat from other road users’ engagement in distracted driving, personal engagement in distracted driving behaviors, and the presence of state distracted driving laws was associated with support for distracted driving laws.

Methods

The sample included 3565 adolescents (aged 16–18) who participated in the Traffic Safety Culture Index survey from 2011 to 2017. A modified Poisson regression model with robust errors was fit to the weighted data to examine support for distracted driving laws. Models included age, gender, year, state distracted driving laws, personal engagement in distracted driving behavior, and perceived threat from other road users’ engaging in distracted driving.

Results

Approximately 87% of adolescents supported a law against texting and emailing compared to 66% who supported a universal handheld cellphone law. Support for distracted driving legislation was associated with greater perceived threat of other road users engaging in distracted driving while accounting for personal engagement in distracted driving, state distracted driving laws, and developmental covariates.

Discussion

Greater understanding of the factors behind legislative support is needed. Public health interventions focused on effectively translating the risks of cellphone use while driving and effective policy will further improve the traffic safety culture.

中文翻译：

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支持分心驾驶法：2011 年至 2017 年交通安全文化指数对青少年驾驶员的分析

介绍

青少年驾驶员通常是交通安全立法的重点，因为他们面临与碰撞相关的伤害和死亡的风险增加。然而，青少年支持分心驾驶法律的程度以及促成他们支持的因素相对未知。使用美国青少年驾驶员的大型全国加权样本，我们评估了其他道路使用者参与分心驾驶、个人参与分心驾驶行为以及州分心驾驶法律的存在是否与支持分心驾驶法。

方法

样本包括 2011 年至 2017 年参与交通安全文化指数调查的 3565 名青少年（16-18 岁）。具有稳健误差的修正泊松回归模型适合加权数据，以检查对分心驾驶法的支持。模型包括年龄、性别、年份、州分心驾驶法、个人分心驾驶行为以及其他道路使用者分心驾驶的感知威胁。

结果

大约 87% 的青少年支持禁止发短信和发送电子邮件的法律，相比之下，66% 的青少年支持通用手持手机法。对分心驾驶立法的支持与其他道路使用者分心驾驶的更大感知威胁相关，同时考虑到个人分心驾驶、州分心驾驶法和发展协变量。

讨论

需要更多地了解立法支持背后的因素。专注于有效转化驾驶时使用手机的风险和有效政策的公共卫生干预措施将进一步改善交通安全文化。