Working to increase seatbelt usage among teenagers in rural settings: The Drive Alive Program (Under the direction of Dr. Monica Swahn) Background: Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death in the United States. Teens are less likely to wear seatbelts than other age groups and more likely to be involved in a crash. The Drive Alive program was designed to improve seatbelt usage among teens. Purpose: This analysis aims to evaluate seatbelt use among teen drivers in a rural setting. Specifically, are there differences between males and females in terms of seatbelt use? Are drivers more likely to wear their seatbelts than passengers? Methods: Data was gathered from observational surveys (N= 3,743). Surveys were gathered by trained observers in South Georgia from 2010-2011. Records were analyzed in SPSS using three categories: occupant, sex, and belt use. The null hypotheses for this study are: 1) there is no significant difference between male and female drivers or passengers in seatbelt usage; and, 2) there is no significant difference between driver and passenger seatbelt usage. Results: Descriptive analyses were computed to determine average seatbelt use across all occupants. Chi Square for Independence tests were computed to determine differences between drivers and passengers and males and females. Females were significantly more likely than males to wear their seatbelt (Females, 70%; Males, 59%). There were no significant differences in seatbelt use for drivers and their passengers. Conclusions: Results for females being more likely to wear seatbelts is consistent with the literature. Future research might include comparison between schools with different versions of the program. Programs to increase seatbelt usage among teens should include parents, education, enforcement, teen-led activities, and partnership with educators and community organizations. Save the lives of young drivers by modeling seatbelt wearing, appropriately implementing comprehensive seatbelt use improvement programs, and enforcing the law. These simple measures will improve seatbelt use and reduce roadway fatalities.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Civil Engineering / Sunanda Dissanayake / Young drivers have elevated motor vehicle crash rates compared to other drivers. This dissertation investigated characteristics, contributory causes, and factors which increase the injury severity of young driver crashes in Kansas by comparing them with more experienced drivers. Crash data were obtained from the Kansas Department of Transportation. Young drivers were divided into two groups: 15-19 years (teen) and 20-24 years (young adult) for a detailed investigation. Using data from 2006 to 2009, frequencies, percentages, and crash rates were calculated for each characteristic and contributory cause. Contingency table analysis and odds ratios (OR) analysis were carried out to identify overly represented factors of young-driver crashes compared to experienced drivers. Young drivers were more likely to be involved in crashes due to failure to yield-right-of way, disregarding traffic signs/signals, turning, or lane changing, compared to experienced drivers. Ordered logistic regression models were developed to identify severity affecting factors in young driver crashes. According to model results, factors that decreased injury severity of the driver were seat belt use, driving at low speeds, driving newer vehicles, and driving with an adult passenger. The models also showed that alcohol involvement, driving on high-posted-speed-limit roadways, ejection at the time of crash, and trapping at the time of crash can increase young drivers’ injury severity. Based on identified critical factors, countermeasure ideas were suggested to improve the safety of young drivers. It is important for teen drivers and parents/guardians to gain better understanding about these critical factors that are helpful in preventing crashes and minimizing driving risk. Parents/guardians can consider high-risk conditions such as driving during dark, during weekends, on rural roads, on wet road surfaces, and on roadways with high speed limits, for planning teen driving. Protective devices, crash-worthy cars, and safer road infrastructures, such as rumble strips, and forgiving roadsides, will particularly reduce young drivers’ risk. Predictable traffic situations and low complexity resulting from improved road infrastructure are beneficial for young drivers. The effectiveness of Kansas Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) system needs to be investigated in the future.

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death during adolescence, with the fatal crash rate per mile-driven for 16-19 years old drivers being nearly 3 times larger than the rate for drivers age 20 and older. High gravitational events among teenage drivers, such as quick starts, and hard stops, have been shown to be highly correlated with crash rates. The current younger driver training programs developed in the late 1990s, however, do not appear to be especially effective in regard to many skills which are critical to avoiding crashes. With this in mind, a simulator-based training program aimed at reducing the behaviors that make quick accelerations unsafe and quick decelerations unnecessary was designed and evaluated. The training adopts the active training strategy which has been proven to be effective, and includes those scenarios in which teenage drivers are at highest risks. It is expected that drivers who receive the active training will drive more safely than drivers who receive the placebo training, in terms of eye scanning behaviors in scenarios where quick accelerations are necessary (e.g., how often they glance towards areas where threats could emerge), following behaviors in scenarios where a lead vehicle could stop suddenly (e.g., how much headway they allow between their vehicle and a lead vehicle), and vehicle behaviors such as speed, acceleration rate, deceleration rate and headway.

This diploma thesis is focused at accident rate of young drivers in Czech Republic. First part of the thesis is dedicated to theoretical background where young people psychological behaviors are described. There are also described several specific accidents from expertise point of view. Another part dives into statistics of accidents in the Czech Republic in the last nine years. Last part of the thesis recommends some specific countermeasures for practical implementation.