Young Driver Intervention Study: Preventing Motor Vehicle Crashes
Condition: Accidents, Traffic; Health Behavior
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a program designed to reduce
      teen crashes and risky driving by increasing parental monitoring and restriction of their
      adolescents' driving practices during the first year of licensed driving.
    

Detailed description: 
      Motor vehicle crashes are the major cause of death and disability among adolescents from 16
      through 20 years of age. While adolescents between the ages of 16 and 19 years constitute
      only 5% of all licensed drivers, they are involved in 15% of the crashes in which they or
      other occupants are killed. In fact, 16-year-old drivers are more than 20 times as likely to
      have a crash as the general population of drivers and 17-year-olds are more than 6 times as
      likely. In addition, for each adolescent motor vehicle fatality, approximately 100 nonfatal
      injuries occur, making crashes the leading cause of disability due to head and spinal cord
      injuries in adolescents.

      Parents can have a huge impact on adolescent behavior. However, the impact of parenting
      practices on adolescent driving behavior has not yet been examined. This study aims to
      determine the efficacy of an intervention designed to increase parents' involvement in, and
      parental restrictions on, their teens' early driving experiences in order to reduce the
      number of tickets and crashes among teen drivers. The intervention provides educational
      materials to parents and adolescents from the time the adolescent gets a learner's permit
      through the first 6 months of licensure. These persuasive communications are tailored to
      adolescents' level of driving experience. The intervention materials make explicit the
      increased risk associated with adolescent driving and methods for reducing risk through
      increased parental involvement in and restriction of driving.

      Participants were recruited in the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicle offices as
      adolescents applied for their learner's permits. Participants were randomized to either the
      intervention group or the control group. The control group received standard information
      about driving not related to the specific teen risks focused on in the intervention group
      materials. All participants completed interviews at study entry, licensure, 3 months after
      licensure, 6 months after licensure, and 12 months after licensure. Parents were asked about
      their expectations and parenting practices regarding their adolescents' driving behaviors.
      Adolescents were asked about their driving practices and their parents' rules and
      restrictions regarding driving. The driving records for each adolescent were obtained from
      the state motor vehicle administration and examined 18 months after licensure.
    

Intervention name(s): Teen Driving: Program for parents
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): A behavioral intervention targeting driving risks unique to young drivers, including completing a behavioral contract, was administered to the intervention group. The control group received safety information appropriate for new drivers.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Factorial Assignment
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Teen driving; Adolescent risk behavior; Parenting; Checkpoints Program; Health Education