Riding Under The Influence: New Study Shows More Than A Quarter Of High School Students In Atlantic Canada Have Accepted Rides With Drunk Drivers

Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for Canadian teenagers, and according to recent statistics, alcohol is involved in 40% of these fatalities. A new study, partly funded by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), paints a stark portrait of how many teenagers may be risking their lives by accepting a ride with a drunk driver, and examines the risk factors associated with this type of behaviour.



The study, authored by Dr. Christiane Poulin and her research team at Dalhousie University, surveyed almost 13,000 teenagers in all four Atlantic provinces. (Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.)



Adolescent passengers of drunk drivers: A multi-level exploration into the inequities of risk and safety, found that more than a quarter (27%) of all high school students who took part in the 2002 survey said they had taken a ride with a driver who??™d had too much to drink at least once in the past year - half of them on more than one occasion.



The study lists several factors affecting a high school student??™s likelihood of hitching a ride with a drunk driver, both at the individual and community levels. Among them:

Gender: females were more likely to ride with a drunk driver than males;
Place of residence: teens living in rural areas were more likely than those in urban areas;
Mother??™s education level: risk was higher when the mother??™s education level was lower.
Driver??™s license: teens who were not fully licensed were more likely to accept rides with drunk drivers;
High alcohol and/or cannabis use.


The study??™s authors conclude that many of the risk factors associated with riding with a drunk driver are beyond a teenager??™s control, and not all teenagers have the same options available to minimize their risks.



The full report has been published in the latest edition of the journal Addiction, and a link can be found on CIHI??™s website at cihi.ca







Contact:

Leona Hollingsworth

Canadian Institute For Health Information

495 Richmond Road

Ottawa, Ontario



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