Traffic Crash Experience of a Cohort of Young Queenslanders in the Last Decade of the Twentieth Century

It is the aim of this paper to estimate the age-specific and cumulative risk with age to teenaged and young adult Queenslanders of involvement in a traffic crash, and in particular of being injured in such a crash. Crashes with only property damage have been largely ignored since they are notorious subject to under-reporting by those concerned, even if the circumstances and amount of damage make them legally reportable. Two approaches have been used, the first by following the crash fortunes to age 25 years of a cohort of school students enrolled in 1988 and 1989 to the end of the year 2000; the second estimates crash rates cross-sectionally from 1992 to 2000 for Queensland residents of the same ages as the bulk of the school cohort in those years

The effectiveness of licence restriction for drink drivers: The Australian experience

In many jurisdictions, licence restriction is used as an alternative to full suspension for certain drink driving offenders. However, this may undermine both the specific and general deterrent effect of licence loss, by reducing the perceived certainty and severity of the sanction. To explore this proposition, an analysis was undertaken of the records of almost 22,000 male drivers initially convicted of drink driving during 1988 in Queensland, Australia. At a process level, it was found that licence restriction was relatively common, with 12% of offenders being granted a restricted licence for employment purposes. Contrary to legislative guidelines, these licences were sometimes granted to offenders with a recent history of drink driving. At an outcome level, it was found that the restricted drivers were involved in a similar proportion of alcohol-related crashes, but more non alcohol-related crashes, during the term of the sanction than drivers who had been fully suspended. This is consistent with previous research by the authors indicating that restricted drivers do not commit any more drink driving offences than suspended drivers. Therefore, while full suspension produces greater overall road safety benefits, restricted licences appear no less effective as a specific deterrent to drink driving

Hypothesis: hair cover can protect against invasive melanoma on the head and neck (Australia)

The anatomic distribution of cutaneous melanoma reflects people’s levels and patterns of sun exposure. While examining trends of incident invasive melanomas by site in recent decades in Australia we noted significant increases in incidence on the ears but not the face or any other site in women younger than 40 years, by 6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 2–10%) per year, and 40–59 years by 7% (95% CI 4–10%) per year. Men of the same age showed no corresponding changes in ear melanoma. However incidence rates of ear melanoma in general were fourfold higher in males than females in Australia. Further, using data from the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program, rates of invasive melanoma on the ear were found to be sevenfold higher in males than females in the US population in the same period. Higher rates of scalp and neck melanomas were also seen in men and women in both populations. We therefore speculated that the isolated rises of ear melanoma in younger women in Australia, and the higher overall rates of ear, scalp and neck melanoma in men compared with women, reflect differences in hair coverage. We tested the specific hypothesis that hair cover reduces sun exposure of the ears using experimental manikins and found that hair cover of the ear reduced solar ultraviolet-B exposure by 81% [SE ±8] compared with uncovered ears. We conclude that hair cover can protect against invasive melanoma on the ear and may similarly protect on the scalp and neck. When discretionary, hair may be an important additional factor to be considered for melanoma prevention

Factors affecting two- and five-year re-offence rates in Queensland drink drivers

Risk factors for repeat drink driving, an important road safety issue, are well known, but estimates of Australian recidivism rates by risk factors, apart from a recent NSW study, are not. Driving records of a cohort of Queensland drink drivers matched by age, region, BAC level and prior offence to participants in a drink driving rehabilitation program were used to estimate sex-specific two- and five-year re-offence rates overall and by these factors. Estimates of the proportion of Queensland drink drivers with a prior DD offence in 2004 were used to standardise rates to the Queensland drink driving population. Rates were higher in remote areas, as were rates in males, young drivers, drivers with high BAC levels and in drivers with one and especially with at least two prior DD convictions. Five-year rates for Queensland were estimated as 21.8% in males and 16.4% in females, appreciably higher than in NSW

The serious traffic crashes of young drivers and their previous traffic offence histories

To explore the relationship between traffic offences, in particular drink driving and speeding, and subsequent involvement in traffic crashes. The linked traffic offence and crash records of 73% of an original cohort of 61,000 high school students (Grade 10) recruited in 1988 and 1989 were studied to determine the prevalence of prior offences among 1063 drivers involved in a serious (fatal or hospitalisation) crash ("serious crash class") and 5543 drivers involved in a less serious crash ("minor crash class"), by year of first (index) crash. Offences were categorized as drink driving, speeding, dangerous driving and other. Cumulative mean number of offences per year for male cohort members without a recorded crash were also calculated; this was not done for females due to probable bias resulting from name change at marriage. Relative risks of a subsequent crash and differences in mean numbers of other offences were computed for serious versus minor crashes in both sexes and for serious and minor crashes versus no crashes in males, adjusting for year of index crash. An effort was made to account for possible over-statement of the size of the group with no recorded crashes ("null crash class")

The effectiveness of licence restriction for drink drivers

In Queensland, license restriction is frequently used as an alternative to full disqualification for drink driving in an attempt to alleviate the potential economic hardship caused by inability to drive. However, there is a possibility that license restriction may undermine the deterrent effect of license loss and may fail to break the nexus between drinking and driving. Accordingly, it is important to examine the effectiveness of license restriction, as opposed to full disqualification, in preventing reoffence during the sanction period. We made this comparison in a cohort of over 17,000 Queensland drivers either disqualified (83%) or granted a restricted licence (17%) for a drink driving offence in 1993, 5% of whom reoffended during the sanction period. The restricted drivers were on average 5 years older than those disqualified, and fewer had a recent history of drink driving (11% v.37%). The median sanction period was similar in both groups. After controlling for age, previous drink driving history and length of initial sanction, there was little difference between the two groups. Drivers with license restriction appeared to reoffend somewhat less than disqualified drivers (by about 6%), but the difference did not approach statistical significance. While concerns about the effect on general deterrence remain, it appears that granting permission to drive on a restricted basis is no less effective as a specific deterrent than full disqualification

A Comparison of Offroad and Onroad Crashes in Rural and Remote Queensland

Offroad vehicle use and in particular offroad motorcycling has been established as a significant source of injury both within Australia and internationally. However, Queensland's police road crash statistics typically do not report crashes that occur in off-road circumstances. The aim of the current investigation was to compare this under-reported subset of crashes with on-road crashes. The data used was sourced from interviews conducted in Northern Queensland with serious injury patients hospitalised for 24 hours or more after a rural road crash. Of the classifiable crashes, approximately half were motorcycle crashes, of which a half again were offroad crashes. Of the crashes involving cars, roughly 15% were offroad crashes. Results showed males constituted the majority of all motorcycle crashes, with younger males particularly involved in offroad motorcycle incidents. Offroad motorcycling was identified particularly with greater proportions of riding for pleasure, unlicensed riding, unregistered vehicle use and travelling on an unfamiliar track or road. In terms of illegal behaviours, just under 10% of all subgroups reported recreational drug use. Non-use of helmets and seatbelts was higher for offroad compared to onroad groups, though a notable proportion of onroad users also reported non-use. Offroad motorcyclists were more likely to be unlicensed to ride, riding unregistered vehicles and unfamiliar with the area or road. The results are discussed in relation to how this data can inform official crash data sources and the development of interventions to target specific high-risk sub-groups in rural and remote areas

Social and psychological predictors of young people's involvement in fatal and serious injury crashes

The present paper reports preliminary findings from a longitudinal study of early adolescent drink driving and later involvement in fatal and hospitalised injury crashes. The study covers a period of over ten years and the predictive models and relevant variables and measures draw on the longitudinal studies of related behaviours by Farrington (1986), Bachman, Johnston and O’Malley(1978) and Jessor and Jessor (1977). The paper explores the extent to which selected social and psychological factors which drew on these studies were associated with drink driving and other at risk behaviours and ultimately could predict later involvement in serious traffic crashes. Five thousand students were surveyed from 41 randomly selected Queensland state high schools at the end of the first semester in grade ten in 1988. The final sample involved 4545 respondents [90.9% response rate]. In 2000 there were 113 people from this sample who had Queensland Transport Department records of being involved in crashes, 80 males and 33 females. Measures included Social background, Religiosity, Parental modelling and control, Underage drinking, Underage driving, Drink driving, Delinquency and Crash involvement. The strongest associations with heavier drinking were the familial variables of parental modelling of drink driving and access to parents’ cars for underage driving. There were small but significant correlations between drink driving and delinquency and subsequent crash involvement. Drink driving and delinquency were jointly significantly predictive in a logistic regression on crash involvement. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed

Profiling off-road motorcycle and all-terrain riders in Queensland, Australia

The current research aimed to profile off-road riders to identify specific sub-groups in relation to their risk-related behaviours and perceptions. A total of 235 adults from the Australian state of Queensland who had ridden a motorcycle or ATV off-road in the last 12 months were recruited. A cluster analysis was applied to the survey data. Two distinct clusters of riders were identified, which corresponded with the self-report of injury from an off-road riding crash in the prior 12 months. The injured cluster had a significantly higher mean risk propensity and use of safety equipment, though did not differ on self-reported risk taking. The injured cluster as a whole included a higher percentage of males, was younger, and rode more often for recreational or competitive purposes than the non-crash involved cluster. The results indicate that the crash cluster may be both more aware of the potential risks of riding and more willing to ride in a riskier manner

A longitudinal study of adolescent drink driving and other risk taking behaviors: Challenges for the change process

Risk taking is a major contributing cause of injury, particularly with respect to the trauma experienced by young male adults. A report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in 1999, called Australia’s Young People – their Health and Wellbeing 1999 1, found that more than two thirds of deaths in young people were attributable to some form of injury, including road crashes and suicide. The focus and methods best able to effect change and reduction in at-risk attitudes and behaviours leading to injury remain understudied, although it is clear that the development of interventions to reduce risk related behaviours is exceedingly complex. The first section of this paper reports on analyses of data from a series of longitudinal studies of drink driving and associated behaviours. It follows a cohort of 4,500 adolescents from junior high school [aged 14.5 years] until their mid-twenties. The analyses aim to answer five key questions derived from the literature regarding risk taking. Are sub-groups of high-risk takers characterised by the same attitudes and decision-making strategies regarding risks as the normative group? Do these characteristics remain consistent predictors of high-risk-takers: (i) over time and (ii) regardless of the types of risky behaviour? What are the protective factors that emerge for the majority of risk takers in adolescence and can these be used to inform the content and targeting of relevant interventions? What social, family and personal factors lead to the lower levels of risk taking by females and can these be used to inform road safety interventions? Are the young people who experience one type of injury (for example, MVA), more likely to experience injury from other causes (for example, criminal behaviours, licit and illicit drug use and suicide)? The second section of the paper discusses the application of these findings to the development of an intervention for young high "risk takers" to reduce behaviour that "harms self or others". In particular, it highlights the need to move from sole reliance on classroom based programs to much more broadly targeted interventions that develop the protective role of mentors in the young person’s social context