Driver survey carried out by students of the course "social and preventive medicine"

taught by Prof. Trautner (November 2008):

Mathias Stark, Bianca Fischer and Carolin Kühnast (5. semester, management in health care) carried out an online survey among students of the University of Applied Sciences, Braunschweig / Wolfenbuettel, Germany. Here are the results:

Attitudes towards injury prevention and personal attributes:
an online survey among students

B. Fischer, M. Stark, C. Kühnast, C. Trautner

University of Applied Sciences, Braunschweig / Wolfenbüttel, Germany

The most important cause of injuries due to car accidents are the drivers, young people in particular. Campaigns for safer driving are costly, their effectiveness is controversial. Therefore, we asked students about their attitudes towards injury prevention, using an online questionnaire with 24 questions mailed to approximately 7000 students of our University of Applied Sciences. 1428 persons answered (mainly students, and a few staff), 797 of them were men, 623 women, and 8 values were missing. 91 % of the participants were younger than 30 years of age. 87% considered car accident prevention an important or very important topic. Stricter law enforcement would motivate 52% to behave more carefully, whereas posters at the roadside would motivate only 15% (p<0.05). Men were significantly less concerned with safety issues compared with women. 75% of women, but only 47% of men (p<0.05) answered respecting speed limits was important. Logistic regression analysis revealed that having been caught by a speed camera was more likely in men (Odds Ratio, OR 1.64, 95% Confidence Interval, CI 1.31;2.05) and in participants who did “multitasking” (like eating or using the phone) while driving (OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.30;2.04). Conclusions from our study are limited to students. The results support the hypothesis that young women are more aware of safety issues than men and that preventive projects based on this approach might be effective.