Young drivers’ perceptions of peer pressure, driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, and involvement in road accidents

Abstract

The study deals with the relationship between young drivers’ perceptions of the peer pressure experienced from passengers in the car and their subsequent driving patterns. Data were obtained from self‐report questionnaires administered to 710 drivers aged 17.5–21. Four indicators were used to examine perceptions of peer pressure: driving as a means of attaining social prestige (ASP), apprehension about their friends’ evaluations (AFE), peer intervention in decisions (PID), and pressure to make traffic violations (PTV). The findings reveal that ASP and AFE were found to have strong correlations with the most traffic violations. Three peer pressure indicators (AFE, PID, and PTV) had significant effects on driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. The results demonstrated that all types of accidents examined in the study (damage to vehicles, accidents with casualties, and accidents with friends in the car) were significantly positively related to driving as a means of attaining social prestige (ASP) and apprehensive about their friends’ evaluations (AFE).

Keywords:

• young drivers
• social prestige
• traffic violations
• drugs
• alcohol
• road accidents

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by a grant from the Israeli National Society of Criminology and by the Mofet Institute – research program development for teachers educators.