Prevalence and Correlates of Street Racing Among Ontario High School Students

Abstract

This first population-based study in North America suggested that the prevalence of street racing at 1 in 5 of advanced or fully licensed high-schoolers in grades 11 and 12 poses significant public health concerns, especially related to the potential for unintentional injury.

Evaluation of Deterrent Impact of Ontario's Street Racing and Stunt Driving Law on Extreme Speeding Convictions

“…When calculated per licensed driver, the current study found that 1.21 percent of young male drivers and 0.37 percent of mature male drivers had their licenses suspended under the new street racing/stunt driving law. Earlier studies reported that risky driving, including street racing, was predominantly a male activity and the prevalence of risky driving among females was relatively low (Leal 2010;Leigh 1996;Peak and Glensor 2004;Smart et al 2011Smart et al , 2012Vaaranen and Wieloch 2002;Vingilis and Smart 2009;Warn et al 2004). …”

“…Moreover, many such activities remain unreported and undetected (Gee Kee et al 2007;Peak and Glensor 2004;Vingilis and Smart 2009). This is evidenced by surveys that have identified street racing as a common selfreported activity of males, particularly of young males (Arnett et al 1997;Bina et al 2006;Vingilis et al 2011). For example, Smart et al (2011) found in a representative survey of Ontario adults that males were 5.7 times more likely than females to report street racing in the last year.…”

“…This is evidenced by surveys that have identified street racing as a common selfreported activity of males, particularly of young males (Arnett et al 1997;Bina et al 2006;Vingilis et al 2011). For example, Smart et al (2011) found in a representative survey of Ontario adults that males were 5.7 times more likely than females to report street racing in the last year. Vingilis et al (2011) found through a survey of Ontario high school students with advanced level or full driver's licenses that 20.4 percent of students in grades 11 and 12 reported street racing in the past year; adjusted odds for males racing was 12 times higher than for females.…”

“…Finally, youth are more susceptible to peer influences: evidence indicates that with peers present, risk-taking by youth increases more than in peer absent conditions (Kambam and Thompson 2009). This increased propensity to risky driving by males, particularly younger males, is evident in research because young drivers and male drivers are more likely to report speeding, street racing, drinking and driving, not using safety belts, and more vehicle collisions and violations compared to older and female drivers (Vingilis et al 2011;Vingilis and Wilk 2010).…”

“…For example, Smart et al (2011) found in a representative survey of Ontario adults that males were 5.7 times more likely than females to report street racing in the last year. Vingilis et al (2011) found through a survey of Ontario high school students with advanced level or full driver's licenses that 20.4 percent of students in grades 11 and 12 reported street racing in the past year; adjusted odds for males racing was 12 times higher than for females. Moreover, a survey of car club members found that those who self-reported street racing and stunt driving were significantly more likely to be younger; to score higher on the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire, the Driver Thrill Seeking Scale, Competitive Attitude Toward Driving Scale, SelfReport Driver Aggression Scale, Risk-Taking Driving Scale; and to have been stopped for a traffic offense in the past year (Vingilis et al 2013a).…”